that's what she baked.

Oo oo oo! I forgot to say what kind of cake I made in my class last weekend. It was a margarita cake! When class starts, we usually get a small packet of recipes and then the instructor/chef sometimes does a demo and talks about some techniques we might use during that class. And following my baking class last weekend, I was going to a bridal shower and bachelorette party for my dear friend Laura. Her and Will (another great pal… I take credit for introducing them) are getting married on Cinco de Mayo, and a margarita cake could not have been more perfect.

Pictured: (top) I brought the cakes to the bridal shower and they were a hit! (below) As part of the evening festivities, we went to The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant in Boston and dipped yummy bites in fancy chocolates. The bride to be is sporting a fantastic sombrero. 

Advanced Techniques in Baking, Week 3: Cakes II

Back in December, in the first series of baking classes I took, I made my very first cake. It was a layer cake, and I thought that was pretty tough by itself, trying to make it look nice and not chopping it up and such.. but I really liked making it. I then started looking at cakes in stores and wondered how the heck they get the edges so darn smooth.. well, last weekend, at the CSCA, I learned how…

They use cake rings! I have wondered what those rings were for, seeing them hanging up in kitchens, before, and now I know It’s quite a process (bake the cakes, slice the cakes, fill a different ring with the frosting, put down a layer of cake, soak it, frosting, cake, soak, frosting… etc.) But it lends to a mighty pretty cake. (I also put together a second messy cake really quickly without building it in a ring because I had a lot of extra frosting and cake but class was finishing)

More views of the cake and white wine cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting.

I’ve made those cupcakes 3 times now and they’re killer. It all went very well and I am very proud and I got paid. Pictures from the party to come.

More from week for baking class: cakes!

Specifically, my cake. As I mentioned before, it was my very first cake. And I loooved making it and was so darn proud! The recipe I choose was a white wine cake, with a chocolate butter cream frosting. At first I didn’t like the frosting and thought it was my fault, but then reminded myself, I don’t like frosting all that much. And then it grew on me anyway. 

I should share this recipe, because it was DA BOMB. That’s the best way to describe it. The taste of the alcohol in the wine completely disappeared and you could taste a hint of the grapes and the texture was great (please ignore the slightly under-baked center… because it didn’t matter) and the combination with the frosting was just right. I have added this cake to my favorite things to make (not an actual list as of now, just something floating around in my head), but definitely a go-to recipe. 

I had almost forgotten about this! Here are some pictures from week 4 baking class: cakes. This was the first weekend of December.

I was quite bummed that it was the last week of the class, but that didn’t make me enjoy it any less. I baked, iced and constructed and decorated a simple layer cake. Something I oddly enough, have never done before. I’ve made tons of cupcakes, but never a whole cake from scratch. Pictured above are other peoples cakes, demos and tests. 

A tip from this class (it might even be common cake-sense): Slice the top of the cake (layers) off for 2 main reasons.. One, so you have a flat surface to ice, and two, so you have scrap cake to test the frosting with. 

And I bring you… A cake I had absolutely nothing to do with. 

Over vacation, friends from work got married. Another fellow teacher made the cake and many helped put it together (I was a little pre-occupied playing on the swing set and there were a lot of people in the kitchen). They got married on the beach (which is a couple of blocks from their house) and rode their tandem bicycle home. They had a BBQ cook-out type party and it was so happy and lovely and really a lot of fun

I’ve been meaning to put these up for a couple of weeks. I was actually supposed to help make the cake, but timing didn’t work out. I hope you enjoy the pictures. 

Congratulations to Chris and Yoshino!