Course I

What Did We Learn In Class 1?

How to bake a great cake
The importance of following recipe directions
The benefits of using quality baking pans
How to properly prepare a pan
The importance of accurate measuring
How to prevent a cake from forming a "dome" (using Bake-Even Strips)
How to test a cake for doneness
How to easily remove cakes from pans
How to make Class Buttercream Icing (recipe on page 9)
The characteristics of each icing ingredient
Icing consistency is the 1st of the 3 essentials of Decorating
There are 3 consistencies, Stiff, Medium and Thin
When to use each consistency
How to prepare decorating bags with couplers and tips
How to fill a decorating bag
We "burp" decorating bags because they will ALWAYS burp themselves when we don't want them to!
How to tort and fill a cake
How to ice a cake smooth
There are 6 tip "families"
What each family does
How to use the star tip
How to transfer a pattern using piping gel
Where to find easy patterns, coloring books, websites...google "easy line drawings"
How to perfect our techniques...PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
If something can go wrong it will!. Laugh it off and re-group!

Pictures

This cake uses techniques learned in Course I, class 1

Week 2

Drop Flowers

Week 3

Cupcakes

Week 4

Final Cakes

Shontae

Rosalind

What Did We Learn In Class 2?

With the proper consistency icing WILL crust.
If the icing is too thin it WILL NOT crust...EVER!
If the icing is too stiff it will not spread smoothly and will tear the cake.
If icing is not applied thick enough it will tear the cake.
If you apply too much pressure you will tear the cake.
Cakes tear a lot easier then we think!
You must wait (patiently) until a firm crust has developed before smoothing.
When adding the liquid to an icing recipe it is better to add 1 teaspoon at a time.

We can always add...we cannot take away!

When in doubt about your consistency, make it on the thick side and try

a small section/technique. If too thick, add more liquid.

The Second Essential of Decorating is Bag Position.
Bag Position refers to

The angle the bag is held...90* or 45*

The Direction to hold the back of the bag...3:00, 4:30 or 6:00 (9:00, 7:30
or 6:00 for "lefties")

The Third Essential of Decorating is Pressure Control

Pressure affects the size and uniformity of your design.

When your icing is not performing correctly take a deep breath, keep calm, Self Check:

Icing Consistency

Bag Position

Pressure Control

Jerky movements create jerky designs! Smooth and steady gets it right.
Stars should NOT be see-through! Let the icing build before lifting up.
A little bit of gel color goes a loooong way!
Liquid food coloring can be used in icing but it will water down the consistency. It may also separate in high humidity.
The heat of your hand will melt buttercream icing.
When piping a dot keep the tip buried in the icing until you release the pressure.

Practice makes perfect! Practice, Practice, Practice!

What Did We Learn In Class 3?

The cupcake was named such because they were originally baked in teacups! Cupcakes took less time to bake when hearth baking was the early oven.

The importance of self checking our Three Essentials:
Icing consistency
Bag position
Pressure control
Almost all problems can be traced to one of the above
How to make drop star and swirled flowers
The flowers don't look like much until they have a defined center dot!
How to make a rosette
The rosette should be piped on the center star, not around it
When piping the flowers above, the bag is held sideways.
How to pipe a shell border
There are several ways to pipe the shell border
How to use a flower nail
Thin icing is used for piping leaves
If the icing consistency is too stiff the leaves will crack or split
Stiff icing is really hard to pipe!
Icing can be thinned by adding water 1 teaspoon at a time
Icing can be thickened by adding additional powdered (10-X) sugar
The three types of leaves are basic, ruffled and stand-up.
The leaf tip is positioned with the two points vertical
Tip #230, the Bismarck tip is used to fill cupcakes, (eclairs and donuts too)
Tip #233, a specialty tip, is used to pipe mums, grass, hair and fur
Tip #233 can also be used to create a haystack!

Please leave feedback about your classes

What Did We Learn In Class 4?

Our work has really improved since that first week! We have made new friends who shared a common interest. Together we learned what fun cake decorating is!

We have learned:

* Use thin icing for piping words/letters to keep the lines from breaking

* We can thin icing with piping gel or corn syrup for more elasticity/less breaking

* How to use a flower nail

* How to make the ribbon rose

* To "self-check" when icing isn't cooperating

* To recognize the 3 different icing consistencies

* Which consistency is used for each decorating technique

* We should not ice a frozen cake.

* WE CAN DO ANYTHING IF WE SET OUR MINDS TO IT!