Icing on the Cake: Days 9 & 10

Day #9 was spent decorating my final class project, a 3-tiered cake. I arrived at school at 6:50am and did not complete my cake until 2:45pm. I skipped lunch and I don't believe I even stopped to pee. :) I was on a mission and did not want to loose my momentum.

The day went smoothly for the most part. I started from the top tier and worked down. The top tier was a brown basket weave and let me tell you, that brown took some time to color. I used almost 6 oz of color (with red added in to make it darker), 1/2 an hour to mix, and a ton of arm muscle to stir all that icing. The end result was exactly what I wanted. Thank goodness! I don't think I could have stirred that anymore. This was really what took a lot of my time, mixing the colors. I had everything sketched out on paper so I had a game plan.

The only problem I had was my last piece. I had made a rope handle for my basket and as I was turning it over to brush the cornstarch off, it broke in two pieces. I thought to myself if this is all that goes wrong today, then I can "handle" that. I ended up throwing it in the trash and Debbie, my instructor couldn't believe how calm I was and that I threw a perfectly good piece of fondant away. Oops.

I am really thrilled with how my final cake project came out. It is totally what I invisioned in my head. I love that when it happens.

Day #10 started off with a trip to Wilton Headquarters to tour the decorating room and the test kitchen. This was totally cool to see. If you have ever seen a Witlon publication, this is where it all happens. All the cakes, cookies, cupcakes, candies, brownies, etc... are decorated and photographed right here. There were no pictures allowed because they are working on the 2012 yearbook already. I felt like we were in a secret hiding place where we couldn't tell any secrets. Ha!!

After our tour we headed back to the classroom for a final demo on decorating with fondant. Lorena, the school kitchen supervisor had made us a great breakfast as well. She is a excellent baker. She made something for us everyday during break time to eat. Lorena made us coffee cake, sweet rolls, chocolate cake, apple turnovers, lemon cake, and many other goodies. And the best thing was, they were always hot from the oven. Yummy!! I would go back to class just to eat Lorena's goodies. :) At 11:00am, graduation began. The girls, my mom, and mother-in-law were there to support me. I was so happy to have my family there. I only wish Roy could have been there too.

I will never forget this experience. I learned so much from the insturctors and the other students. And I made a lot of new friends from all over the world. It's funny, I only learned of the course a few months back. I mentioned it to Roy and he was totally with me and supportive of my decision to pursue this. I owe alot to him and all of our friends and family who made it possible for me to go. For those of you who watched & took care of my girls, I can't thank you enough. To mom and Jeanie, I coudn't have done this without your support and love. I know the girls had a great time with you both as well. And to Roy, my biggest supporter yet, thank you, thank you, and thank you. I totally see tons of cake in your future. :) So with that said.....

Ashlynn Leigh Cakes is officially open for business.

That is so exciting to say. :)