Gingerbread houses.

Gingerbread houses

The department is thoroughly enjoying watching our pupils make their Gingerbread houses.  The skill level is fantastic, all are producing original designs demonstrating real flair and skill.  Well done to all!  We look forward to posting the photos and displaying the houses at the entrance to the school.  This is the house that we made but it will certainly be overshadowed by our pupils!

Get your rulers out!

Get your rulers out!  Tomorrow you will be making a Battenburg Cake, this requires precision when cutting the cakes but it is simple to make.   This is the cake I made today.

Cakecraftworld Website - well worth a look

This link will take you to you to the Cakecraftworld  website. This is one of the largest suppliers of all things "cakey" as well as having a forum where you can ask questions and get information to help you improve your skills. In addition, there is a section, Books and Education where you can download  tutorials for a variety of skills and projects.  Why not click now and get some great ideas for Hallowe'en?

 http://www.cakecraftworld.co.uk/

Looking at techniques

This week you are going to be practising some new techniques which are illustrated in these beautiful cakes which I photographed on Saturday morning at JMM Bakers Monifieth.
See if you can find the examples of crimping, texturing, embossing and stencilling.

JMM Bakers Monifieth Cake Display

Time to expand the blogs

The blogs are coming along at different rates and although some of your evaluations are good, they need some more direction. Where skills and processes are identified as areas for development, we would like to see what you are going to do about it. eg

Before applying the fondant icing layer to the Birthday Cake it would have been interesting to see that you have done some research on the Internet. Mitch Turner demonstrating this on a You Tube clip is worth downloading, so you could still do this as remedial work for the next time you do this process. It could also have helped you understand better how to make a more professional finish.

We would also like to see some evidence of work done outwith the classroom such as photos of cakes in local baker shops' windows, references to books or magazines you have consulted or any practice or research you have done.

Try to do at least one of these and put it in your next blog post.

Work in Progress!
Pupils have all made a good start to their first assignment of designing and making a birthday cake. A variety of skills have been used so far and we are pleased with how they are coming along.

This week pupils have been making chocolate cakes, chocolate fudge cake and a chocolate and orange cake with ganache icing.

Pupils also made a maidera cake for their first assignment, a birthday cake.   Pupils will now be researching ideas for the design of their cakes, demonstrating modelling and piping skills.  We look forward to posting the photographs.

This week was the first attempt at modelling animals and the pupils did really well.

Hopefully pupils will now try some additional ones at home and post these on their own blogs for us to see.

Flower Power

On Wednesday you will be modelling flowers, making roses and other types using moulds and cutters.

Have a look at the video below, this is what we will be making. 

Cheeky Monkey


Your next project will involve modelling animals.  Check out the links below to get some ideas for Tuesday.  Now find a link that inspires you and paste it into your blog.

Making a penguin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsOVITI8owE

Making a monkey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwVAx-0Z1Vg

The National 5 Cake Craft Course has got off to a great start with Victoria Sandwich Cakes and Spotty Coffee Cakes with fondant icing.

Taking photographs of beautiful or interesting cakes when you are out and about at weekends and during holidays will help you to build up a portfolio of ideas for the Cake Craft course. Here are some of my favourite cakes from some Edinburgh Cake Shops.  Some of the techniques you will use and make in the course.

These cupcakes are covered with buttercream and all the decorations are made with sugarpaste.  The cakes were made at a 'Fashion' Cake Decorating class at 3D Cakes in Edinburgh.

This is a madeira sponge cake which is cut to the size and shape of a handbag then covered with sugarpaste.  The handles of the bag are made from flower paste which is more stable than sugarpaste.  This is again from 3D Cakes in Edinburgh.

 

The 40th celebration birthday cake is covered and decorated in sugarpaste.  With royal icing hand piping for the writing. 

The cakes above are carrot cakes, baked in cup cakes and decorated with a cream cheese frosting which was piped.  The carrots are made from coloured sugarpaste.  These were made in school.

 

 

The vanilla cupcakes are piped with buttercream and finished with hand made flowers using flower paste.  The flowers are made using flower moulds and cutters. 

 

 

The beautiful cakes above were made by Ross Baxter, from the Dunbar Community Bakery.  Ross was a finalised in the ITV "Britain's Best Bakery".    You can see more of his work on facebook.  Just type in Ross Baxter - Patissier.

A great little Book

This little book is a real gem. It is available on Amazon for about £4.99 and contains all the information that you will need to get started making really great cakes and practising the techniques we are covering in class.

Eric Lanlard, from Channel 4 'Baking Mad' shows you how to make Blackforest Cup Cakes.  Why not try these at home.

Log onto the website below for inspirational ideas and beautiful photographs of cakes.  Mich Turner is an award winning cake designer, and one of the judges on Britain's Best Bakery.

http://www.lvcc.co.uk/lvcc-gallery.asp

Here are examples of some of her cake designs.

This window display of Valentine's day cakes is from Bibi's Cakes in St Andrews.  There are lots of different techniques being used and stunning colours.

Form Four Christmas Cakes

 

These lovely cakes were made by Form Four

highclassbakers

The purpose of this blog is to  enable us to deliver the National Five Cake Craft Course more effectively and with greater involvement by the pupils taking the course.

 

This Beautiful cake was made by JMM Bakers, Monifieth