Construction aka Cake Making

Well I blew it, gang! 

Going to Wilton's Cake Decorating class last night, I seriously thought about how I would decorate my cake when I got there.  Deciding on a tropical theme, I had made four colors...cocoa, coral, a blue-green and a neon green/yellow.  I had planned on drawing a few fish on the top and then coloring them in.  But plans change and we all have to be flexible, right?

Right!

Our instructor walked around the room examining everyone's cake carefully.  When she got to mine, she said, "You're cake looks really really good for your first time."  She was referring to the smoothness of the icing since it was totally plain at that point.

If she only knew what I'd gone through, I thought as I smiled and exuberantly said "Thank you."

Let's see...

Sawing Torting/cutting it in half wasn't as bad as I thought...

Building Creating my retaining wall really helped hold in the crushed pineapple filling...

  Flipping and flopping Placing the top layer on wasn't so bad either...

Impressive construction, I thought!

However...

 Totally frustrated once I'd gotten the icing plopped on the cake, I just couldn't get it smooth.  I emailed none other than my friend down in Virginia, Lisa (aka the cake expert) for HELP!  She promptly  gave me a few tips she's learned in her classes.  I ran to the store, bought a new spreader and returned home to begin the labor of love.

Finally it looked like a cake...smooth and glossy on top.  It was ready for class and my imaginative tropical fish.

Oh, one more thing, we learned (?) to make roses last night.   The fish idea swam downstream and out of the picture completely!

Please note my slugs "shells" at the base of the cake...:)

Next week.

Cupcakes!