There are lots of cake decorating classes students can take at the local craft store so I thought I was off the hook when it came to cake decorating, but my students begged, me so I gave in. (Like I’ve said in previous posts, I’m a sucker for customizing the class to the students’ interests). I didn’t want it to be so complex and more of an overview so I planned a week (3 blocks) of instruction with practice then I had them work on their own cake for another 3 blocks and present the final results. The students couldn’t have been more happy. In fact there was so much excitement from this unit, students actually came to class early. Ha!
Background for Teachers
- So my students have had at least culinary I or baking and pastry arts before taking Entertainment & Hospitality (where I teach this lesson), therefore I expect them to be able to bake a cake and make frosting and bring it to class for practice.
- Each class, students bring one six inch cake to decorate with frosting of their flavor/color choice. I also don’t care whether they make cake mix cakes because these are just practice. They practice the skill(s) that I demonstrate that day. My demonstrations are either live or Youtube clips. I have linked to Youtube clips below but I do a lot of the demo’s myself.
- The only real graded activity is the final cake. The practice sessions are not graded but I never had any trouble with students not wanting to participate.
- If there is time left at the end of class I have a couple of Cake Boss
and Ace of Cakes
DVDs that I show to fill time and inspire.
Materials
- 6 Inch Round Cake Pan
( I loan them out if students don’t have that size at home)
- 1 recipe of butter cream frosting colored/flavored as they would like
- Wilton Cake Decorating Kit
(strongly suggest each student purchase their own)
Instruction
- This unit is about cake decorating at the end of the unit your final project will be to make a beautifully decorated cake to fit your party’s theme. Every class you will learn new techniques that you may choose to use. Homework for this unit is to make a cake and frosting to bring to the next class and get ideas for and start to plan out your final cake project.
Butter Cream
- How to fill a pastry bag
- How to hold a pastry bag without getting frosting every where
- How to level and layer a cake
- How to frost a cake without crumbs
- Basic frosting techniques
- Demonstration of roses
Fondant
- How to make fondant from scratch (recipe below)
- How to cover a cake in fondant and make it smooth
- Fondant embellishments
Gum Paste
Attachments
- Cake Decorating Rubric (Word)
Recipes
- Butter cream
- Chocolate Buttercream
- Keylime Buttercream
- Homemade Fondant Recipe
- Homemade Chocolate Rolled Fondant Recipe
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