Ah welcome back kindly blog readers. My last post was about a class I took to improve my cake decorating skills. This is the exciting conclusion. I may be overselling this a bit.
I'm always interested in making more professional looking cakes. I'm a hobby baker, I don't sell cakes, I don't think I could take the pressure. None the less I want my cakes to look like I could. I took the class to focus on getting that perfect finish on the coating layer whether that be ganache or buttercream. I have long known the secret to covering a cake in fondant smoothly is a perfect coating on the cake.
That was the second thing I wanted to achieve. A perfect fondant layer. I usually find myself disappointed with my fondant covered cakes because they just aren't perfect. I end up with puckers or little tears, wrinkled fondant which is called elephant skin (nice). I had turned to making my own fondant which helped a bit but this class really gave me confidence, so I shall tackle my next fondant project with gusto!
The class covered the following:
- covering your cake board
- cutting & stacking a cake
- making ganache
- filling a cake with ganache
- covering a cake with ganache
- achieving that perfect sharp edged ganache finish
- covering a layer cake in fondant
- creating a lustre dust painted finish
- making and applying wafer paper flowers.
Phew, that's a lot - probably why it took all day.
I did say last time that I wasn't going to give away any of the actual guidance from the class, that's only fair. I paid to learn and Kirsty earns a living from teaching it, so stealing her Intellectual Property would be unkind. BUT one tip I will pass on is that patience does seem to be the trick with ganache. We all spent a considerable portion of the class covering and smoothing our cakes. That is fine in a class, and most of us there are the perfectionist type, so we took the time to get it right. I just hope I can get faster because I won't always have all the time I want to cover a cake.
*Update* I have since covered a couple more cakes in ganache and I'm getting MUCH quicker - so practice makes perfect.
It has to be said, much to my husband's delight (he is not Team Buttercream), I may never buttercream a layer cake again - fill it yes, cover it no. I'm a ganache girl now.
Aside from anything else the cake I took home was yummy
Oh and I enjoyed the experience of taking a class so much I've booked myself on another one. If that's not an endorsement then I don't know what is.
I'd love to hear about your class experiences and recommendations!!
