Online Class: Cake Decorating 101

"Crafting Culinary Masterpieces: The Ultimate Cake Decorating Adventure"

In the heart of every cake lies a story waiting to be told, and the brush that paints this narrative is cake decorating. It's the canvas where art meets culinary, and a blank cake is your opportunity to tell tales of love, celebrations, and milestones. Are you ready to embark on this delectable journey? Let's dive into the magical realm of cake decorating, where every swirl of icing and sprinkle of glitter transports you into a world of wonder.

Why Embark on this Journey?

Each one of us has a compelling reason:

• You've felt the heartbeat quicken at the sight of an intricately adorned wedding cake, imagining creating one with your personal touch.
• Perhaps, you've felt the allure of the seasons, dreaming of festive cakes embodying the spirit of holidays.
• Or, you've been inspired by a family member's baking prowess, secretly harboring aspirations to outshine them.
• Maybe, the allure of traditional homemaking crafts beckons you, hinting at a simpler time and a connection to timeless arts.
• Are you envisioning tantalizing masterpieces that could steal the show at competitions?
• Entrepreneurial dreams might be nudging at you, hinting at a profitable venture in bespoke cakes.
• Fundraising, community involvement, or simply the joy of gifting a hand-crafted delicacy - your reasons are as varied and special as the cakes you'll create.

Embark on a Transformative Experience:

1. Setting the Stage: Explore the dynamics of a perfect workspace, tailored to inspire and facilitate your culinary artistry.

2. The Foundation: Dive deep into the secrets of the perfect cake – moist, fluffy, and an impeccable base for your decorating dreams.

3. Tools of the Trade: Like a painter's brushes, your tools will define your art. Learn about every spatula, nozzle, and piping bag - and master their every move.

4. Art of Adornments: Marzipan fantasies, glazing wonders, royal icing elegance, and buttercream dreams. Embrace the myriad mediums to express your creativity.

5. Crafting Stories: From themed cakes echoing the laughter of children to wedding cakes echoing promises of forever, every occasion finds its soul in your creations.

6. Delightful Details: Master the finesse of sugar flowers, the drama of drips, and the precision of layered textures.

7. Cupcake Chronicles: Dive into the realm of these petite delights, understanding the nuances that make them the darlings of the dessert world.

8. Navigating Cake Catastrophes: Every artist faces challenges. Learn the secrets to tackle mishaps, turning potential disasters into delightful surprises.

Stay Ahead of the Curve:

As the world of cake decorating evolves, so will you. Stay updated with the latest trends, techniques, and flavors. From edible gold leaf to mirror glazes, from 3D printed embellishments to hand-painted masterpieces, your cakes will not just reflect the present but also hint at the future.

Why Choose This Course?

Cake decorating is more than a skill; it's a passion, an art, a way to communicate. It's about transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. It's about capturing emotions and memories into edible forms, making celebrations memorable and ordinary days special.

With every module, as your hands get covered in flour and your nose picks up the intoxicating aroma of baking, you'll experience a metamorphosis. From a novice to an artist, your journey will be filled with learnings, experiments, little triumphs, and tons of joy.

Join us in this sweet adventure, and let's craft not just cakes, but memories, stories, and dreams. Because when a cake leaves your kitchen, it takes a piece of your heart with it. Every slice shared is a slice of love, a slice of art, a slice of you. Let the world taste your story. Let's begin this mouthwatering odyssey.

 

Here's a preliminary list of supplies and equipment you'll need in order to get baking. However, keep in mind that this isn't by any means an all-encompassing list. You may come upon recipes that require something different or extra-special. But, these items should be enough to get you started.       

1. Mixers - Different recipes will call for different kinds of mixers. There are large, stand-up heavy-duty mixers (ideal for recipes that require extensive mixing times), or smaller, portable hand-held electric mixers (ideal for quick mixing and/or smaller quantities.)
    
2. Mixing bowls - We recommend that you invest in a graduated set of stainless steel bowls. Not only can they be heated and cooled, they also don't break and can be quickly and easily cleaned up. An added bonus? You can use the extra-large variety for sifting dry ingredients. Other uses? As a double boiler.
3. Double boilers - If you can find one (and you have the money to spare), double boilers are a necessity. However, you can create your own makeshift version easily, and without busting your budget. Just set a large stainless steel bowl over a large pot of boiling water (paying attention to any instructions as to whether you should allow the pan to touch water or not.) These are great, because you'll be using gentle, indirect heat to melt or cook a given ingredient (instead of burning it.) Uses: for melting chocolate, heating whipped cream for sauces and fillings, or heating eggs for a Genoise cake.
4.  Pastry brushes - Opt for natural bristles, versus synthetic ones. They're more flexible and maneuverable, and they hold more liquid (making brushing syrups less frustrating.) Uses: greasing pans, brushing syrup onto layer cakes.
5. Wax and parchment paper
6. 8-inch, 9-inch, and 10-inch round cake pans
7. Spring-form cake pans
8. Jellyroll pans
9. Cooling racks
10. A candy thermometer
11. Cake boards - They give your cake a more professional appearance and can be found in most baking supply stores. Remember to choose boards that are at least an inch larger than your cake pans.
12. Long serrated knife (at least 12 to 14 inches long, 1 inch wide and 1/8 inch thick) - This is needed to help split cakes into layers, to decorate the tops of frosted cakes, as well as to help lift cakes and other deserts off of your revolving cake stand.
13. Revolving cake stand - This single tool will significantly simplify the decoration stage. You can find plastic or metal models. Opt for one with a heavy-based stand, for balance and support, and a removable turntable disk. (Substitutions: plastic, metal, wooden, or marble Lazy Susans)
14. Spatulas (straight and angled) - Don't confuse these with rubber scrapers. This type more resembles a butter knife than a spatula. The angled variety is great for spreading and applying frosting.
15. Rubber scrapers - These are good for getting all of your mixes from your pots, pans, and bowls.
16. Drywall/Construction spatulas - You'll find these at a hardware store, not a baking supply chain. Created for drywall and cement, they also work well for frosting cakes and making fancy chocolate decorations on marble slabs.
17. Plastic bottles - These are like the kind restaurants use for ketchup, mustard, and barbecue sauce. You can use them to apply syrup, thinned jellies, and sauces.
18. Pastry triangle comb - it's about 3" in size with troweled teeth of various sizes and depths around the perimeter. Ideal for a clean, perfect, decorative flair for your icing.
19. Pastry bag and tips - These are for piping decorative designs and shapes, such as stars, swirls, tubes, rosettes, and other decorations onto your cake.
20. Sieves (small, medium, and large) - These are for sifting, mixing and straining mixtures.
21. Zester
22. Grater
23. Cake boxes
24. Various cake and candy molds

Planning And Designing Your Cake
 

One of the reasons many cakes turn out less than perfect stems from a failure to devote enough (or any) time to the planning and design of your cake.  

 

Obviously, you're looking to present something a bit more spectacular than your standard Duncan Hines, so you've got to approach this cake differently.

 

Use the answer to these questions, and other questions that come to mind, to help you plan and design your cake from start to finish before you ever even think about breaking out the flour and baking pans. Additionally, you need to come up with a reasonable, accurate time schedule in order to create the most captivating cake you possibly can. 

 

 

Your final preparation before you actually begin baking, will be setting up your work space, and doing it with ease and efficiency in mind. First of all, don't even think about starting your baking in a "dirty" kitchen. Clean and disinfect all surfaces, get your dishes done and start with a clean slate. Next, you'll need to set out all of your materials - your baking supplies, your recipe(s), your cake game plan, as well as any extras you might need (like timers for super-special items like sugar copy photo print outs for decoration, etc.)   Finally, you need to get yourself ready. Wash your hands, put on your apron and make sure you've cleaned out your schedule so you can dedicate enough time to the task at hand.

Only after you've done all of these things will you be ready to get started baking that cake!