Initially, the chap who lives in Food Heaven was not keen to go, as the class did not cover the actual baking of cupcakes, only the decorating. BabeKL somehow, using her charm and persuasive powers, managed to wrangle the "how to bake cupcakes" into the syllabus as well, which actually, WAS just as well, or the class proper would have taken all of 20 minutes.
Anyway, it pays to be more attentive when reading brochures. I completely did not see that the medium of decoration was FONDANT. And worst of all, I saw these which sent shudders up my spine.
Anyway, the instructress, Soo Chee from The Cake Shop was exhorting the use of fondant, and its many wonders, and how the latest trend in Europe were miniature 6" diameter wedding cakes used as a crown atop a mountain of fondant wrapped cupcakes. Quite honestly though, fondant to me is one step away from being inedible, so I can't really say I am terribly excited by the major breakthrough this medium is going through, and its sudden popularity. Basically, it is a very versatile medium, I guess, and its easy to play around with, and can be moulded to all kinds of shapes.
Apart from Roses Jackson, Ryan (the salad chef) and Me, the rest were all thorns, looking intently at the demo as if it were neuro surgery. At one point, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
I've always suspected you COULD use the mixer for fondant. But in those days, when I first attempted HL's wedding cake, I didn't have a proper mixer, and my fingers and palms were nearly paralysed from all that kneading.
This is of course the famous Salad Chef.
These were the freshly baked vanilla cupcakes. Can't really say I cared to much for the texture, they felt a bit rubbery, bordering on hard. Tastewise, well, you can't really go wrong with butter, eggs, sugar and flour....
Once she had demonstrated how to make fondant, (she did make it seem a lot more effortless than it actually is), we were left to our own devices to decorate our cupcakes the way we deemed fit.
St Jackson from Food Heaven....
By this time, I was getting a little fidgety, coz I had to host a dinner for 16 that night, and hadn't done any preparation yet, so I quickly tried to get mine done as soon as possible. Note my dual toned rainbow hippo, who had just done a poo.
My two purple love ducks having a swim in lake gardens.
This was BabeKL's creation, ....I thought HB stood for HUS BAND, but actually it's Happy Birthday.
The macabre snake, complete with bloodied fangs and blood drops, were the brainchild of the Salad Chef , Ryan.
And no prizes for guessing who this belongs to.
Overall, I'd say it would have been a very good class for those with first time exposure to Fondant. For me personally, since I am not a flowery, decoraty kind of person, the knowledged garnered here can be shelved right up there with my notes from the Chemical Warfare course that I took in 1990.
