The Art of a DOT

 

My Cupcake Cake!

This week we talked about dots, 

little dots, 

big dots, 

long dots, 

dots turned into lines and shapes...

My Lemon Cake from last week was a little dense, 

so this week I really worked on having a light and fluffy cake.

I started with an amazing chocolate sheet cake recipe from one of my favorite recipe blogs

The Pioneer Woman

My cakes stuck in my pan a bit...lots to learn about baking

 

to get ready for class, I assembled my cake with a cheesecake filling and gave it a crumb coat...

 

At class we transfered images onto our cakes using parchent paper and piping gel...

then we filled them in. I chose a cupcake! 

I love cupcakes, they're ageless.

kids, teens, adults...dogs- everyone loves cupcakes

Cupcake on now time for the finishing touches...

 pheew...it looks like a cake.

I was a little nervous with my first real cake- but I like it!

I was so proud I took a picture with my teacher, Connie- who I love!

She helps keep this light and fun.

(Cakes should be fun! They can be beautiful and elegant -but definitely fun)

Now for the homework...practice, practice, practice.

This weekend is Father's Day!

We loaded up our Daddy with a patio set up here in Chicago,

poor Bri has to leave his grill every summer- the best time of year to grill!!!

Not this year...we got him a mini charcoal replacement.

  

In honor of the grilling theme of Father's Day I made Brian a hamburger cake!

Using, of course the same techniques from class this week.

I loved how it turned out...very whimsical.

(If not a little off centered-ha ha)

and finished off with dots on the side.

And So It Begins.....

First Class...

-buttercream icing

-level and layer a cake

-stacking and icing the cake

-smoothing buttercream

-startip decoration

homework: practice, practice, practice

 

I was determined from step one to follow and practice even the simplest things from class...no jumping ahead or skipping steps.

I started with store bought Wilton icing and store bought sugar cookies...

Then I star tipped the crap out of those cookies ;)

Okay, now for practical application...

first I need to bake a cake and make some buttercream icing

(oh dear...up until this point I could barely make box cakes)

the cast

following a recipe I found online for lemon cake religiously,

I successfully made my two 8 inch cake rounds

next level the cake

then layer the cake

then damn, fill, and stack the cake

I did a thin crumb coat first and let it dry to catch all the crumbs and leave a really clean icing look.

I used parchment paper and my palm to smooth it even more than this before I decorated and garnished.

 More Stars and a fresh lemon dipped in sugar to garnish, and my lemon cake was complete!

I've since learned a much better way to candy a lemon, other fruit, or even fresh flowers, you name it...let me know if you want the details

beautiful from the inside out...reminds me of someone ;) ha

 

It was a Hit!!

A lemon cake, with a lemon cheesecake filling...yummy

(if maybe a little dense, but I learned that over-mixing can cause that...lesson learned)