Up Close and Personal

How good does this cake look?! I'll tell ya, it was REALLY good! I started a cake decorating class. This cake was from the second class and it was so much fun! The first class was like an orientation...we watched my teacher make a cake from start to finish and got our icing recipe. I wanted to pick up some good skills for decorating especially for the upcoming 2nd birthday of someone super sweet that runs around here.

I decided to go with strawberry cake with strawberry filling. It was two 8" rounds, each cut in half with filling in between, and icing in the very middle. I'm not a fan of the buttercream icing but it's the best to decorate with. I was happy scraping it off and just eating the super moist, dense cake with the strawberry filling.

To get a good moist, dense cake there were a couple of tricks. I used the Magic Strips which is a baking secret I had never heard of. They are strips of thick cloth that you wet, then pin them around the outside of the pans. It creates a moist, evenly cooked cake. I used a box of cake mix per pan and filled it 3/4 of the way full...more than what the box instructions tell you. My cakes turned into strawberry volcanoes in the oven and created a huge mess...but apparently that is because strawberry is one of the cakes mixes that has more moisture, so I hear that trick works better for chocolate or vanilla. I also used a box of vanilla pudding mix per box and that is what makes it so dense and delicious. Then let it cool and freeze it! This apparently really locks in the moisture and it seemed to work! My cake weighed a good 20 pounds when I was all done!

The icing was quite a production too. I decided to go for a mass batch, or rather several normal batches to end up with a huge end batch. I filled a Rubbermaid 6 qt. plastic container full! My teacher laughed when I brought it in and said no one has ever brought in a container like that. Then I laughed! You mean, they make more over again each week?! No thanks! I'll get it over it one hurrah and be done for awhile! They do sell the big five gallon (or bigger??) tubs at Sam's, but I heard it wasn't as good as homemade. I used 'high ratio' shortening found at bakery's and specialty retailers instead of Crisco. She said the Crisco leaves the waxy feel in your mouth and has less flavor, but I think the high ratio leaves a waxy feel in my mouth too. Anyway, I guess it's all a big experiment until you get really good at it all and have a solid basis for personal preference.

In class we practiced our shells and stars. The shells are around the edge in these pictures, most of mine weren't great (but if I do say so myself, were better than the others in class!!) but every now and then I'd get a good series of them. The stars are what you use for the typical Wilton character cakes, which we'll be doing in the next class. I hope my little hand can handle it! This cake was all practice and goofiness, with the big pink heart on top. I thought Josh would get a kick out of eating a big pink love cake.

My icing came out pretty smooth, but with more practice I should get better at it. We made it smooth using the Viva paper towel method. Viva paper towels have the least design so it doesn't transfer to the icing. You schmear on the buttercream and let it dry for a few minutes, then stick the paper towel right on it and rub with your hand to make it super smooth. It's pretty cool!

I sure wasn't expecting to spend as much as I did on supplies, but it seems like there is so much you need! I know I'll use it all over the years though. I plan on making a Thomas cake for Joseph's birthday, but just a rectangle with the top decorated - not a 3-D character cake. I wish there was a different, less lardy recipe for the icing. I really like the plain ol Betty Crocker or Duncan Heinz jar ones, but they just don't go on smooth. Bummer.

I think this class I'll go with a spice cake. I can't add any filling though since it's a character cake and the design depends so much on the shape - don't want to mess it up. I guess until we get better at icing, this one needs to be left alone inside. At least this week with only one layer, we won't have so much stinking cake to have to get rid of. Thanks to all you who helped us eat last week's!!