Two Spoonfuls: Cake Decorating!

Welcome back! I realize I haven't been blogging much lately, and I apologize. I just don't think I've had much to say. I've been super busy trying to get the house in order, making things for my shops and taking a cake decorating class. I've always wanted to learn how to decorate cakes so I'm finally doing it. I've just finished the first course of the Wilton Method at my local JoAnn store. It was a nice, small group and the instructor is great.

So, as you may have guessed already, I'm going to talk about cake this week. I've had to make two cakes for this class and both times I used a cake mix. Yeah, I know, that's just the way it goes. With all the buttercream I've had to make lately, I really don't have time for a cake from scratch. This week I went with a yellow cake mix from Pillsbury. It is delicious, FYI (and only cost $1.25).

If you have a stand mixer, you know about the gunk that gets stuck at the bottom of the bowl. When my sister told me about the Beater Blade she got at Crate & Barrel, I had to get one for myself. I'm hooked! It works. Get one. NOW!!

See that? It scrapes the bowl and gets to the bottom. I love it. Thanks for the tip, Veronica.

I got some nice new cake pans at Williams Sonoma recently too. They work like a dream. I made two layers for my cake and trimmed the top with one of these. It's quite a handy little gadget. Did you know you're supposed to decorate the bottom of the cake? Makes sense, doesn't it?

For class, I had to arrive with a stack of different colored buttercream in several consistancies. I've gone through four pounds of powdered sugar in two weeks. yikes! Here's how my cake looked when I left the house. A little bland.

Here's how it looked when I got home. I had mixed up some aqua buttercream, but it was just too bold to go with the pale pink. I'm pretty happy with the look of my cake. I've now graduated Course One, on to Course Two!

The cake is yummy but I had to send most of it to work with Nick. We just can't be left alone with a whole cake or we'll eat it. haha Next week I start another course. I think it's all about making flowers with royal icing. I can't wait!

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I think Jenn's been baking too, let's see what she's got going.