Recently I was thinking that it was time for me to learn something new. Because that’s always a good idea. At the same time, it’s summer. Also, I have a full-time job. So I wasn’t really up for anything too school-ey.
So after a minimal amount of research, I found out that Michaels craft store does a cake decorating course. It sounded like a fun way to learn something new without the pressure of exams or papers. It’s not an expensive course, and since it has always been my dream to cover the world in icing roses*, I roped in a couple of ladies from work and signed right up.
Yes, the class is cheap, but you have to buy a lot of stuff, which is kind of expensive. It’s something of a racket, really. This stuff here? Tip of the iceberg.
It’s just four weeks of Thursday evenings, so not even a big commitment.
Here’s the kicker though: you have to make cakes. And have them all ready to bring to class. (Are you saying to yourself, “Well, obviously, Stephanie.”? Yes, I thought so, you smug things, you. I like you less for that.)
And this is how it happened that I was sitting around last night — a work night — at midnight, waiting for cakes to bake. Which was a less than a stellar success, since I had my cakes on racks one above the other and the one on the bottom rose to such a height as to cook itself onto the rack above. So now one of my cakes is maimed and I’m going to have to clean out my oven.
One good cake. One maimed cake. The maimed cake is the one on the right.
But whatever. I know it looks bad there, but guess what?… Ta dah!!!
Perfect cakes. All evidence of maiming gone. How did I do it, you ask, I assume with admiring amazement? I turned them upside down. Stick around folks, and these are the kinds of tricks I’ll teach you. For free, even. Yes, I am generous in my domestic godliness.
On the first class, we got to decorate cookies. Sort of. Mostly the teacher just talked. (And wow, is she passionate about icing. I did not know that people could be that passionate about icing.) (She even gave us her email address in case we had cake or icing emergencies during the week.) So we only got to decorate things for the last 15 minutes or so. First, we practiced making little stars.
Look at those stars! Are they not perfect? Am I not an icing genius?
Then, we got to decorate our cookies. Well, cookie, since even though we were told to bring six cookies to decorate, we only decorated one. What with all the learning about icing and making stars and such, there wasn’t a whole lot of decorating time.
Masterpiece? Hell yeah. I’m totally quitting my day job.
My husband was underwhelmed by my cookie. Actual quote: “Um, don’t take this the wrong way, but is that really all you have to show for two hours of class?” Clearly he is a philistine, but I chose to take his reaction as the intimidated jealousy that it was. I can be magnanimous like that.
Tomorrow night I will decorate my cake. It’s going to be wonderful. I shall keep you posted.
* * * * *
* Not really my life-long dream. It never even occurred to me before a couple of weeks ago. I need to stop lying like this. I’m sorry.
My One Precious Life 
Love it. And totally something I would do, just for shits ‘n giggles.
Yeah, it’s pretty fun if you don’t let yourself get mired down in the need for perfection. I actually just got home from my second class and I’m somehow all sticky with icing. Despite the fact that I’m pretty sure I’m taking this whole thing much less seriously than everyone else in the class, (There are some super intense keeners who feel the need to waste everyone’s time trying to engage the teacher in debate over the merits of shortening versus butter in one’s icing recipes.) my cake was totally the best one there.