Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Cakes!

Okay so my new favorite hobby is making cakes. I don't have access to a kiln any longer and painting just does not sufficiently fill my need to work in 3D. (It also does not taste as good.) So, I have taking up cake decorating.

It all started when my roommate Mary decided to save some money and make her own wedding cake. "What a fantastic idea!" I thought. And so, following in her example, I decided to make my own. It took me seven hours to decorate the wedding cake but in the end it cost me around 20 bucks, and I had exactly what I wanted for my wedding. Since it seems that I will never get around to posting pictures from the wedding...hopefully, these cake shots will tide some of you over. Here I am piping on the curly blue swirls. I have already covered the pieces in fondant and dusted the cake with a luster dust.




















The bottom three layers were styrofoam cake dummies while the fourth (and top) layer was made of white cake with blue swirls in it. That way we could still do our cake cutting.
I was pretty much just making everything up as I went along. I had spent many hours watching the food network and had some idea of how this might go. But it was still a learning experience. Piping can be very tiresome. Still, like I said before. I couldn't have been happier. It was perfectly what I wanted.
Shortly after moving here to Texas, Monte's birthday rolled around. In an attempt to make new friends in the ward and to throw Monte the biggest birthday celebration he had ever had...we had a large dinner party. The whole birthday was Asian themed so we cooked all kinds of Asian food and had chopsticks and little take out boxes for our guest. There was Asian candies and streamers and decorations. The whole living room and kitchen was a myriad of reds and golds. Most people in attendance thought that we were just really into the Olympics because Monte would not let me tell anyone it was his birthday.

But they got the idea when I surprised Monte by having everyone sing Happy Birthday to him while he stood next to a very large red velvet cake.
To really get an idea of the size of this cake you have to realize that the top section is two 8" rounds (so about the size that any normal birthday cake would be) and the bottom circle was 12" round. The candles were 4 inch candles as well. And the Asian topper was at least half a foot. It was a very large cake. I couldn't get too into the piping details on this cake because the icing was a homemade creme cheese frosting. The kind that goes perfect with a red velvet cake. I really should have taken a picture of the inside so you could see how beautiful it was when it was cut. BRIGHT RED!












Needless to say...the mere size of the cake turned some heads. It was so much fun!

Monte, seeing how much fun I was having making cakes started researching. He found a cake shop here in Austin that taught classes. As a Christmas present this years he bought me cake decorating classes: courses 1, 2, and 3. He has been very supportive thus far in helping me mix icings and prepare for my classes. I only have one cake to show as of right now. It was the cake we decorated the first class. They showed us how to torte, fill, and ice our cakes. Then we practiced with the round and star tips.
We had to share the icings and colors so all of our cakes looked pretty much the same (not much in the way of creativity yet) but they are more just for practice right now. This cake I ended up putting "Happy Birthday Rebecca" and taking it over to a friend's party a couple of days later. This week I will be making cupcakes and another cake. I will post pictures of my continued cake endeavors as I go. Course 1 is just the basic tips and how to make a rose. But in Course 2 we will do a lot of different kinds of flowers and Course 3 will be fondant and tiered cakes. This really was one of the best Christmas surprises ever!

10 comments:

Beth & Rob Bailey said...

first off, the wedding cake was gorgeous! there's a lady in our ward that took up cake decorating many years ago, and makes them for weddings and such. she taught an enrichment activity...so I can use the basic tips essentially. her daughter's cakes though, i think are even cooler...(check out the benson family blog from mine sometime...she has started a blog for her cakes). anyways...wish you were going to be in columbia next weekend...I could use a cake or two! (I guess I'll go at it and see what comes out!

Beth & Rob Bailey said...

)
forgot my parenthesis on the end...sorry i can be a little ocd sometimes about that!

BlueAdagio said...

You know...that missing parenthesis was bothering me too. Haha

(And I wish I was in Columbia next weekend too...I miss you so much! I am coming to visit this summer if I can find the money and time.)

Mary and Jake said...

I am so proud of you and your cake decorating! It makes me want to get out and start doing it again! Mike and I even thought about starting our own little business. You should look into that! You could work at home and make decent money...just think about it :) I am glad you updated your blog! I hope you are doing well!

Rob, Adrienne, Sam, Ada and Tony said...

That class must be so cool. Your wedding cake was gorgeous. I love that you did it yourself. Only you Cassandra!

M said...

I LOVED your wedding cake! It was gorgeous. And the flower cake is adorable. That is so thoughtful that Monte enrolled you in that class, what a sweet hubby :)

Jana said...

OH MY GOSH. You are so talented. Cake decorating has always been something I would love to learn, but I don't think I'll ever be as creative or skilled as you are! Your wedding cake was truly a masterpiece! That would be the perfect gift, I'll have to slip that into Jason's mind for next year...

Jared, Miranda and Max said...

WOW! I love it! What an awesome hobby/talent. I keep saying I'll teach oboe lessons but I never get around to it. But I can make a mean afghan :)

kim e said...

Your cakes are beautiful! What a great new delicious hobby.

Michelle said...

I am speechless about your beautiful wedding cake!!!! :O