Cake Decorating III

So here are some pictures of this weeks cake.

The lesson we learned today was on making clown bodies. It was actually fun. However, I found out that there are "black-market" Wilton tips, and I actually have one. I needed to use a tip 21, which is an open star tip, and I picked out a Wilton tip 21 and was trying to use it and get the same results as the instructor. I was having a heck of a time trying to imitate her. Finally I looked at the girl next to me and noticed that her tip was open, and mine was closed. I said something to the instructor, she came over and looked at mine and declared it wasn't a Wilton tip. Then she told me that I should use the tip 22 and I would get almost the same results.

So, if you notice, this cake is a whole lot smoother thank either of last weeks two cakes. I had an easier time icing this one and getting it smooth. I think that I have finally found the trick. First, I have to ice it and let it sit for about an hour until when I touch it, it isn't tacky and doesn't stick to me. Then I use parchament paper and my metal spatula and smooth the cake with the spatula with the parchament between the cake and the spatula. After that, I then run really hot water in the sink, put the metal spatula under the water for a few seconds, shake off the excess water and take a quick swipe at the icing with the spatula. I then rinse off the spatula and repeat until it is smooth.

Also, if you can't really tell, there are some figures on this cake. We learned hot to make clowns, but I didn't want to buy 6 clown heads, so I figured I would make people on the cake. Someone said they looked like eskimos.

Carpool

So the guys at work are carpooling now. That is great. There is so much pollution here in the Valley that a every bit of conservatism helps. However, I am getting to be a bit jealous of that. There is one other person in Shafter that I possibly could carpool with. However, it just wouldn't work. I wouldn't feel right about riding alone in the car with a married man. Work has rules against that because they don't want "things" to happen. Since this is outside of work hours, the rules don't really apply, but I feel that I don't want people to think "things" are happening when they aren't.

Anyway, back to the carpooling guys. They have it great, or that is the way I feel. When one needs to leave early because this or that, they all go home early. Like three times last week they left about a 1/2 hour early. I am jealous. I have started thinking that when they leave, I am going to leave as well. However, then I remember that just because the boss is doing it, it doesn't make it right.

So I decided that I need to borrow someones bike. I have been thinking of biking to work. The gas prices are high, and yet, I know that I will always need gas. Perhaps, though, I can bike the 7.5 miles to work and then for every two days of biking to work, I have almost made up for one trip to Bakersfield. This would also help with the exercising. I have been getting pretty bored with my elliptical trainer. I am up to 2.8 miles a day, but I think the gauge lies. I was on an elliptical trainer in SLC in November, and I went easy because of the elevation. That gauge told me that I went 5 miles in the same amount of time, and with a bit less exertion. So I think my gauge at home is not accurate.

I wanted to borrow a bike from someone at work, but she hasn't been able to bring the bike yet. Hopefully she will this week, and I will be able to test it out on Saturday. I want to test it out on a day that I don't have to work. This way, if I die, I don't have to suffer through 9 hours of work before coming home and sleeping it off.

So today was Father's Day and the RS presidency had a surprise for us/the men. They purchased Big Hunk and Mr. Goodbar chocolate bars, and wanted us to go in and present them to the guys. So here I am, I can get up in front of a rather large class and teach Sunday School and not turn red or get embarrassed, but put me in a group of women in front of the guys in the Priesthood room, and I want to hide behind the person next to me. One of my friends turned to me when it was all over, and told me that I shouldn't look so pained. I can't help it. I am not someone that likes being the center of attention, and get embarrassed when I think I am.

Sunday School

So this morning I received a text message from one of the Sunday School teachers. It said he thought he had food poisoning and wondered if I would do the lesson. I am the substitute teacher. However, he texted me at 4:30 am. Thankfully I slept through that and only saw the message when I got up around 6:00 because I heard my phone beep. I decided I needed to go back to bed and worry about the lesson when I finally get up around 8:00. Now I know what you all are thinking. You are all jealous that I sleep in on Sunday morning. However, I am more jealous of all you guys that have church at 9:00 am. My starts at 1:00. Since it is the Singles Ward, this doesn't get rotated with the other wards, so we will always be at 1:00. This makes for a very long day.

So I started preparing my lesson on Alma 5-7. I read the chapters, and realized I really didn't learn much from it. So I read the lesson, and then read the chapters again. This time I did pick up some things that I needed to teach. I wrote up my lesson and finished it just in time to shower, get ready for church and run out the door.

I have to say that I really am not great at teaching Sunday School. I seem to ask a lot of questions, and feel that people just stare at me. I don't really get the feedback that I am hoping for, but am not really sure how to fix this. I am a story teller, and I can teach Relief Society well because there are stories all over the place in those lessons. However, when it comes to Sunday School, it is more and more questions with some scriptures in between. So this was my third lesson, but I can't figure out how to get people to answer the 10 million questions the lesson gives.

At one point, I stated "You all think I ask a lot of questions, right?" One guy said yes. I said that I knew I asked a lot of questions. However, in Alma 5, Alma sure asked a lot of questions as well. So I wasn't quite done asking the questions, but needed someone to read some of Alma's questions.

A lot of people came up to me after the lesson and said they enjoyed the lesson, but I don't know. I felt like I wasn't getting through to anyone, and there were only a handful of people that participated. Perhaps the lesson was more for me than anyone else.

On a lighter note, my Relief Society teacher calling was changed a couple of weeks ago. I had been the third Sunday teacher, which I liked. However, they changed me to the 4th Sunday teacher. I can't say I was thrilled about this, since I love teaching from the manual. However, the RS president came up to me and asked if I would like to take a break from teaching next Sunday. I said that was fine. They had just called another teacher for RS, and needed to work her in the schedule. So I wasn't able to teach RS in May, and I am not teaching again in June. I would rather teach in RS than in Sunday School. However, where ever I am needed I will do it.

The Cake for Work!

So here it is. I know that this is kind of kiddie. However, that is what they are getting. I had thought of doing the company logo, but then I thought about all the colors I would have to do, and how much detail work it would be. I figured this would be easier, and I had, had leftover icing from Tuesday.

This cake went much easier than the Tuesday cake fiasco. This one iced smooth, and I used a couple of the techniques from the class, and I was impress that they actually worked, and worked well. So I think after I make another cake next Tuesday, I will feel a bit more confident about the wedding cake on Friday.

Finally we seem to be getting enough people at work. They all seem to be starting this month. Now, we just have to find seats for all of them.

We have six people that have started, or will start this month. Can you believe it? On July 1st, the accountant will be here and I can start training this guy. This is exciting. Now Lorin & I won't be the only ones trying to close all the books on time.

I know, I know, more cake stuff! When will I stop???

So I brought the cake into work that I made last night. I did have to try a piece because I wanted to see if it would be moist. I had followed most of the directions of the teacher of freezing it before it cools, and then icing it before it thaws. I have to say, it was really moist. I was actually surprised on how moist it was. This makes me happy to know that the cake I am going to make for the wedding will taste great. It may not look great, but it will taste great.

So last night after the class, I went through the isle at Michael's and picked up some more supplies to make my cake easier to make. I also picked up some clear vanilla, and clear butter flavoring. I like the combo of almond, vanilla, and butter in the icing. So when I made last nights cake, I used butter and Crisco instead of just Crisco. This, I know, gave the cake an off-white look to it. I didn't really care, because it looked pretty close to white-while I was at home. When I iced my cake and put it on the table next to the others, someone pointed at my cake and asked the teacher, "What is wrong with this cake?" The teacher responded that I had used butter and regular vanilla. Way to give me a complex. I will make the icing for this next week without butter, and with clear vanilla.

Tonight I baked another cake. Like I need another cake. However, work is having a potluck on Friday, and I know I need more practice on the decorating. I had thought of making another cake this week, but this now makes me have one by Friday. So I used some of the cool cake release stuff from Wilton. I have to say the cake came out of the pan really clean and hardly any crumbs. I had been putting Pam on the pan and then coating with flour, and that would give me a crumby mess. I think I will be using this method in the future. So tomorrow, I will be putting together the cake and seeing how it turns out. How exciting!!!

Class I

So tonight I had my first Wilton Cake Decorating class. So here it is. I have to say that in my history of making cakes, this one was the worst by far. Sure the pictures look okay, but it was horrible. I cooked this cake on Saturday and then froze it. I tried to follow the teachers instructions of after it comes out of the oven immediately take it out of the pan, and then put it into the freezer. That resulted in huge areas of the cake falling, on the bottom of the cake, not the crown. So the next cake I did this to, I waited 10 mins then took it out of the pan and then into the freezer. So that was the first problem.

The next problem was I used a combination of the teachers icing recipe and the Wilton icing recipe. What resulted was something I had never experienced before. I can't even begin to describe the consistency. She also wanted us to bring in two different consistencies of icing. One to ice the cake with, and the other to decorate with. When I brought mine in, she didn't like my consistencies, and so she wanted me to ice my cake with my more stiff icing. This resulted in a crumby mess with the cake. I kept tearing bits of the cake off, and it just wasn't working for me.

Then I was to add more sugar to my more watery icing to stiffen it up a bit. When I did this, it became too stiff, and I had a hard time working with it. Finally, I stopped listening to her, mixed more water into the icing until it was where I could work with it and then I finished decorating the cake.

She did have a few good pointers on icing the cake. She indicated that after icing the cake and letting a crust develop, there are a couple of different ways to get a pattern on the cake and it would look neat. The first one was to use a damp, clean sponge and sponge the cake. This would give it a stucco appearance. It thought it looked more like a snowball, but it was cute. The second was to take a patterned paper towel and use the cake spatula and rub the pattern into the crusty icing. Depending on the pattern, it would leave a cool impression. Then there were two ways to get the perfect smooth cake. The first involved parchment paper (not waxed paper) and after the crust forms, put the paper on the cake and use the cake spatula and smooth the icing through the paper. The second way is to run the cake spatula through really hot water, shake off the hot water, and then quickly smooth the cake sides. Clean off the spatula, run it under the hot water again to get it heated, shake off the water, and smooth the top. Repeat as necessary. However, that method makes me think there needs to be an excessive amount of icing on the cake.

Anyway, it is getting way to late for me, and it is soo past my bedtime. ;-0