What's that out of left field?

While I wait for my bar results (with very little hope, unfortunately), why not take a foray into something totally different.

As you all know, I've studied to become a tax attorney - a profession that (arguably) leaves little room for artistic self-expression. After a recent career chat with a friend, I decided to find an outlet. I've always been interested in cake decorating. I'm not talking about your average grocery store bakery cake; I'm talking about Charm City Cakes, Colette's Cakes, etc. That said, I've never actually attempted to decorate a cake before.

I tried to sign up for a Wilton class, but the woman at the store neglected to tell me that I had to preregister. I found out the day of, that the classes were full, and I'd have to wait until October. I'm already waiting until October for bar results, so I decided to take matters into my own hands regarding cake decorating.

Without further ado - what follows is my cake decorating self-education.

Day One

I've enlisted my mother into this journey for some companionship. Our mission on our first day was merely to coat a cake in smooth icing and to experiment with icing. We had not yet purchased any tools. I turned a spice rack into my turn table, used a ziplock bag for my pastry bag, and a butter knife for smoothing. End result?

Okay, so first things first, we can all agree my hand writing can use a little work. Given my tools, I thought it was okay. Mom's cake turned out as follows:

Yes, her hand is covered in icing... why? Because she doesn't know how to use a pastry bag.


And yes, you can see we're using store bought icing. BUT, as I said, this was on a whim - no tools! The cake, on the other hand, was from scratch. I should've taken a picture when we cut into it later that night - the inside had not cooked. Anyhow! Luckily the dogs were happy to help out, and the remaining cake was tossed in the garbage.

Yes, that's icing on her skirt - freshly (and promptly) cleaned by dog tongue.