|
All
Original Text & Photography |
|
22 February 2004 - Just Like Martha My cake decorating class has been going really quite well-- unfortunately it it soon coming to an end. Over the past six weeks I have learned a few interesting techniques to make those delicious cakes I've been making lately look just slightly more like art than like food. Well...maybe not "art"...artsy, I suppose. There was a spread in the latest Martha Stewart Living magazine (which of course my mother has a subscription to) on how to decorate cakes. There were piping instructions, broken down so they were easy to understand, a few tips, about 5 photos of decorated cakes and a few icing recipes. My mom insisted I pull it out of the magazine (rather than going out and buying the whole magazine for myself) on Friday when I was there and I thought I'd repay her by making a cake and using one of Martha's designs to decorate it. I made a light, extremely simple chocolate layer cake and made my own whipped ganache and coconut filling for it. Topping it with shiny ganache icing made the perfect back drop for the beautiful two-tone purple pansies and green stems and leaves. My family was really quite appreciative...I think I surprised them with how well it turned out; it looked almost exactly like Martha's! I also received kudos for the cake; this time it was light and not too complicated of a taste. Perfection! Or should I say, "It's a good thing"...? My brother was so impressed he even had a sort of a photoshoot for it before we tucked in...I've posted a few of the pics here with directions for the decorations.
|