Class 2 - C is for CAKE YUMNUMNUMNUMMM

For class 2, we had to bring in a cake and homemade buttercream frosting along with a layer filling. I decided to go with an oreo cake (cookies and cream?) So I used Dunkin Hines dark chocolate box cake mix (I wasn't quite brave enough to try making a cake from scratch yet!), and the filling I made by using a buttercream frosting (homemade) with crushed oreos and a tsp of almond extract. DELICIOUS! For the regular buttercream frosting, I stuck with vanilla extract. 

This would be the first of many things for me. Firsts:

1. Making homemade buttercream frosting
2. Making homemade filling
3. Making a layer cake
4. Crumb coating
5. Spending 45 minutes just to frost the 8" round cake!
6. Using gel food colorings.  SUPER COOL!

I decided to send the cake in with P to his office.  It was a super tasty cake, and P said most of it was devoured before 9am!  He managed to save me a little piece and YUMMMMMM!! 

Next week is cupcakes, but I have to miss class due to a ship party.  My friend Cobie and I will get together during the week though and I will teach her what she missed last class, and she will teach me what I miss in this next class.  I also am going to make my first attempt at a layer cake for the Peruvian ship that is here visiting.  It shall be there on the day they leave so they will get a tasty treat on their trip to their next port!! :)

Here is my newest toy whipping up that dark chocolate cake.  It's no KitchenAid, but it's a Sunbeam and I love it!  It made making the cake, frosting, and filling a lot easier!

Here is my cake. It is already filled and crumb coated. I used the filling frosting as the crumb coat. This is the first time I have ever done a crumb coat - thanks to Lisa who told me to do it! I think it made frosting a bit easier :)

At the class, we frosted our cakes. It took me about 45 minutes to get my cake looking this smooth. I found a tip on pinterest that supposedly makes it a lot easier than dealing with spatulas, but I will have to try that at home and see how it works, and the cake needs to be chilled to do the "trick!" Anyhow, I was very proud of the smoothness factor of my first cake!

Finished!  Here is cake #1  The gel transfer didn't work so well on my cake because I covered it while it was supposed to be "drying" so I had to freehand the fishy a bit.  We had to choose between making a fish or making a cupcake (design) on the cake.  The other 2 peeps in my class chose to do the cupcake design.  Not to brag, butttttttt....Mine was WAY better!!!

In the class we just had to make the puffy design on the top (fish) but I thought it looked way too plain.  So I designed to use the other 2 techniques we had learned so far - stars and lines!  The borders are the lines (cut me some slack peeps!  We just started lines during this class!) and the stars are on the side.  I drew on the "seaweed" and "bubbles."