Hey everybody! So week 7 and our Gumpaste, Piping and Fondant unit is officially finished. In the two weeks we had with Chef Nicholas Lodge we decorated a fruitcake (which we baked at the beginning of the program), a plaque and a wedding cake. We got to learn a ton of new techniques through the three projects. This post will be documenting the first two.

This was the first project we worked on, and the first time we got to decorate a real cake! We were shown the traditional way a fruitcake would be decorated in Britain or Australia where they're popular.  The fruitcake was first covered in marzipan, then in 3 coats of royal icing to make it smooth. We then decorated in using numerous royal icing piping techniques including color flow, pressure piping, scroll work, over piping and drop lines. As you can see it is decorated for Valentines Day so when I take it home for Christmas I may re-do the decorations.

We also got to learn how to make fondant and gumpaste from scratch. We used the gum paste we made to create the sugar rose.

Here are some close-ups of the piping work I did on the cake. The top showing scroll work, over piping and drop lines and the bottom showing the shell border with frilled edge. All the techniques we learned were amazing but definitely require a great deal of practice to become proficient at.

This is the second project we worked on. A winter wonderland plaque complete with bas-relief snowman and gum paste snowflakes and lettering. I kept my snowman to put on the fruitcake when I get home!

Everyone in class was rather infatuated by the snow sparkle hologram dust we added to the gumpaste snowflakes. Glitter makes everything better.

Well those are the first two projects we worked on the last two weeks. I will have pictures of the wedding cake up very soon. Next week we're back to Chef Scott Green for Airbrush and Mold Making. I can't wait to tell you all about it! Have a good weekend.

Happy baking,

Kayla