Wilton Course 2 Cake

So Wilton's Course 2 was a decently challenging course. It entailed flower making for the first three classes culminating in a finale cake that was made during class four. We were taught how to work with royal icing as opposed to the classic buttercream of course one. Royal icing is simply powdered sugar, a smidge of water, and a dash or meringue powder. It initially has a similar consistency to buttercream however it dries hard. Pieces made from royal icing dry relatively quickly and last a long time. My family didn't like it nearly as much as it is really sweet (obviously since its mostly powdered sugar). With the royal icing we made a variety of flowers: mums, daisies, daffodils, apple blossoms, pansies, violets, and of course roses. I found the daisies to be the most challenging by far. The problem lies in the uniformity of the petals. I could get about 3/4 of the petals completed fine, however, the last 1/4 never looked right. It became hard when trying to work next to already completed petals. Overall, they turned out okay. Nothing I couldn't hide by another  strategically placed flower.

On our finale cake we assembled our flowers on our cake and applied our newly learned basketweaving technique to the cake as well. The basketweave is quite easy and it looks amazing! This was my fourth overall cake and I believe quite an accomplishment. 

This recipe sounds amazing. I think I am going to try it for my next cake. The raspberry mousse filling sounds fantastic. I like the balance of it compared to others I've seen! 

White Chocolate Cream Cake

3 oz. white baking bar, chopped

1/2 t. salt

2-1/4 C. flour

1-2/3 C. heaving whipping cream

2-1/4 t. baking powder

1 t. almond extract

Grease two 8 or 9" rounds. Heat white baking bar over low heat, stirring occasionally till melted; cool. Mix dry ingredients; reserve. Beat whipping cream in chilled, large bowl till stiff; reserve. Beat eggs about 5 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. Beat in melted white bar and almond extract. Fold egg mixture into whipped cream. Add flour mixture about 1/2 cup at a time, folding gently after each addition until blended. Pour into pans. Bake at 350 degrees; 8" 35-40 minutes, or 9" 30-35 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire rack, remove to rack to cool completely.

Raspberry Mousse Filling

This is supposed to have an exceptionally intense berry flavor.

10 oz. frozen, sweetened raspberries

1 C. whipping cream

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

3 T. powdered sugar

1/4 C. raspberry or cherry liqueur (or light rum)

Puree frozen berries. Sprinkle gelatin over the liqueur in a small (microwave safe bowl). Let stand 1 minute to set. Stir in the berry puree, and microwave on high power till warm, but not hot. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Whip cream with the powdered sugar till soft peaks form. Fold the raspberry mixture into the cream. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. Use within 2 days. Keep filled cake in refrigerator till ready to serve. Makes about 3-1/2 cups.

Raspberry White Chocolate Frosting

3 oz. white baking bar, chopped

1/4 C. margarine or butter, softened

3-1/2 C. powdered sugar

1/2 t. almond extract

3-4 T. plus 2t. raspberry-flavored wine cooler

Heat white chocolate bar over low heat, stirring occasionally till melted; cool. Beat melted baking bar and remaining ingredients in medium bowl on medium speed until smooth and of spreading consistency

So this was one of my first beginner cakes. It's a two layer birthday cake. Its a simple fill in. I actually really like this technique with stars a lot. Its about the easiest cake you can do. Using a cookie cutter you stamp the outline of the stars (or in shape in fact!)!  Outline in one color using a plain tip (like a #3). Then use a star tip (like a #16) to fill in the centers. This technique looks great on all sorts of cakes. I like to use the mini-star fondant cutters on cupcakes to do this same sort of design. The best thing about this is how quick it is. You can do it all in one color using one bag with a coupler and have something that looks custom. Even better it's totally customizable. You can use hearts, flowers, any cutter you can think of... the possibilities are endless! This is definitely one I will keep in my arsenal for quick cakes!

And so it began...

So after seeing all the awesome things that can be done with blogs I thought it was time to get one of my own. I want a place to showcase my cakes, and possibly share my other cooking ventures. So we'll see how this goes!