A few days ago I took my first craft store cake decorating class. It was a two hour class and it was only the instructor and me. I did not know there weren't going to be any other students until I got there. It was a Wilton cake decorating class, all the supplies we used were from Wilton. The instructor was very talented, I believe she said she's been decorating cakes for over seventeen years now.

I bought all my own supplies and made the cake in advance so that I would be able to take it home and eat my cake when I finished it.

So first she showed me how to level a cake, cut it in half, add filling, and then buttercream. My cake was already pretty level so I didn't have to level it. I forgot to bring a cake knife so she washed her cake knife and her hands and had me use it. She did ask if I was allergic to chocolate and I told her I was allergic to nuts. I was doing well cutting my cake until I got to the end and then I accidentally ripped my cake. She helped me put it back together.

Then I added the buttercream filling and put the top on. Then I started to add the buttercream on top and around the sides. This took me awhile because I had a few difficulties holding the spatula in the right direction. With a little of her help I got it and she said it was good considering it was one of my first cakes. She said that after the first ten cakes I do I should really have the hang of it. It just takes practice and time.

Then we practiced some piping skills, which was my favorite part. Then we had to dye our buttercream and when I pulled out my food dye she said I couldn't use it. It was a water based food dye and I learned that it will make your buttercream thinner, so there is a different type of food dye that Wilton makes that should be used instead.

She supplied me orange food dye, which I read the ingredients first. It was like the meringue powder, so it was made in the same facility as nuts but not on the same line. With this food dye you only need one drop. I was amazed, usually with the water based food dye I use it takes so many drops to get the color you want.

Then I piped decorations on my cake and time was up. I learned so much about decorating cakes and I am excited to see how my next few cakes turn out.

#cake #buttercream #meringuepowder #fooddye