Cake Decorating Instructor

Well, it's now official. As of last night I am signed up to be a Wilton Method Instructor (WMI) at the Michaels' store in Shawnessy. Quite some time ago, once I had completed the Wilton Cake Decorating courses, I applied through their website to be an instructor. There was no immediate need for anyone in the area that I live in, so I never heard from them. Until May. One of the WMI's that had taught me was leaving the position and she recommended that they have a look at what I could offer.
They saw my work on my site, I had a phone interview, and I got the position. I will be starting in July working on Tuesdays. The first course that I will teach will be Fondant and Gum Paste, and I believe that every month after that I will rotate through course 1, 2, 3 and then back to Fondant. So in August I will teach the first course, and so on.
This means that my already busy life is going to get just a little busier, but it is for the love of decorating. It means that I will get paid to do something that I love. That is the best job to have.
So if you want to learn how to decorate cakes, go to any Michaels store to sign up for a class. You may end up one day in one of my classes. I hope that I am as good at being a teacher as I am at being a student.

Here are a few samples of the cakes that I made in class while I was taking the courses.

The first course final cake, buttercream icing with buttercream roses.

The second course final cake, buttercream icing basketweave with royal icing assorted flowers.Course 3 we learned some fondant techniques and made a small fondant covered cake with fondant ribbons, bow, and decorations. And also in the class we were taught more flowers and how to make a teired cake. The tiered cake was the final cake for that class.
During the Fondant and Gum Paste course we learned more fondant techniques as well as how to use Gum Paste. My final cake was fondant covered with gum paste flowers and accents.

Topsy Turvy

I couldn't wait. There are other cakes that I have not yet added to this blog, and I am skipping ahead to the cake that I delivered today. I had to post it. I am so happy with it.
The only way that this cake was possible was because of other decorators out there. I have a friend who I was in the Wilton cake classes with who has a very large network of friends who she gets cake orders from. Like I do, she leads a very busy life and did not have the time to make this cake, so she passed the order on to me. I had never made a topsy turvy cake before, and was nervous.
Next, the thanks goes out to You Tube and a decorator who posts how-to videos. In an 8 minute video, I learned the tricks to get this done so that it stays standing. I would have never known.
And again, I also have to thank Pink Cake Box. The original picture that the birthday girl picked out was from their cake gallery.
So here's my version, done as requested by the sweet 16 birthday girl.

Flowers and Butterflies

Flowers and Butterflies
Originally uploaded by sarahenrycakes

I love making pretty cakes. Because I have boys, I have to rely on orders for girly cakes.
This cake was based on one from Pink Cake Box. They do beautiful work. The mom who ordered it has picked 2 cakes now from the site.
I was asked to do a one tier version to keep the cost lower. I decided to purchase decorative butterflies at a local dollar store, as making the sugar ones would be time consuming. They might be fun to make but time is a factor to consider. I seem to always be running out of it. Too bad it can't be purchased. I'd add it to by business expenses.
I tried to get creative when taking the pictures of the cake. it was a really nice day when I finished the cake so I took it outside to see if it might look good against a backdrop of my own flower pots. I guess another thing to add to my wish list is a studio area for picture taking. The list just keeps getting longer......

1000

I am thrilled!! Time to celebrate! People are getting the word out about my cakes. I officially hit 1000 viewers on Monday. In reality, I know that there have been more than that, because I started the official counter a few months after I began to write in the blog regularly.
Regularly? Really, can I say that? I have been so busy the last couple of months that I have not been keeping up with my posts. There should be one per cake, but I think now I am at least 3-4 cakes behind.
If it keeps going strong like this maybe one day I will be able to rely on selling cake to pay the bills. But for now, I still have to go to my day job everyday.
Thanks to everyone out there who is keeping up with my blog and passing my info along to those in need of cake. I truly appreciate it!!
Keep those orders coming.

Sara

Cupcake Flower Garden

Cupcake flower garden
Originally uploaded by sarahenrycakes

Again, people love to have cupcakes at birthday parties. I guess it's convenient in that no one has to cut the cake, they can just pull off whatever piece they want.
This CCC (cupcake cake) when to school with the birthday girl. She requested that I make the cupcakes really "girly" because there were some boys in the class that she wanted to gross out. I don't know if a flower design would have that effect on the boys, but if they didn't want to eat a pretty cupcake, that just leaves more for the girls in the class.

Another "Cars" cake

My oldest son turned 5 this month. Last year, his most favorite character was Lightning McQueen from the movie "Cars". This year, for some reason he really likes the bad guy in the movie, Chick Hicks. It may also have something to do with the fact that the car is green, and that's his favorite color (most days).
I decided that I would try to use a scene from the movie to create the cake this year, with some edits and simplification of course. My handy husband made me a stage out of wood, and I covered it with fondant and added icing decorations. Next came the car. We didn't need a lot of cake because we were having a small party, so I only made the front half of the car. I was pleased with the end result and my son was pretty excited.
His party this year was at Chuck E. Cheese's and we had a lot of fun. I couldn't believe how many kids were there for birthday parties. I think that there were at least 5 parties at a time, and as soon as we cleared out, they were setting up for another round of parties. That's a lot of kids and a lot of cake.

Puzzle Cake

puzzle cake
Originally uploaded by sarahenrycakes

Kids have the greatest imagination. I got an order for a cake for a grandma. The grand daughter knows how much her grandma likes puzzles, so she wanted the cake to reflect that. Good thing for me too. I made the wrong decision to freehand the lettering this time around, and it was the puzzle that saved me a redo thanks to a conveniently missing puzzle piece.
Next time around, I won't be as lucky so I had better plan out the spacing beforehand.

Buzz Lightyear

Buzz Lightyear
Originally uploaded by sarahenrycakes

First off, I have to say that the internet is the best place to find inspiration for cake designs. It makes it so easy to find what the client is requesting.
This time around, the birthday boy wanted to have a Buzz Lightyear cake. The mom asked if it could be in the signature "hero" pose. I figured it had to be out there somewhere. Granted, I did think that the hero pose was might have been with him pointing off into space when he exclaims"To infinity and beyond!" but there are no photos that I could find like that. This is the picture that depicts Buzz's signature stance.
Secondly, I really am glad that I took the Wilton Cake Decorating courses. Right away in course one you are taught the best way to "copy" a picture onto a cake. Without that method, I am not sure if I could have drawn this picture as well as it turned out. Those of you who have taken the course know this valuable secret, and those of you who don't, call me and I can make the cake you are looking for. ;)

Thomas the Tank Engine

Thomas the Tank Engine
Originally uploaded by sarahenrycakes

I have some of my ads posted in my neighborhood, and I on those ads is a picture of my original Thomas cake. I got a request for it, but unfortunately that cake is one of the more expensive ones and it also is quite a large cake meant for feeding about 25-30 people. So the mom and I came up with a less costly and smaller version of that cake.
I used a 9 x 13 inch pan and trimmed off portions to make the shape of a front view of Thomas. The black and grey icing were iced smooth while the red and blue was done with stars to fill the whole thing in, including the sides.
I heard later from the mom that the birthday girl loved the cake.

Vegas Wedding

I would really like to go to Vegas again. I have been only once, and I think that there are a few more things I want to see there, so it's worth another trip.
This wedding shower cake was made for a bride who is having her wedding in Vegas. Not just a small quick wedding though. She is having lots of guests go with them for a big fun filled wedding, Vegas style. Now that would be a great party!
I'd love to see their wedding cake, once it is done with their colors in mind. They ordered it based on this one from Freed's Bakery of Las Vegas. Gorgeous!

I was asked to make the gift box cake using the wedding colors and add a bit of Vegas theme to it. I was a little nervous because it could have turned out pretty gaudy if I had used too many colors so I decided to stick with black and white decorations on the colored base. I like how the poker chips turned out. It's a good thing we had a box of them sitting around waiting to be used. Who knew the first time they'd get used was to copy the design onto cake decorations?