How to Decorate

Katie and I are doing a Cake Decorating Course

It is being run by Milly’s Kitchen just down the road from us and it is the Wilton Method
It is a bit like a Tupperware Party, lots of rules and regulations, but I think it will be great fun.
We have our second class tonight. As I said in a prfevious post... a new skill.

Today I did the homework which is cooking the cake for decorating...The teacher suggested we made a Betty Crocker Cake BUT!!!!

So I hunted through “Joy of Cooking”, Old basic cookbooks, Stephanie Alexander, and others to find the perfect cake for this exercise. I thought maybe a pound cake or Madeira cake…Katie suggested Nigella Lawson’s “How to Eat Cookbook” It is a must own I discovered this book about 8 years ago and it was a revelation for the home cook.
I have been so busy watching the Food Channel I have neglected my excellent collection of Cookbooks.
Nigella of course had a perfect cake for this job. Simple Victoria Sponge. Page 27
Basically this is a pound cake.
At the decorating course it was suggested that to get a perfectly baked cake with a flat top...you make a newspaper collar. Soak it well and tie around your greased and lined tin.
Apparently this is how our Great-grandmas did it. Wiltons of course for a small fee have a special collar one can buy. I used the NZ Herald sports pages!!!

This is such a simple cake. Made in the food processor .

225 gms butter very very soft
225 gms self raising flour
225 caster sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons full fat milk

Pre-heat oven 180C
I used 2 x 20cm tins

Put all ingredients except for milk in processor and blitz to mix.
Check that it is all mixed well, then while blitzing add 2 tablespoons milk
The batter should be soft dropping consistency
Add the rest of the milk if needed

Pour into tins and bake about 25 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean.
It should be golden Brown and coming away from the sides
Thank you Nigella.
Now tomorrow I will be taking this into work for morning tea so I hope it tastes OK

Let stand in tins for a few minutes and then turn onto rack and cool

Now the Icing.
The cakes needed to be sandwiched together and I started on the icing.
Apparently this becomes very easy but I can tell you getting the consistency right a week after being shown what to do was interesting to say the least.

Wilton supply special shortening and it has to be processed in the processor which is easy.
There is a meringue powder that is a stabilizing agent I believe.
There are 3 consistencies for different stages.

I think I have the stiff one right.

Then you add more water for the medium.

Then more water for the thin. Disaster struck it curdled. Luckily I had enough to make another batch. Here’s the cake it’s not looking great.

I decided to reconstitute the curdled mix…adding more icing sugar.
Voila it worked. I was able to patch up my cake and I don’t feel too bad.
It was much easier to apply.

It’s reasonably smooth or as good as I can get it with my little spatula
So we are off with our cakes and containers of pre-made icing for our first attempt at decorating. It is to be a rainbow I believe.
Wait and see.

I will be posting tomorrow picture of this "Masterpiece" or NOT