Lovely, intoxicating buttercream

My new hobby started off by chance. By chance, one insanely hot summer Saturday I decided to traipse over to my local Michael's in search of some relief from my monotonous weekend. Some yarn perhaps? Or maybe to take in the vision of all that pretty paper I wanted but didn't need? By chance, I happened upon a table of fliers and an eager, friendly voice that drew me in. Would you be interested in a course in cake decorating? I've always been curious about the techniques one uses for those fabulous cakes that I've encountered throughout my life. What? It's only $17.50 to register? And you have a $5 off coupon? I'll think about it. By the time I wandered through out the store, I had made my decision. Why not? It was nothing I was set on learning, or was passionate about, like knitting, but what else do I have to do? Now would be a perfect time to pick up a new hobby, considering my husband is, and will be gone, for many more months now. Why not?

So began my tutelage. I jumped right in, buying the essential student kit and receiving a 40% off coupon. That's how Michael's gets you to come back, by the way. You can't just waste that coupon! You have to use it! Fortunately enough for me, there was always something else I needed to buy for this new obsession, so this dilemma of deciding what to use it on was avoided. That's how it is when you first start out. Every weekend I went to class, I had to buy something for the next one, so those 40% off coupons saved me a lot of money! I need another kit for the next course and it costs $32?! Fugedaboutit. I'll use the coupon! That handy dandy carrying case for all my cake decorating supplies is $40?! Psh! I have a coupon! Yeah....Michael's got a lot of money out of me!

Tonight was my last class ever. It was momentous. While I am happy that I will no longer need to stay up until 1 am Tuesday nights frosting and covering  a cake with fondant for class the next day, I'm also sad that it's over. In previous courses, I kind of half-assed my final cake, since our instructor is so lenient. Because this was my last class, I actually picked a cake from the course book and set to work. It took me 2 hours to make all the petunias and leaves for the cake I picked. Petunias....grrr!!! They were one of my least favorite flowers to make because mine didn't even remotely resemble petunias. Until I realized the cake I really wanted to make required 18 of them! I'm a master now!

I'm so proud of how this one turned out. I actually tried, and while not perfect, it is quite honestly the most elegant looking cake I've made. So without further ado, here are a few snapshots.

The course book with the picture of Wilton's very, VERY perfect cake is in the background. I really wanted that peachy color for the flowers because I just fell in love with it! After a few minutes of lamenting the fact that I had no peach coloring, I realized I had pink and yellow from last week's lesson and would end up with something close if I mixed them together. Yay!

Here's another view. 

A close up of the dots. Oh, the dots! They more resemble Hershey's Kisses. I was too lazy to let them dry a little to flatten them with my finger tips and by the time I decided to do it, the buttercream had already crusted. I'm sure I'll be the only one to notice the imperfections. This one will go to my starving scientists!

This motivates me to do more. I would love to make a wedding cake!

Short on words, but plenty of pictures

I haven't been very motivated lately to write. I think there is a permanent butt print on my couch due to obsessive knitting of my Alexander McQueen Knockoff sweater. I want to finish it in time to wear it at least once before it gets too warm! Granted, it's still hitting 90 during the day, but that hopefully means I have more time!

On to the baking/cake decorating projects I've been up to.

I got this out of Jon's "recipe box" on Willams-Sonoma (he loves that store). It is challah, my first attempt at baking bread. It turned out pretty well! There are supposed to be four strands braided, but I gave up after numerous attempts. Maybe next time!


Next up, Marth Stewart's Dark Chocolate Cookies with Espresso. As desserts go, I have to say that my favorite flavor combination by far is coffee with chocolate. The coffee just intesifies the chocolate and these two compliment each other very well. It is a flavor that I will have to enjoy on my own because Jon doesn't like coffee.

This is my final cake from my Wilton cake decorating class, course 2. We learned how to work with royal icing and had to make these flowers ahead of time. I love royal icing because it keeps for so long!

And for the grand finale, my very first fondant and gum past cake! I just finished this tonight, in fact. We covered the cake board and cake in class, but didn't have time for much else. I added all the parts in white that you see here. It was very half-assed because I really want to get back to my knitting project! I figured I had to make somewhat of an effort before my co-workers cut into this, but wasn't willing to invest anymore time on it. I hope it tastes good!

Ok, off to knit. Goodnight!