There is no everlasting joy and no endless grief

Cake Decorating Level 1 is finished, five weeks went by pretty fast. That is what usually happens with time when you are having fun, or so they say. We are already well into March and there are Easter things all over town, so it was befitting that we ended the class with an Easter cake.

The basket weave pattern is very pretty and not difficult to make at all. It is time consuming and requires patience, but it is easy, and the overall effect is well worth the effort.

This week's cake (pictures below) is chocolate and the filling is a chocolate cream made with condensed milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips, it is what in Brazil we call "brigadeiro". The icing is vanilla.





The biggest challenge for me in the last five weeks was not the decorating techniques, but consistently icing the cake. I can feel some improvement from the first time I did it, like it is getting a little easier, but it still is the hardest part for me. I want the cake to be a smooth and perfect canvas for whatever decoration I will put on it, and that is the trickiest part.

I have been watching a lot of videos on the Internet and every person has a different technique and style. I figured with time and practice I will develop mine too.

I am looking forward to Level 2, which starts next week. We will learn how to make flowers out of royal icing (which is an icing that uses egg whites and it gets really hard when it dries out) and we will also work with fondant, which is pretty cool.

I realized I did not share the icing recipe with you all, my apologies. It is actually pretty simple, our teacher is a very practical person.

Butter cream Icing (Pegg's recipe):

- 3/4 cup shortening, softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature
-2 tsp vanilla extract ( or other flavoring agent you want. I used almond extract once).
- 2 lbs confectioner's sugar, sifted
- 1/2 cup of milk

Method:

1. Beat the butter and shortening together until creamy and smooth. I use the standing mixer, with paddle attachment at low speed and this stage takes up to 10 minutes sometimes.
2. Add the vanilla
3. Alternate adding the sugar and the milk, a little at a time. Watch out because the sugar flies everywhere if you add too fast. Easy on the milk too, a few drops at a time. It is always possible to add more liquid if the icing is too stiff.
4. Continue to mix until it is smooth and creamy. Just a few minutes more.
Refrigerate before you use.

Note: If you want chocolate icing, then sift cocoa powder to it to the desired strength. You might need to add more liquid, because the cocoa powder will stiffen the icing.

Remember:

1. If you are going to add color, it will thin out the icing a little bit, so make sure the consistency is a little on the stiff side to begin with.
2. If you are making roses, you want the icing to be stiffer too.
3. If you are making loops, hanging on the side of the cake (see lesson 4), then you want your icing a little on the softer side so the strings don't break easily.
4. As you manipulate the icing, it gets softer with the heat of your hands, so it is helpful to keep the icing container on a cooler.
5. Cover icing container with a moist paper towel as you work with it so that it does not dry out and form a crust.

I hope you make some icing and decide to play with cake decorating, it is fun, relaxing and entertaining.