Clever Cake Studio

I’m still around and this site is still active.  This past month has been pretty quiet, not many cake needs among my friends, but things are kicking off again this weekend.  I’ll be playing with chocolate!

This experiement has definitely taught me a lot about cake making and decorating.  I did everything quite backwards, learning to play with fondant and scultped cake before even taking a basic piping class.  I do plan on taking those standard Wilton Cake Decorating courses they offer at Michaels’ or JoAnn’s stores, which should broaden my skillset.  I’ve figured out much of it on my own, but I expect the classes to be useful.

I’ve gotten contacted by several people new to ‘doing cakes’ and have one particularly useful thing to tell them: The internet is awesome.  There are so many great websites with tutorials, not only in writing but also in videos.  A search on Youtube brings up some good ones on learning to roll fondant and some piping techniques.  Books and magazines are very nice, but just flip through them at the store for some inspiration.  If they don’t have any really detailed, specific techniques being illustrated, then skip it, it’s an expensive art book.  Save your money wherever possible - you’ll need it!

Fondant isn’t cheap, especially when you’re just starting out.  The easiest fondant to find is usually Wilton brand, but it tastes like old bland gum.  Mix in a bit of vanilla or almond extract to help it out, and use it for all your practicing until you either find a better supplier or learn to make your own (no need ot rush on this, some professionals never bother).

Don’t worry about using box cake mixes, provided that it’s a cake that doesn’t need to hold an unusual shape or more than a few layers.  I usually substitute some of the water for milk, maybe add some more extracts for flavoring, or if it’s chocolate I add some dark cocoa powder.   I also don’t use very thick layers of frosting, to help balance the over-sweetness of the mix.  But mixes are cheap and easy and consistant, and it’s hard enough learning to decorate a cake - you don’t need to also spend more time trying to perfect a recipe.

When you need a recipe that can withstand sculpting or stacking, then you need something more like pound cake.  If you already have a recipe for an amazing, moist and fine pound cake, try it!  Otherwise, just do a search for “sculpted cake recipe” and you’ll find some forums and websites with lots of advice and recipes.  See which you like best, and experiment till you have your own. Lots of professionals doctor a cake mix to get the right density, because it saves a lot of money.  Making anything from scratch will generally cost more and take more persistent effort, but it feels good to know that when they compliment a cake, it’s ALL you.

Generally I find that the tasty cakes that still feel soft (fine crumb) and moist in the mouth often brown easily on the outside, so I have to plan to trim all the outside off when I’m figuring out how much and of what size to bake.  I’m still trying to find the ‘right’ recipe for me.  It can take awhile.  I’m also insanely picky.

I can’t say not to worry about your mistakes, because I sure have cried a lot over my own.  This is art, and cooking, and it’s on a deadline.  You’re hoping to please other people by how it looks and how it tastes. It’s stressful.  Go ahead and cry.  But then get back to work.  Don’t give up.  Cakes are not for inflexible people, or for those unable to handle new situations and emergencies.  Be creative, be clever.  You can cry while you do it, but as Tim Gunn says, “Make it work!”

I would recommend not talking too much about details before the cake is done, if you can avoid it.  As a beginner, you need flexibility.  I’ve been lucky enough to have friends who have been pretty broad in their comissions - “something to do with chemistry and science,” “something from Katamari” or “a dragon.”  Those are nice.  You need to be willing and able to shift your plans based on how things are working out.  The dead cow cake was originally supposed to be quite well and alive, but the head refused to stay on the body.  I didn’t have a good enough support structure, so it fell over, taking a good chuck on body with it.  I went comatose for about a half hour with my husband trying (very valiiantly) to cheer me up and inspire me to try something else.  Fortunately, the friend it was for has a very big sense of humor and liked the idea of a dead cow trussed up for dinner.

Almost every cake is different from how I originally pictured it in my mind.  Most of the time, I like the outcome even better.  But this is why I generally avoid making very detailed sketches, and try to feel out how flexible the person is.  It’s very difficult to make a cake that’s exactly what the perosn wanted and pictured, particularly if they really had an exact outcome in mind.  So we must bow our heads in respect to the pros who has been able to consistently manage this.

I’ve never claimed to be professional, which is useful.  It keeps my cakes off Cake Wrecks (for now) and my mistakes aren’t as big a deal (to everyone else anyhow).  Speaking of that blog, it’s one of those things that you will be told about ten times a month once the news that you’re doing cakes is out.  You’ll also hear about the show Ace of Cakes on Food Network, as well as any number of their Cake Challenges.  Don’t get annoyed, it’s just the way it goes.  All those shows and the blog are awesome, they really do help inspire you.  Once you learn to watch closely enough, you’ll learn some good techniques too.  Cake Wrecks is great for reminding you that, not matter how bad you may sometimes think you are, there are people out there doing far, far worse and getting paid for it.  So buck up.

I’m not sure I ever want to go pro.  I’m happy taking my small commissions here and there.  Ace of Cakes talks about that often - if it’s your job to do cakes, well then, it’s going to feel like a job.  You may love it enough to overcome that, but a lot of professionals don’t even like eating cake anymore, they get sick of it.  I still think about it.  I think about opening a little restaurant or a catering/event business too.  But these are, while interesting and doable for me, very exhausting and stressful.  It’s one thing to stress over a cake/party/food for a loved one, but something else entirely to feel the same priority for a cranky, picky stranger who doesn’t understand the work involved.

Enjoy making cakes, enjoy eating them (till you get tired of sweet things) and keep reminding yourself that it’s supposed to be fun.  It takes time to develop skills, so make sure you’re amused by the journey.