Picture a beautiful house, resplendent with gorgeous stone on the outside, a lovely garden and decorated inside with the most expensive furnishings. It's immaculate, clean, and welcoming. Pinterest eat your heart out.
But the house has subsidence. It's essentially falling apart. It's built on inadequate foundations. This beautiful building is about to collapse.
A cake can look beautiful on the outside but then collapse under the weight of the top tiers. The cake can burst through the buttercream and fondant on the outside.
You can make amazing cakes, but you want them to look as good as they taste
Or perhaps the cake tastes out of this world but on the outside it looks lumpy, bumpy and roughly finished. It's covered in little sugar flowers and glitter to try to hide the cracks. It's absolutely delicious to eat but you feel its appearance doesn't live up to its flavour.
The question I've most been asked about over the years is how I get such a clean finish on my cakes. How do I make sure the fondant doesn't crack and tear? How do I ensure the surfaces are level? Have I ever had a cake collapse (no)? Have I ever had it fall down (no, thankfully)?
The answer is that I've spent years learning how to make and use ganache to create a smooth finish and then testing different fondants and techniques of how to cover a cake with fondant to get to where I am today (though I by no means get it perfect every time, I'm always learning!) I've learnt the hard way so you don't have to - so you can come and learn all the techniques I've tested so you can come away from the Ganache & Fondant class with the ability to get that professional looking finish in hours.
You want the confidence and skills to achieve a great finish
The foundation of a cake is its structure and its coverage. It needs to be stable and sturdy, able to hold up in warm temperatures and survive car journeys. It needs to possibly take the weight of heavy tiers that are going on top or heavy decorations. You need to know it is not going to fall apart. When you cover a cake in fondant a smooth finish is essential in order to create that stunning centrepiece. While cakes are often covered in decorations, you want to be able to put your decorations where they look best rather than having to strategically place them over the blemishes. And sometimes you just want to be able to produce a really simple looking cake that speaks for itself.
This class offers life-long value
Trimming, filling, ganacheing and covering a cake is the bedrock of your cake decorating skills. Once you've got that under your belt, you can really achieve anything you want to because you'll have nailed the blank canvas. No more pounding heart and surging panic as you put the fondant on your cake and it rips around the top. No more elephant skin. No more hours spent taking that fondant off, rolling out again and recovering until you achieve something you're half happy with.
Once you've learnt these skills you will have the basis to make absolutely stunning cakes that look as good as you make them taste.
So here's what we'll cover at my Ganache & Fondant Class on Saturday 18th May:
1) How to trim and fill your cakes
What if your cake is too big for your cake drum? What if it baked with a dome in the middle? How do you stop the buttercream from seeping out and bubbling up under your fondant?
We will cover how exactly to trim and torte your cakes, dam them and fill them so that your cake structure is not compromised. You can either bring your own cake for this or I can provide one for you (select the option you'd prefer when you Add to Cart).
2) How to make ganache
No more horror stories of ganache splitting on you and being ruined! We'll learn how to make ganache so you can whip it up at home with confidence.
3) How to ganache a cake using tools that you either have already or can buy for under £5
I will show you how to ganache a cake using just a bench scraper, sheet of greaseproof paper and a cake drum. I will also demo how to use the Profroster so if you decide to buy this for yourself you'll know how to use it (the Profroster is £40 so it won't be the basis of the class because I'm assuming most people won't necessarily want to buy one).
4) How to cover your cake in fondant
I'll show you the best brand of fondant to use, how to roll it out so it's the perfect size, smooth and thin and then cover your cake with confidence. We'll trim the fondant neatly. We'll then use smoothers to create a sharp edged finish you can be really proud of.
5) How to decorate your cake
You'll then have the chance to add some simple decorations to your cake to finish it off and if you like you can add a ribbon.
One of my students, Tracey, says she left this class with "bags of confidence" and that night after putting a picture of her work on Facebook bagged her first paid cake order. She has gone on to set up a baking business of her own and now produces 3-tiered fondant wedding cakes with an amazing finish. Every student who has done this class so far has come away with a cake that I would be happy to sell on my page because the finish is so good. Another student, Helen, said: "I just want to say again thank you so much for your superb tuition yesterday. I feel so much more equipped to attempt my wedding cake now!"
Come for a fun, therapeutic break
Aside from the technical stuff, coming on an all-day class is just a great opportunity to take some time out, do something creative that you'll enjoy, and relax in a lovely environment. I aim to make my home a really welcoming and lovely space to work in and with the views of the Yorkshire moors out of the window, an unlimited supply of drinks and homemade cakes and macarons for refreshments, you'll definitely be treating yourself when you book your place. It's also a chance to meet other people who share your interest in baking and to put the world to rights - we've covered a vast array of subjects while making macarons and sugar decorations at 12 Dale View Close!
I absolutely love teaching; it's a real privilege getting to meet absolutely lovely people and spend time passing on some cake knowledge.
Get stuck afterwards?
Everyone who comes on one of my classes is offered email support afterwards so if you start using the techniques at home and find something goes wrong or you can't remember what we did, just get in touch and I'll be happy to assist!
That's a lot of value in one class. Here are the details. If you'd like to pay in installments, that's no problem, just email me at info@threelittlebirdsbakery.co.uk
Saturday 18th May, 10-4pm (refreshments included, please bring lunch)
12 Dale View Close
Price: £110pp if you bring your own cake, £120pp if you'd like me to provide one
For more products and celebration cakes in the West Yorkshire area, visit www.threelittlebirdsbakery.co.uk