Cake Decorating

Ok. So my friend Sandy talked me into taking this beginner's cake decorating class on Wednesday nights. I have always wanted to do it. I used to work in a bakery as a high school student and was always pretty good at the cakes. I think I lost everything in the past "x" number of years since then.

Not only could I not get my frosting to the correct consistency, I couldn't even get my hand to stop shaking. I was not nervous. I don't know why it was shaking so bad, possibly the lack of caffeine.

So back to the frosting consistency for a quick sec. The "teacher" comes around and comments on how beautifully made our (Sandy's and mine) frosting was. Then she says it is too thick to squeeze through the tip and that our wrists are going to hurt, so we needed to thin out the frosting. Ok. So I know I am supposed to stir in a touch of water to thin it a bit, but exactly how thin are we supposed to make it? So I thin it a bit and ask her if it is the correct consistency. No, she says, thin it a little more, just a little. So I do. I call her over again. No, she says, more. Ok. So I thin it some more, and then begin coloring it. My "red" is not so much red as it is pink, but whatever.

So I am trying to fill my disposable decorator's bag that is holding my "16 tip", what a messy disaster. I get the bag filled after about 5 minutes and begin practicing my "stars" on the practice board that came in my kit. I thought the frosting was a little soft, but she's the one that kept telling me to thin it more, so here we go.. I finish the practice board and call the teacher over. She takes one look and says, "NO".. aaaarrrrggghhhhh!!

She says, "squeeze, 1..2.3.. then up". I said, "I did, but the frosting is to soft". "No," she says, "I told you right consistency." So she grabs my bag and starts squeezing. "Oh yeah, huh? Too soft." DUH!!!

So then I have to add more stiff frosting to every bowl of "too soft" frosting and start again. Meanwhile, Sandy is just blowing through everything fabulously (as she usually does.. I guess when you got it, you got it, right?). I'm getting more upset by every minute that passes. I started the class to have fun, and quite frankly, at that point in time, it was absolutely no fun at all. I was livid.

So I continue to try and get my frosting right, with not much if any help from the teacher. I put it back in the bag and try again. It looks fine enough to me, after the 7th attempt to do a straight line of stars. So I say, ok, I'm ready to make my clown. I grab my crummy (pun intended), not so beautifully frosted, chocolate cake and begin filling another bag with frosting.

I soon discover that I don't know how to make a clown. HA!! I saw her show Sandy once, and Sandy's turned out great, so I thought to myself, "Surely you got this one, Ash." So I begin squeezing the frosting through this giant "2D" tip. I was thinking I should have used a different tip, but that is the one the teacher told us to use, so like any good pupil, I do what she says. What do I know, right?

I get my not so joyful looking clown onto my cake and am then informed that I get to unleash my creativity and decorate the rest of the cake. It is already 5 minutes past time for class to be over, so I grab my "16" and pinkish frosting and start going to town. I have to tell you, the best part of the end product, besides the taste, was the writing I threw in last minute to tell my kids "I Love You".. LOL..