A Garden of Cupcakes

Eugene thinks of itself as a gastronomical destination.  We have eateries, food carts, restaurant supply stores, and no end of places to purchase avocado slicers, egg separators, and quinoa cookers.  When I decided to take a cake decorating class, though, the town ran dry.  None of the fancy kitchen shops had any leads, and the community college required a long list of prerequisites for attending their culinary classes.

So I hopped across the freeway to the next town over, in search of a DIY book on beginning cake decoration.  I hit up the big chain craft store, and oh my goodness, they had a class starting the very next week -- and I could attend 4 weeks of classes for only $10 plus cost of supplies.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes and a Bouquet of Buttercreams

In the back room of the big box store, I joined our instructor (the same gal who taught my beginning knitting course the previous spring) and three other novices, and we got down to business.  We learned how to fill pastry bags and squeeze piped leaves and flowers of various design.

First we learned leaves.  Sometimes leaves are piped before the flowers, and sometimes added after the flowers are in place.

This is called a shaggy mum.  The tip used for the mum can also be used for grass or fur texture.  

These little twist flowers are my favorites.  They remind me of apple blossoms.

For my first formal instruction on cake decoration, this two hour class made me feel very accomplished.

Garden of Cupcakes