Icing is harder than you think

Update on the cake that is a hat. This week I learnt snail trail icing and painted some branches onto the cake. The icing is very hard. You have to sqeeze the bag and then remember to stop squeezing at the right time and it really hurts you hand. We all had the claw by the end. As for the painted it is rather simple. You just painted using food clouring paste and paint straight onto the cake. I painted branches onto the cake which have ended up looking like more of a reindeer head than a tree but hopefully once I have put some leaves and flowers (part of this my homework this week as my paint was too wet to add them in the class) on it will look more tree like. 


Photos coming at the weekend.

Cocktail hour is here

I have been working on some new recipes for a few weeks now and I have finally done a trial batch of Cocktail Cupcakes. I was working on two to start with. This weekend I made Coffee Chocolate Flip and Cranberry Kiss. They were quite successful considering it was a first attempt. Both need more alcohol and a little tinkering but the base is at least there.

Coffee Chocolate Flip

Cranberry Kiss

I also discovered this amazing knitted cupcake in my kitchen. I have a pattern for knitted cupcakes but have never tried it. Now that it is winter and knitting weather maybe I will take a break from cooking cupcakes  and knit some instead. 

 

 

Attempting to reach perfection

I have begun down the road of perfection. I have started my cake decration class. I have had two classes so far and I am really enjoying it. I did not realise how long it took to decorate a cake. We are decorating a fruit cake (the same one every week so it should be ready for christmas). So far I have put marzipan on the cake and last week I put the sugarpaste on the cake. Oh my it takes about an hour just to get the marzipan and sugarpaste just right but not even close to perfect. I am trying but I will need to practise a few times to reach perfection. I have acquired some lovely new tools. Who know you needed so many tools just to put icing on a cake and we haven't even got to the flower making tools yet. 

The new tools in toolbox.

The cake is looking a bit like a hat at the moment but I'm hoping that once I get all the decorations on it will look good. 

 

I have embosed some minibeasts around the edge of the board (which is iced. It's the thing to do in the cake world.)

The cake is now bloody heavy after adding 1kg of marzipan and 1kg of sugarpaste. 

This Monday we are piping icing and doing something else but I forget. I'm sure whatever new technique it is it will only add to the cake look rather than the hat look. 

Everyone in the class is very nice and all seem to share a love of cake which can only be a good sign. There is talk of a level 2 class starting in Feburary. So I will be saving my money for that.