Cake Decorating Course #1- Graduated!

Well, the first course is done and now I'm getting ready to work on a few cakes that are to be completed over the next few weeks. I will be starting the next one in about a week and a half so I'm definitely excited- but until then, here's my final cake!

I sent this into Ryan's work, where they are always looking forward to Friday!

A close up look at the roses.

An even closer look at the roses with the leaves....amazingly beautiful! I love making these roses!

The side of the cake with a vine and leaves. I did put a vine on the top of the cake as well to connect all of the flowers, but you may not be able to see it in the pictures above. 

I hope you enjoy- I've been loving every minute of the classes and all the practice I have been getting so you will be sure to see more. Here's a quick picture of some quick cupcakes I made for a family gathering. Simple, but beautiful! I love the bright yellow pop of the colorful flowers on top of the white icing.

Have a wonderful day! See you soon, I hope and make sure to let me know what you think so far!

First Cake Completed!

I've finally done it! I've completed my first cake order and if I can toot my own horn, I think it looks pretty amazing! We'll see what Scott thinks of it tomorrow at his wife's surprise birthday party! Here's an idea of what he'll be seeing!

Getting ready to decorate....

A tree, ready for the cake

Ryan's is on the left and mine is on the right....obviously I haven't learned how to use fondant or make people yet. Maybe he will be my teacher!

Yes, this is a tree in a mug!

The cake layers- white with white frosting, ready for its crumb coat.

Cake with crumb coat

Final product

The side of the final cake.

The final product...again.

The sign to signify where all of the canoe tipping adventures happened to the birthday girl

Final product- Karen is in the water after her canoe tipped over and everything spilled out. This was for a surprise birthday party!

I hope you enjoyed my first adventure in cake decorating! I'll be starting my next class soon so look for my pictures from that soon!

New name, New trade

Ok, so I'm definitely a woman....I can change my mind right? I have been looking at the title at the top of my page for my blog and didn't really ever like it, but that is one area where I never felt creative enough. So....I'm unveiling a new name today- I've decided to focus more on my baking since I seem to be making that into my life and career right now so Katie's Tasty Treats is my new adventure.

Here's a dinner that I've made recently and of course I'll be sharing the pictures from the upcoming cakes that I'll be making over the next few weeks. I'm also making all of the desserts for two church dinners in February so I'll be a very busy girl. Hopefully by the end of March, I'll even have the option to become a Wilton instructor since I will have taken all of the cake classes by then and will be qualified. I'll still put up some dinners every now and then, but want to focus more on the cakes and baking because I feel like that is where I'm being led to go with my career right now.

I started out dinner by wanting to make a chicken and broccoli alfredo type thing, but that didn't turn out when I found I had no chicken in the freezer and didn't end up having the fettucine noodles I needed so instead I used soy crumbles for the meat, steamed broccoli with noodles and then mixed in some milk, a can of practically fat free cream of chicken soup and some reduced fat cheese. Needless to say, it was an amazing dinner even though it was on the fly. I loved it and Ryan seemed to enjoy it as well!

 

 

Well, it's time for me to move on for the night, but keep looking for more pictures- especially over the next few days and next week as I have 2-3 cakes due by Tuesday. Blessings to all!

Cake Decorating Class 2 and 3...Getting ready for my final!

The last 2 weeks have been a crazy one and here's a little of what I've been working on. I've been taking a cake decorating class and its been keeping me quite busy spending 2-3 hours to get ready for it each week- baking, making icing, cleaning the tips and bags after each use, practicing what I've done and making sure that Ryan's work eats all of the treats in time for the next week- they're keeping up so far!

Week 2 involved cutting a cake in half horizontally and then filling it with icing, covering the whole thing with icing and then transferring a design onto it so I could decorate it for a birthday at Ryan's work. Here's a little of what it looked like afterwards as well as the cupcakes that I made most recently for the third week of class. This week, we'll be learning how to make roses (which will come in handy around Valentines Day) and then decorating our final cake in time for the second class which starts the following week.

Before- This is what it looks like before I take it home and continue working on it. I did this much in class and then decided that I can do better than this!

After- This is what it looked like after I worked on it for about 20 minutes after I got home. 

What the side of the cake looks like after I worked on it at home. This encompasses most of what I learned in the second class.

My first cake EVER! I actually love this cake!

Some of the cupcakes I made in Week 3 with my flowers I learned!

A close up of the shaggy mums flowers- one of my favorites. I think they are soo beautiful and fluffy looking even though they are only made of icing!

Some of the pansies and rosettes that I learned in week 3. I think the pansies look so pretty and dainty, and of course they taste amazing!

A menagerie of what I did when I got home from my third class. I had 18 more to decorate after class so I was busy for quite some time and had tons of fun doing it!

I love these designs because they are so simple- circles, lines, etc but I love them so much! I love the bright blues and yellows as well...makes them POP!

A mixture of flowers that I've learned over the past few weeks- I am practicing for my final cake which will happen this week! I'm so excited to showcase all I've learned in 3 weeks and to move onto the next course!

I think I'll know how to make these from now on- I made 2 trays of these. I love making the leaves because they have such a wonderful look to them and give the flowers that feel to make them look real...I love doing this type of stuff!

This is something I learned in the first or second week and wanted to review before I wanted to do them on the final cake. I think these type of borders make cakes look so sophisticated and feel that it adds that little extra PUNCH to a cake to make them look professional. I truly feel like I'm a pro now and this is only the first course!

New Changes, New, New, New

Well, ok...the holidays took their toll on me and alot has happened since my last post. I think I skipped through most of November and December and never even had a chance to glance around. For those that don't know, I was laid off from Bridgewater due to budget cuts with 2 days notice and 2 weeks before Christmas. It's been a rough few weeks since then and I've made quite a few changes in my life.

When it comes to my health, I'm currently trying to lose the last 15 pounds so I'm on my own weight loss journey which I'm calling "My Biggest Loser Journey". So far, I've lost about a pound in two weeks which doesn't seem like much to anyone else but is a HUGE deal for me with all of my medical stuf which prevents it! I'm just trying to stay motivated now, but a few changes that I've made have helped. I started out the year by planning a menu for the whole month of January at a time. If you ever get a chance to do that, it saves time and money! Now its easier than ever to figure out what coupons I need as I go and I can save even more (As a side note, if you want to learn about couponing, I am setting up online classes soon, so let me know if you are interested in learning about it. There will be prizes of course and lots of things to learn to save even the pickiest person a ton of money!)

Ok, so all of that being said, I've been looking to see where my career path is leading and I think its starting to lead into a cake decorating career. I'm taking courses at Michaels to learn how to decorate and will be starting my second one at the beginning of February. I'll follow up with the last 2 in March and hopefully in April so I'll be totally skilled by the end. Of course, I'm taking orders now and even have a few lined up so you'll see pictures of those until then. Here's a little of what I learned in the first class.

A collection of what I made in class as well as what I did when I got home to help practice. These are simple stars, but can be made into so many different things that they are easy to do and make into whatever you want. The letters are for each of the guys that Ryan works with, but he said that they didn't really care and at whatever they wanted so oh, well I guess I have practice in writing those letters now right?

Turning a cookie into a baby carriage with a cookie, star tip with icing and gum drops for the wheels and handle. Perfect for a baby shower in which the gender of the baby is unknown. The kind of cookie and flavor of icing could be the mother-to-be's favorite and the icing could match the colors of the shower. The mother and father's initials or last name could be put on the carriage as well or more decorations could be used.

Another baby carriage- perfect for a baby girl with its purple wheels and handle. The baby's name could be put on the carriage as well.

Another baby carriage- perfect for a baby boy and his name would be put on the carriage as well. Or you could put other decorations on to match the shower or nursery too! Isn't it soo cute?

A few more of my creative designs using chocolate chip cookies and star icing designs. Everything from spirals, snow flakes, or even flowers can be done on a cookie. Anything your heart desires...or mine!

The rest of the cookies- ready to go to Ryan's work to be eaten!

My favorite is the spiral or the two that are covered totally since I think they look like giant snow balls and of course are covered with sugar!