Lessons Learned
I'm a high school music teacher doing cake decorating as a hobby. There's an educational-grain running through me that simply won't let me add pictures without some sort of learning / teaching involved! It's like everything life comes with a lesson... I'm going to post my pictures below, but I'm also going to add what I learned from the exercise.
Sunflower Cupcakes
Sunflower & Rose Cupcakes in Buttercream
Sunflowers: Fugeos and #355 Rose: Pedals using #127D, Leaves with #355 Lesson Learned: Don't use too big of a tip. I had the normal #104 tip, but I wanted to use something big enough for the cupcake, so I went all the way up to the #127D. Too big. This is buttercream, not royal icing. None of the roses survived more than a few hours because they all toppled over. Pretty Doesn't Always Equal Tasty
When I first got back to China, I was desperate to decorate but didn't own a mixture. I didn't want to attempt a proper buttercream icing without one and so bought a bunch of store bought icings. I used a normal cupcake box mix and then used the large drop flower tip to make the pink ruffles. I then sprinkled red edible sparkles on top. They looked absolutely gorgeous, though they had all melted by the time I got to the party.
Lessons Learned: 1. When you live in one of the four furnaces of China, you have to expect your creations to melt. Buy a cooler. 2. Pretty doesn't always equal tasty. Months later, people were still talking about how awful those cupcakes tasted. I stuck my finger in for a taste-test and totally agreed. They were awful! 3. Sometimes mistakes work out! I didn't mean to use the drop flower tip, but loved the result. |
Birthday Bouquet
A Birthday Bouquet.
8" X 4" Chocolate cake covered in Maple Buttercream using a basket weave (#48), two ropes (#18) and rosettes (#18). Sugar flowers in gum paste, including: vines, dogwoods, roses, stefanotis, calla lilies, stargazer lilies, tiger lilies, cymbidium orchids, daisies and hydrangeas. Flowers made by Amy & Holly Keus. Flowers dusted by Holly Keus Lesson Learned: Don't be afraid. This was my very first cake constructed entirely by myself. Without Lorena, a Wilton instructor, by myself, I was procrastinating. Finally I just buckled down and did it. Even the Bad Gets Eaten
I had some left over icing from a BBQ - again, store bought, nasty stuff - and wanted to get rid of it, so I piped some onto chocolate cupcakes. I used the proper IM tip and didn't like the effect as well as the drop flower. These looked good, but just carrying them from the taxi to the school fridge caused most of them to slide right off the cupcake. It didn't matter though, because they were all eaten within moments of reaching the staff room.
Lessons Learned: 1. Why haven't I bought a cooler yet! I live in one of the four furnaces of China, for goodness sake! 2. Sometimes it doesn't matter how it tastes - in a staff room full of hungry teachers, the food is going to disappear. |
Giant Flowered Cupcake
Wilton Giant Cupcake decorated in royal icing flowers, including: Roses, Daffodils, Sweat Peas, Rose Buds, Carnations, Pansies, Primroses, Orchids, Bachelor Buttons, Petunias, Lilies, Apple Blossoms
Lesson Learned: Humidity will kill a cake. I decorated this on a very humid day and struggled to get the icing stiff enough. I kept adding sugar to stiffen it up. Finally, I stuck it in the fridge between steps and then stored it in a cellar before the "big reveal." Well, the big reveal was a big reveal for me as well - we were all shocked to find the icing had dripped off the cake. The kids loved it anyhow, but I was glad to have taken pictures beforehand. Next time: When humid, dramatically reduce the amount of liquids. Store in the fridge in a cardboard box with some Arm & Hammer. Make sure your icing layer isn't too thick / top heavy. Deja Vu / Already Seen
This is my third time doing these cupcakes and I do get better every time. I looked at a picture of the first time I ever did these, before I attended the Wilton course, and they were really awful! I laughed very hard when I saw that picture.
Lesson Learned: It's good to have an old favourite that you can throw out whenever you need a quick idea. It's also good to branch out and try new things as well. |
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