Frosting a Cake
Formulas: Italian Buttercream Simple Buttercream | Small Wares Needed: Stand mixer with whip attachment Rubber spatula Nonreactive Saucepan |
My Objectives:
Make Italian Buttercream. (Successfully this time!)
Frost and decorate my High-Ratio Cake from yesterday.
Keep station clean and organized, dishes to a minimum.
Make Italian Buttercream. (Successfully this time!)
Frost and decorate my High-Ratio Cake from yesterday.
Keep station clean and organized, dishes to a minimum.
Timeline: 7:00-8:00 Listened to Chef Elizabeth detail the plan for the morning. MEP Equipment & Food. Put sugar on stove. Whipped egg whites. 8:00-9:00 Combined sugar & whites, added butter to make Italian Buttercream. Success! Chef demo crumb layer of frosting a cake. Cut larger cake to 8" size. Filled first layer, added second layer. Did crumb layer, put in freezer. 9:00-10:00 Took break. Cleaned station. Chef demo buttercream roses. Practiced that. Made colored buttercream. 10:00-11:00 Frosted cake. Wrote on cake. Placed roses. 11:00-12:00 Cleaned kitchen, did dishes. Class wrap-up and quiz. | Prep List: Sugars: Granulated Fats: Unsalted butter Eggs: Whites Cream of Tartar What I prepared: High Ratio Cake Italian Buttercream Sacher Torte Base |
Summary & Personal Observations:
Today was so much fun! I learned how to properly frost a cake. Chef made it look so easy, but then again, she's been doing it for over 20 years! I sort of frosted it well, maybe one of the best in the class? It still looked a little crazy to me, but not bad for my first cake. The High Ratio Cake that I made yesterday was perfect, not dry, and had a great hint of lemon flavor from the extract.
It was a good thing that I've been going to Lab every week, because Chef taught myself and another classmate the buttercream roses already. Because of the extra practice, mine looked halfway acceptable. Sort of like the ones that are sold last on Valentine's Day, at 9pm at a grocery store. The ones that look like someone took them and shook them. Kind of crappy, but still roses: that's what mine turned out to be. I was shaking really badly when I was writing on the cake for fear of messing up. I'll have to practice this more to work on the pressure, and making more even writing. I wrote my wife and I's Chinese names on the cake, which was fun.
When I cut into it and ate some, I was surprised how good the Italian Buttercream was. I had made buttercream before, but the Simple kind with powdered sugar. BIG DIFFERENCE. That, combined with the perfect crumb and moistness of the cake, made for a good first cake. I'm very proud! Someday, my cakes will look better and it will not take me so long to frost it, but for now, I'm satisfied. I wish we had more cake decorating days like today!
Today was so much fun! I learned how to properly frost a cake. Chef made it look so easy, but then again, she's been doing it for over 20 years! I sort of frosted it well, maybe one of the best in the class? It still looked a little crazy to me, but not bad for my first cake. The High Ratio Cake that I made yesterday was perfect, not dry, and had a great hint of lemon flavor from the extract.
It was a good thing that I've been going to Lab every week, because Chef taught myself and another classmate the buttercream roses already. Because of the extra practice, mine looked halfway acceptable. Sort of like the ones that are sold last on Valentine's Day, at 9pm at a grocery store. The ones that look like someone took them and shook them. Kind of crappy, but still roses: that's what mine turned out to be. I was shaking really badly when I was writing on the cake for fear of messing up. I'll have to practice this more to work on the pressure, and making more even writing. I wrote my wife and I's Chinese names on the cake, which was fun.
When I cut into it and ate some, I was surprised how good the Italian Buttercream was. I had made buttercream before, but the Simple kind with powdered sugar. BIG DIFFERENCE. That, combined with the perfect crumb and moistness of the cake, made for a good first cake. I'm very proud! Someday, my cakes will look better and it will not take me so long to frost it, but for now, I'm satisfied. I wish we had more cake decorating days like today!