SOOOOO i finished course 2 yesterday night and passed *PHEW*
*cue gasps of disbelief*
*cue gasps of disbelief*
well anyway, this exam was actually a bit of a fiasco. firstly, we, as a class, decided not to pick up our cakes the class before to take home and frost, which meant we had to come in half an hour before class officially started to collect and frost our cake bases. not that big of a deal, honestly. but then came the case of the disappearing butter cakes......
we had all gone up to the cake studio to put down our stuff before we went down to the shop to collect our cakes, but when one of the staff showed up and informed us that they could bring us the cakes instead, we readily agreed. but when there was no sign of the cakes having arrived twenty minutes later, we began to wonder what had happened to them. the same woman, who had offered to bring up our cakes, along with our instructor and another member of staff at the studios then told us that they had seen the cakes behind the counter immediately before they had headed up to greet us, but that there was no sign of the cakes anywhere now. they had, as they claimed, "vanished into thin air". well, they couldn't spend all night trying to find our cakes; they handed out round, 8in styrofoam blocks to each of us and told us to "use the dummy first" for our exam. well, what could we do? we used the styrofoam.
i feel like there's a clue we're all missing here and the minute we hear about it, we'll be able to solve it with deduction, sherlock style. maybe i should write to john watson about this case.
we had all gone up to the cake studio to put down our stuff before we went down to the shop to collect our cakes, but when one of the staff showed up and informed us that they could bring us the cakes instead, we readily agreed. but when there was no sign of the cakes having arrived twenty minutes later, we began to wonder what had happened to them. the same woman, who had offered to bring up our cakes, along with our instructor and another member of staff at the studios then told us that they had seen the cakes behind the counter immediately before they had headed up to greet us, but that there was no sign of the cakes anywhere now. they had, as they claimed, "vanished into thin air". well, they couldn't spend all night trying to find our cakes; they handed out round, 8in styrofoam blocks to each of us and told us to "use the dummy first" for our exam. well, what could we do? we used the styrofoam.
i feel like there's a clue we're all missing here and the minute we hear about it, we'll be able to solve it with deduction, sherlock style. maybe i should write to john watson about this case.
although the styrofoam blocks had no pesky crumbs to crumb coat, they provided some completely new problems when frosting- they were too light, and would not stay put on the cake boards we placed them on. we resulted in taping the blocks to the boards, and even then, it was quite weird to frost the smooth surface of the too-light blocks.
secondly, the basket weave was literally taught to us 10mins before we had to pipe the complicated pattern onto the actual exam cake. well. it didn't turn out as well as i'd hoped but with a little practice....
thirdly, the flowers i had prepared had been piped the night before the exam, and although most of them were dry, i ended up rejecting many of the flowers i had piped as they weren't as neat or perfect as i wanted. (picky, picky lucia.)
secondly, the basket weave was literally taught to us 10mins before we had to pipe the complicated pattern onto the actual exam cake. well. it didn't turn out as well as i'd hoped but with a little practice....
thirdly, the flowers i had prepared had been piped the night before the exam, and although most of them were dry, i ended up rejecting many of the flowers i had piped as they weren't as neat or perfect as i wanted. (picky, picky lucia.)
and last but not least, the frosting i had made for the basket weave pattern was too thin. it consistently remained soft, even after a 10min stint in the freezer, as well as 4tsp of cornstarch added in to stiffen it. needless to say, this played a large part in my messing up the basket weave pattern, as the piping on the side of the cake would slowly side downwards. this, and the color of the frosting used for the basket weave, resulted in a cake that didn't turn out as well as i hoped it would. i had originally wanted a much, much darker brown for the basket weave pattern, so that my light colored royal icing flowers would stand out and pop among the darker background. no such luck, as i forgot to bring my black gel coloring, or cocoa powder to turn it brown. maybe next time....
well, whatever the case, i passed the exam. ladies and gentlemen, i am not certified to decorate your wedding cakes. well. kinda.