[Flashback] August & September 2013: Cakes and Bakes

We are looking back at August and September 2013.  

Wow... these 2 months were filled with baking and sweets - lots of it!  

I've always wanted to learn new skills and techniques so I joined a Wilton class at my local craft store.  I enjoyed every bit of it and was able to apply what I learned thereafter.

Isn't the hydrangea cake beautiful?  I bought a small round icing tip and tried my hand in making dainty "lace."

The rose cupcakes were for my little friends' tea party.  It's caramel cake with light butter icing.

The green cake on the bottom is Pandan chiffon cake that I made for a sweet 16 birthday celebrant.  The topper is handmade from polymer clay.

These are some of the handmade cards I made: for an infant, a girl, and an adult lady.  I'm running our of ideas, here.  LOL.  The heart pendant is for one of the girls at church whom we find so friendly, kind and sweet.  She always greets and chats with us after the service.  Oh, she won an award this year for having the most "stickers" in class.

It was in September when the Houston polymer clay guild hosted the Lone Star Retreat.  Wow, I had fun meeting and being in one room with creative polymer clay folks.  My beaded polymer clay pendant necklace won 3rd place in the "Friends and Faux challenge."

[Wilton Wednesday] Basic 1 Course Graduation

Yesterday was the last day of our Wilton Basic Decorating Course and I had a blast!  I've been reading and browsing through books and magazines for tips and tricks on how to improve my skills but nothing beats taking an actual class, interacting with a teacher and fellow students.

This was my final decorated cake project.

I decided to use a 9" x 4" round mock cake.

I bought the Wilton concentrated icing gel color and used red, green and blue.  I didn't use much hence the pastel hues which turned out pretty to me but may be too dainty for others.  

It's a cake for a baby shower or a shabby chic tea party.

I sent a photo of the cake to a friend who was celebrating her 16th birthday (mind you, pink is not her favorite color) and she politely replied "The cake looks nice...."  My husband and I giggled about it.

So what did I learn?

I learned... 

how to make buttercream {mine lasted 4 weeks of class}

how to properly crumb coat and ice a cake

how to dispose of leftover buttercream 

(throw it in the garbage, not in the sink)

how to make different borders and flowers

how to use different techniques in writing messages

how to have more friends by taking a class or having a new hobby

it takes practice to make the perfect rose

and a lot more!

Cheers to baking!

Let's eat cake!

♥  michelle  ♥

[Wilton Wednesday] Borders and flowers

Welcome to Wilton Wednesday!

This is our third class for Basic Decorating and we learned how to do borders and flowers.

Our teacher Ms. Debra taught us how to make the Wilton ribbon rose.  I think the consistency of my icing wasn't right hence the rugged edges but she taught me how to fix it.

There are a lot of icing tips and today, I learned to use more:  Wilton tips #12, 16, 18, 104, 2D, and 233.  I like making scallop borders but I need to practice putting enough and consistent pressure to come up with equal sized scallops.

I brought a small rectangular cake to class - it was the excess batter for the mango cake that I made on Sunday.  Next week is our last day and I will be bringing a styrofoam.  I don't want to bake a cake for now - I just want to decorate. LOL.

See ya next week!

♥  michelle  ♥

[Wilton Wednesday] Buttercream Icing

Welcome to Wilton Wednesday!  

Today is about Buttercream Icing.

I have never tried making buttercream icing in my cakes so it was pretty interesting.  

You can find the recipe HERE.

We had to make a double batch for class:  

2 cups vegetable shortening, meringue powder, 2 lbs powdered sugar, water or milk, vanilla and a dash of salt.  

I used McCormick pure vanilla and though it didn't discolor my icing, you might want to use a brand that will not tint your icing (such as Wilton vanilla) especially if you want it stark white..

The procedure is pretty simple.  Mix all the ingredients and beat until smooth.  Add the water or milk a little at a time until the desired consistency is achieved.  I learned that there are three types of icing:  Stiff, Medium and Thin each had its own purpose.

Stiff icing is used for flowers with upright petals like the rose.  Notice that the spatula doesn't move.

Medium icing is used for stars, shells, borders, rosettes, zigzags and flowers with flat petals.  The spatula will move slightly and start to lean.

Thin icing is for printing, writing and leaves.  It is also used for icing the cake.  To test for consistency, the spatula will fall over.

 I baked a boxed cake for class... not as good as the real thing but it works for practice.

I tort the cake and filled it with this Grave's Mountain Cantaloupe Peach jam from Virginia.  Oh, it was delicious! This was given to us by friends from their trip.

I used thin icing to crumb and cover the cake.  I didn't add a lot because I didn't want to waste it and it's too sweet to my liking.  I added gel color and piped stars and swirls in my cupcake design.

I learned how to make the pearl border too.  I was fun!

Oh well... I need to practice, practice and practice some more.

A friend of mine asked me how much sugar I consume a day with all my baking and cooking.  Not too much.  The secret is sharing and spreading the joy with others.

See ya'll next week.

♥  michelle  ♥

[Wilton Wednesday] Course 1: Decorating Basics

Welcome back to The Cabby Crafter!

We have good news for my dear readers who love to bake.  We have designated today as 

"Wilton Wednesday" 

and will do so every Wednesday until we run out of things to share with you.  LOL.

Disclaimer:  This is a personal blog of The Cabby Crafter and is not sponsored by or in anyway connected to Wilton Industries, Inc.  Thank you very much!

I have always loved baking since I was young.  My mother would bring me with her to her baking class (she's a nursing professor and took baking classes in the University where she taught) and would let me mix, use the hand mixer, crack and separate eggs and finally lick the mixer prongs.  I have baked a lot of cakes before and took a few courses on my spare time.  Did I mention that I've always wanted to have a glass refrigerated case and a bakeshop?   

My love for baking was rekindled over a year ago when I started to bake cakes for gatherings and church pot share.     Surprisingly, people besides my husband loved my cakes.  Whenever I would bake a new recipe for the first time it would always be above par - except for the icing, that is.  

I need to practice more.

And more.

One day ago, I enrolled in "The Wilton Method of Cake Decorating Course 1:  Building Buttercream Skills" at my home away from home, Hobby Lobby.  I have always been a fan of Wilton though I regret not being able to visit their office during their tent sale in Woodridge, Illinois in the 2 years that we were just an hour away from them... sigh.

The course was not cheap but thankfully, it was 55% off when I signed up - that includes the nice and colorful Course 1 book.

I had some stuff at home but of course, I had to buy the Decorating Basics Student Kit which cost $34.99 (you could never have enough tips or spatulas, my Dahlings!).

The kit included everything you need to get started (that's what the label read).

12 Decorating Tips:  Round 1,3,12; Star 16,18,21; Open Star 1 M; Petal 104; Leaf 352, Bismark 230; Drop Flower 20; Multi-opening 233

4 standard couplers

2 10-inch reusable featherweight bags

2 disposable decorating bags

6 parchment triangles

15 in Flower nail

Cupcake nail

Decorator brush

12 Flower template stickers

9 in. spatula

Practice board with stand and patterns

Our teacher, Ms. Debra was very informative.  She taught us the basics and secrets of baking, how to make buttercream icing, how to make and determine the icing consistency.  We were asked to bring cookies to practice on but we didn't have time to do it but I'm gonna practice at home.  

I will be sharing with you more about it next week.

Our take home message:  Practice, practice, practice.

This is a 2 hour x once a week x 4 week class.  Fun huh?

Come and visit us next Wilton Wednesday, okay?!

See ya!

Happy baking!

♥  michelle  ♥