Rainbow Cupcakes - Student Creations - 22nd Feb 2016
Oh yes so we are finally back after our Christmas break and I'm really looking forward to teaching the ladies this evening as we're baking tonight!
As with any lessons there are sometimes glitches and this night started out much the same, gas on, gas off, gas on, gas off...I sound like wax on wax off don't I but eventually though the gas stopped larking about and we eventually started cooking with it!
First to arrive was my eager beavers, Caroline and Sarah, so much so I hadn't even got to setting the room up yet. I am pleased to see them and am happy that Caroline is choosing to spend her last bit of quality time on the workshop before she goes off and has her baby.
Next to arrive is Emma and Emily, they are friends of mine and are looking forward to spending some quality mother and daughter time together, they are excited by tonight's lesson....little do they know they are in for an eventful ride!
Shortly after my friend Gail arrives, now usually when she appears I am really pleased to see her however tonight that is not the case. As you may well know Gail is one of my die-hard fans and has been to pretty much every course I have ever ran. However tonight as she appears through the door I have a look of dread upon my face. The reason being is that I haven't seen her today and due to getting my wires crossed I had assumed that she was busy with others matters and could not attend the course hence the non booking, so when she shows up I currently want 'the world to open up and swallow me whole'. I explain the mix up and after asking her to stay and her telling me she will go we eventually agree upon her leaving this evening and me definitely booking her on the next course! Phew nightmare averted or so I think!
Jacqui then arrives, I finish setting up the room and then we get down to the demo.
As we proceed I explain to the ladies the science behind the baking, what occurs during this process, how to achieve fabulous fluffy cupcakes and what can assist with a good bake. We have a lovely question and answer session and then when I've finally mixed all the batter together we get to the fun part the colours!
I show and explain to the ladies how much dye to use, what happens when using dyes, the optimum amount of coloured layers and hints and tips on what can occur when baking with them. After our discussion I then show them how to re create the rainbow cupcakes, how to make swirled cupcakes and also how to achieve inside surprise cupcakes too. This leads Caroline to ask me about Pinata cakes and how to recreate them. Once I have completed the demo I then send the ladies off with their ingredients and a bag of colours in hand.
There was lots of mixing and chatting as then prepped their batter, then they moved onto the colours, the ladies double checked how much dye to use, some used a little too much and some used a smaller amount so after a little input from me there were pinks, greens, purples being made, and a lovely yellow colour too.
Once the ladies had prepared their cupcakes and placed them into the oven that's when I decided to demo the buttercream. Unfortunately though the buttercream had other ideas!
As a precautionary measure I had pre made the buttercream for the evening and placed it on the table on the arrival, however, what I didn't realise is how cold the table actually was and that my buttercream had solidified. So when I try to demo it the bag exploded and the nozzle fired out. Emma then suggests that we use the heat from the top of the oven to warm the buttercream up, which we do but unfortunately it doesn't work. I then place my buttercream in a bowl and whisk it to warm and soften it but it's still not playing nice. In the end we all grab a bag and start working and warming it with our hands there's that much rubbing and squeezing going on you'd think we were teaching a lesson on how to make a fire and at this point we could probably do with it! Anyway after a few laughs, a lot of rubbing and squeezing we finally get the piping pliable enough to work with. I tell the ladies that the buttercream was part of an elaborate plan and was there as a test to see what they would do if it actually happened to them in their kitchen. They don't believe me but we have a giggle about it an carry on regardless.
The ladies then manage to pipe their cupcakes and taste test the ripples whilst decorating at the same time.
We had great fun and the colours the ladies used were fab, each one did them differently and put their own twist on what I had shown them.
Here are their creations...
Thank you ladies for another wonderful night!
Oh yes so we are finally back after our Christmas break and I'm really looking forward to teaching the ladies this evening as we're baking tonight!
As with any lessons there are sometimes glitches and this night started out much the same, gas on, gas off, gas on, gas off...I sound like wax on wax off don't I but eventually though the gas stopped larking about and we eventually started cooking with it!
First to arrive was my eager beavers, Caroline and Sarah, so much so I hadn't even got to setting the room up yet. I am pleased to see them and am happy that Caroline is choosing to spend her last bit of quality time on the workshop before she goes off and has her baby.
Next to arrive is Emma and Emily, they are friends of mine and are looking forward to spending some quality mother and daughter time together, they are excited by tonight's lesson....little do they know they are in for an eventful ride!
Shortly after my friend Gail arrives, now usually when she appears I am really pleased to see her however tonight that is not the case. As you may well know Gail is one of my die-hard fans and has been to pretty much every course I have ever ran. However tonight as she appears through the door I have a look of dread upon my face. The reason being is that I haven't seen her today and due to getting my wires crossed I had assumed that she was busy with others matters and could not attend the course hence the non booking, so when she shows up I currently want 'the world to open up and swallow me whole'. I explain the mix up and after asking her to stay and her telling me she will go we eventually agree upon her leaving this evening and me definitely booking her on the next course! Phew nightmare averted or so I think!
Jacqui then arrives, I finish setting up the room and then we get down to the demo.
As we proceed I explain to the ladies the science behind the baking, what occurs during this process, how to achieve fabulous fluffy cupcakes and what can assist with a good bake. We have a lovely question and answer session and then when I've finally mixed all the batter together we get to the fun part the colours!
I show and explain to the ladies how much dye to use, what happens when using dyes, the optimum amount of coloured layers and hints and tips on what can occur when baking with them. After our discussion I then show them how to re create the rainbow cupcakes, how to make swirled cupcakes and also how to achieve inside surprise cupcakes too. This leads Caroline to ask me about Pinata cakes and how to recreate them. Once I have completed the demo I then send the ladies off with their ingredients and a bag of colours in hand.
There was lots of mixing and chatting as then prepped their batter, then they moved onto the colours, the ladies double checked how much dye to use, some used a little too much and some used a smaller amount so after a little input from me there were pinks, greens, purples being made, and a lovely yellow colour too.
Once the ladies had prepared their cupcakes and placed them into the oven that's when I decided to demo the buttercream. Unfortunately though the buttercream had other ideas!
As a precautionary measure I had pre made the buttercream for the evening and placed it on the table on the arrival, however, what I didn't realise is how cold the table actually was and that my buttercream had solidified. So when I try to demo it the bag exploded and the nozzle fired out. Emma then suggests that we use the heat from the top of the oven to warm the buttercream up, which we do but unfortunately it doesn't work. I then place my buttercream in a bowl and whisk it to warm and soften it but it's still not playing nice. In the end we all grab a bag and start working and warming it with our hands there's that much rubbing and squeezing going on you'd think we were teaching a lesson on how to make a fire and at this point we could probably do with it! Anyway after a few laughs, a lot of rubbing and squeezing we finally get the piping pliable enough to work with. I tell the ladies that the buttercream was part of an elaborate plan and was there as a test to see what they would do if it actually happened to them in their kitchen. They don't believe me but we have a giggle about it an carry on regardless.
The ladies then manage to pipe their cupcakes and taste test the ripples whilst decorating at the same time.
We had great fun and the colours the ladies used were fab, each one did them differently and put their own twist on what I had shown them.
Here are their creations...
Thank you ladies for another wonderful night!
