Tiered Cake - final Wilton course

I made this cake on May 29, 2012 for my "tall cakes" class at Michaels. It was a 3 hour class and we brought our cakes ready to go - each tier iced smooth and ready for fondant or final touches if we chose not to do fondant. I chose smooth buttercream because I really don't care for fondant and my family feels the same way. 

The board was decorated with a soft pink satin ribbon and each tier received the same ribbon treatment. The flowers were fondant/gum paste mixture & some were just gum paste - all were made in advance. The 

leaves were piped on with buttercream when I was adding the finishing touches.

Each tier consists of two layers, the top is 6" layers and the bottom is 8" layers on a 10" board. 

The top tier is on an eight inch board and there are 4 dowels in the bottom tier to support the weight of the top. There is a long dowel that goes straight through the two tiers into the bottom board for stability. Driving the dowel through the cake and board proved challenging to say the least! I had to use a hammer and of course I missed the dowel several times and smashed my top tier - this explains the positioning of the flower cluster on the top tier! 

As you can see, there is a bit of a "lean" to the final cake - in transporting it home, it shifted on the uneven seat of the car and some of the icing got smooshed her and there. It was definitely an eye opening  & learning experience. I haven't had the urge to make another tiered cake since then. 

Wilton Course 3 Final Cake

Wilton Course 3 Final Cake

Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Filling and Vanilla Frosting - Topped with Wilton Fondant 

Strawberry Cake
2 cups white sugar
1 package of strawberry Jell-O
1 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
4 eggs (room temp)
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup strawberry puree - can be made from frozen sweetened or fresh with 1 tbsp sugar ( I have only ever used fresh because I have never bought frozen sweetened berries

For this course cake, I only needed a 6" round so I made two 8" rounds for a layer cake to take to our Tuesday morning ladies' group. Normally, you could make this with two 9" pans - I've made it into cupcakes before as well. So for whatever you would like - prepare your pans. I use Wilton Cake Release and just to be safe, I also used parchment rounds.

Cream butter and sugar and Jell-O powder, beating until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mixing well after each addition. Mix the vanilla and milk together.
Combine the dry ingredients together and add them alternating with the milk mixture until all are incorporated and stir in the puree. Pour into prepared pans and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack for about 10 minutes, remove from pans and finish cooling. Top with your favorite frosting.
This strawberry cake is the same one I have used in the 5 layer Neapolitan cake shown here.

This is the strawberry cake that I made in the two 8" pans to take to my ladies' group on Tuesday.

French Vanilla Cake - Cake Decorating Isn't for Sissies!

This is my first fondant covered cake. The flowers are fondant and gum paste/fondant.

Michaels Course 3 - Gum Paste and Fondant - week 3 we covered a square cake and learned how to make daisies and mums. 

The cake and buttercream icing are made with Nielson Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla. The fondant and gum paste are Wilton. We used the 20" wide glide rolling pin and the roll-n-cut mat to roll out the fondant for the cake.

Rolling fondant takes some serious muscles! I swear, my arms were aching the next day - I couldn't believe it. Cake decorating is not for sissies! 

Easter Cake

"John's Three Layer Apple Cake"

When planning what cake to bring for Easter dinner, my daughter suggested the apple cake, so my search ended right there since I know it is a favorite for everyone who would be attending. I also made a post about this family favorite here.

The filling inside is cinnamon buttercream and the outside is vanilla buttercream. The roses are the "star" of this cake, they are gum paste and fondant roses - I am now taking course 3 of the Wilton courses at Michaels. When I made these roses, we had not learned how to make them yet. I just followed instructions in the course 3 book and did my best - same for the leaves. 

What do you think? I think they are not too bad for a first try without guidance from our instructor.