Wilton School of Cake Decorating & Confectionary Art

At some point last year, I decided to take some classes in cake decorating to improve my untrained skills.  So, I enrolled in the Master Course at the Wilton School of Cake Decorating & Confectionary Art, which is located in Darien, Illinois.  Wilton has been around for over 80 years, and have been teaching students the skills needed to excel in the art of cake decorating.  The Master course is a 2 week, Mon-Fri course in which we learn everything from the basics of creating a party cake, to the assembly and decor of a 3-tiered wedding cake.

I'm so very happy that I made the decision to take these courses.  I learned so much while I was up there, and I will continue to take my newly acquired skills to the next level.  Thank you so much to all the people to made this possible for me, you know who you are!  I will do my very best to make you proud and continue to make you some sweet treats! :)  

Here are some amazing photos that my sister-in-law Kristen took with her awesome camera...lets face it, my iPhone pictures just don't do the cakes justice!

Here is my first project, the "birthday" cake.  The purpose of this cakes isn't necessarily to be the prettiest cake ever.  It was for us to practice on a cake instead of boards, and also for us to show that we can accomplish everything that we were taught to do.  All through the first week as we were learning how to make flowers, we saved a few of each kind.  We divided up the cake into sections, and did different boarders and piping work for each section.  After all the sections were done, we took our saved flowers and made a bouquet on top.    Here is my finished project:

Our final project was to create a wedding cake of our own design.  I can't even tell you how many times I changed the design of my cake, but I knew I wanted something simple, and elegant.  I chose to do a white and moss green color scheme, with lots and lots of roses (over 100)!  The roses are white and 3 different shades of moss green.  I'm very happy with the way it turned out....

 

 

Pumpkin Patch

As the holidays approach, I thought I'd test out some seasonal flavors!  This weeks test was Pumpkin cupcakes.  Let me just say, that I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin to begin with, but I'm going to made a bold statement and say that these are the best tasting cupcakes I've made yet!  They are moist,  full of flavor, and have the perfect not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting to top them off.  These are perfect for the fall season!

First time for fondant!

I was very excited about making this birthday cake because this was the first time I got to use fondant, as well as my first tiered cake!! I was given full creative reign, so I had a good idea of what I wanted the cake to look like, and I picked my favorite colors: pink, black, and white.  As I said, this was my first time working with fondant, and lets just say between dying it and rolling it out, I learned a lot!  It was not as easy to work with as I thought it was going to be!  There were a few moments where I wanted to pull my hair out, or throw the cake out the window, but I stuck with it.  It was a good learning experience, and I know my next one will turn out much better!  This cake was made with basic yellow cake with a mocha mousse filling.  Here is the end result....

Exciting News!

As much as I love baking and decorating cakes and cupcakes, I still have a lot to learn!  Everything I've learned in baking so far has been from watching my mother, grandmother, and aunt in the kitchen all these years.  Everything I've learned in decorating has been from watching shows like Ace of Cakes, or Cake Boss.  I haven't had any formal training thus far, and although I consider myself creative, there is only so much I can do being self-taught.  So, after much thought and consideration, I decided to register for classes at the Wilton School of Cake Decorating in Darien, Illinois!  I've enrolled in their Master Course, where I will learn to make 15 different flowers, 20 types of borders, and by the end of the course will be doing a 3-tiered wedding cake!  The session I'm enrolled in is from January 25th - February 5th 2010.  Until then, I will continue to make cakes to the very best of my ability, and will be counting the days until I can take my skills to the next level!  Thank you to all my family and friends for their amazing support in making me realize the potential I have, and encouraging me to take this next step! 

Who doesn't love PB&J?!?

Simple peanut butter cupcakes, made with all-natural peanut butter and dry-roasted peanuts as well.  

 

Then, each cupcake is filled with grape or strawberry jelly so you get a taste of jelly with every bite.  The cupcakes are covered with peanut butter frosting, and topped off with another spoonful of jelly for good measure!

 

Who needs a sandwhich when you have these?!

Another 1st Birthday!

This past week we celebrated another 1st birthday in our circle of friends!  My good friend Natashia's baby boy had a nice birthday party on Saturday, and I had the honor of baking the cupcakes for all to enjoy!  Natashia requested basic vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla-blue buttercream frosting. 

 

Again, I apologize for the low-quality pictures, taken with my iPhone.  Hopefully Santa will bring me a nice camera for Christmas!!  =)

1st Birthday!

My oldest brother and his wife, who live in Chicago, came down to Florida a few weeks back in July.  While they were here, we decided to throw a birthday party for their baby girl Lola who turned 1 on August 1st.  The theme of the party was of course, cupcakes! Here are a few pictures from the party:

 

Our nice set up full of goodies, and a chocolate fountain that decided not to flow =(

Upon special request, my famous Red Velvet Cupcakes!  

 

"Fun to Be 1" cupcake tower 

Brownie pops dipped in chocolate with various toppings