Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Cake?

Yes, to answer the question simply, you can have too much cake.


For Christmas, Galyn got me a great gift ... Cake decorating classes. This is something I've never done before and thought it would be really interesting and fun. My mind trailed off thinking about the bukoos of birthdays that we have in front of us with 3 small boys and how wonderful it will be ... I'll be able to make all their cakes! OR, was I more excited about an escape from the house every Tuesday night from 6:30 to 9 for FIVE weeks, since we had 3 boys ages 4 and under? Well, either way I was looking forward to the classes.


Galyn found a bakery in the area that does classes and it was such a great deal, 5 classes for $50. Not bad, right?


The first class there was no cake decorating for us. We basically just sat there watching the instructor ice her own cake, giving us tips on what we should do and not do, what sort of tools were helpful and so forth. The instructor had obviously been doing this for a long time and made everything look pretty easy (which I found out later). I also noticed that it seemed like everyone around me was taking notes on everything she said. And I, who only brought myself to class, was not prepared for note taking. We were given a folder which had most of the important things ... so, I'm still not exactly sure what everyone was writing down.

The classed ended with them cutting the cake with fishing wire (a trick they use to keep the decorations on the cake from getting deformed when it's cut) and we each tried a piece. The cake tasted good. But it was only about 8pm at this point. That's when we were instructed to open our folder to the supply list. They let us know what things were essential and what things would make it 'more fun'. And, just for the record, this list went on and on ... It was overwhelming. They also were sure to let us know that out in the store part of the building they had all they supplies we would need and they would be opened late to accommodate us.

I gathered up my list and walked to the store area. (Yeah, I didn't know anything about anything). Half of the things on the list I had know idea what it was or where to even look for it. I finally had to find someone that worked there and they walked me around like they were my personal shopper. It was as I was checking out that I realized how their little system worked ... cheap classes, expensive supplies. Okay, they're probably not that expensive, but when you have NO cake decorating supplies AT ALL and need everything, the cost is surprising. So, a couple hundred dollars later I was all set to decorate cakes. I was sure to let Galyn know that this was a gift that kept on giving.

For the Cakes themselves, we were told to use Duncan Hines Cake mix, but not 1, you need to use 2 boxes. Apparently over the years, the Duncan Hines cake mixes have gotten smaller. So to fill the pans properly you need 1 1/2 boxes of mix ... so you really just have to make two boxes of cake mix and figure out what you want to do with the rest. Thus, not only did I have the cake for class, but I also had about 12 cupcakes each week too. And, as you can imagine, we were having cake with every meal, sending it up to the boys school and then eventually just throwing it away.

On a side note, this Bakery uses the Duncan Hines Cake Mixes for their Cakes TOO! I didn't realized that a real bakery used cake mix from a box for their cakes.

Cake 1 - The Cupcake Cake


Pretty cute ... I think it looked better in person though. The icing colors were a little Easter-ish, but I didn't think it looked too bad for my first official decorated cake.









Cake 2 - Character cake
For this class we had to bring a cake that had been baked in one of those Character pans you always see in cake aisle of a Michael's or Hobby Lobby. The first pan I bought was a Buzz Lightyear pan (He is a Hero in our house). But then I realized it had about 10 different icing colors on it and I totally chickened out. I went back and got a simpler pan with fewer colors.





Cake 3 - I don't know what they call this one.

Before you say anything ... I know what you're thinking "That's awful!" But it really is supposed to look like that. This was a Test cake. Basically we just tried all different tips and techniques on all sided of the cake.

We also practiced writing with icing using different fonts. At first I was going to write 'Happy Birthday' but then didn't want to commit to writing such a long word like Birthday. So, obviously, I opted for love.

And really, who doesn't want a cake that says, "Happy Love"?

Cake 5 - The Rose Cake (or Grocery store Cake)

It was definitely fun learning to make roses and some other flowers. The end design ended up looking like a cake you would find in a grocery store. But I was really proud of my two tone roses.

Here are some other things I've made recently ....

Rainbow Cupcakes

Mmm, Taste the Rainbow! (Oh, wait, I think that belongs to skittles)

Happy Birthday, here's your wedding cake.

This was a birthday cake for my Mom and Michael, (but as Tyler pointed there were only pink flowers ... sorry Uncle Mike). I got a little carried away with the roses, and didn't leave enough room to write anything.