From the beginning.....my cake decorating classes

I have finally decided to create a blog after my cousin, Alex, emailed me stating that I should post my pictures of the cakes I've been doing. I finally did after I saw her blog. It really inspired me so I thank you, Alex.

Well, I started cake decorating in March. I took 4 months of basic cake decorating at Michael's. It was great and I loved having a little bit of "me" time. Basically, these classes help you get started for anyone who doesn't know anything about cake decorating, has the passion for cake decorating, or just wants to do this for fun. Here is one of my very first cakes. This is a vanilla rum cake with buttercream. I decorated it by using cookie cutters for the top middle area and theme was Easter. I think it came out ok for the first time.

During my 2nd course, we used more techniques with buttercream and learned how to make flowers with royal icing. Royal icing makes the flowers hard so they are able to withstand any position. I did a basketweave on the sides and put the flowers on top. The cakes are getting better :) I believe. Sorry the picture is a little blurry.

During the 3rd course, we learned how to use fondant and do tiered cakes. The 1st cake is a fondant cake with a gumpaste ribbon. The 2nd cake is 2 buttercream cakes with royal icing flowers. I decided to tier them instead of stacking them.

During the 4th and final course, we concentrated on fondant and gumpaste. I learned how to make a gumpaste rose. Also, from doing research online, I found a tutorial on how to do a gumpaste teddy bear. The teddy bear is too cute. I can't wait to do more of these. The teddy bear actually became my inspiration for the cake I did in this class. I covered the cake board in sky blue fondant. The cake was also covered in fondant. I did a somewhat tye-dye effect on cake. A took a small amount of white fondant and used textured roller for the blanket. Then, I placed the teddy bear to the side. I think this came out super cute.

On the last day of my class, I already had an idea what I wanted to do. I wanted to make it very chic, sophisticated, and girly. I really, really love this cake. I can't wait to do this one again. The cake is covered in white fondant. The black on the cake is white fondant colored with black and mixed with chocolate fondant. After I rolled the fondant, I freehand cut the strips to make it look a zebra. The chocolate fondant tastes so good like a tootsie roll. I cut circles with pink fondant and rolled them into little balls for the border. My instructor helped with the rose and one of my classmates donated the leaves. This is my favorite cake I've done so far.