Happy Hump Day Friends! Last night I got to experience my very first cake decorating class. I’ve always wanted to take one but could never find the right time. When my favorite local bakery announced having some classes this summer, I thought I’d sign up for the cake decorating class. You may remember me mentioning Mary’s Cakes and Pastries when I wrote an article in Druid City Living about Mary and her amazing passion for incorporating local produce in her goods.

Mary brought her personal mixer from home to show us how to make delicious butter cream. I never knew the importance of high ratio shortening. And of course we have to recognize the fact that delicious unsalted butter is a must! I also did not realize the importance of sifting your powdered sugar…if you have clumps, you could pay for it later while trying to decorate your cake with an icing tip.

Our work stations!

A blurry picture of my friend Babs slicing through her cake with a turn table and serrated knife.

Gotta start icing that cake down!

Getting that crumb coat ready!

Mary’s mascot, Molly, her sweet 11 week old puppy! She was staying in the bakery consignment area of the shop.

I had a bad glare on the Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes sign but it was the inspiration for my cake decor later that evening.

Doing a little border practicing on a laminated sheet of paper.

Of course I had to do something related to my hubby! 🙂

Me and Babs striking a pose with our icing bags!

Mary was showing us how it’s done.

Oddly enough, this was NOT enough icing for the cake.

Seriously, I had to add more to it.

Let’s fast forward to finished product. TA-DA!

I feel so proud 🙂

And again!

Mary did have to help me a bit with the smoothing. I know practice makes perfect. I think this will finally put my Kitchenaid mixer to good use. The bottom line is that this class was worth every penny. We all got to take our cakes home and I made plenty of notes on the recipe sheet that Mary gave us for our Butter Cream icing. If you are in the Tuscaloosa area, I would completely recommend taking a class from Mary’s Bakery. Other classes she is offering this summer include a fondant class, a petit fours class, and others. Find her on Facebook, her website, her blog, or Instagram!