Cupcake Fun!

 

If you have been reading my blog for a while.... It will come as no surprise to you that the day that one of my friends called to invite me on a cupcake icing course was a particularly HAPPY day for me! I was so excited but had to wait 3 looooong weeks to attend.  The big day finally arrived and we all set off up the hill to a gorgeous little cake shop called Zolita's. The beautiful creations on display were quite out of this world! Five tiered wedding cakes, tiny little cupcakes and mouth watering cake pops! These were cakes that were fit to be on Cake Boss!  I was very intimidated. I would never be able to create the absolutely gorgeous Halloween cupcakes that were on display!

 

 

See What I Mean!

 

This Little Ghost Was My Favourite!

 

 

And so armed with a box of 6 pre baked cupcakes and all the items we needed,(provided by Zolita's) we got down to business! The lovely lady who owns, runs and teaches at the shop was extremely interesting, imparting loads of information and taking us through the process of making each and every one of these gorgeous little cakes!

 

 

Everything We Needed

 

We soon knew the difference between Plastic/Fondant Icing and Royal icing, that you can actually handle it like play dough and it would not break, you could re mould it if it all went wrong! Butter icing needs to beat for ages to make it smooth and creamy and using a piping bag is a piece of cake(excuse the pun) if you just know how to fill it and squeeze it, in the correct manner!  Different colouring processes and which food colouring was best, powder and gel, not the liquid as it makes everything sticky....... What Tylose powder was, and how to use it!

 

 

Piped Butter Icing!

 

 

Fondant Icing aka PLAY DOUGH For Women

 

 

Two Tone Icing-WOW Did I Just Do That?

 

 

Very soon, I had 6 beautifully iced cupcakes in front of me...... and I began to work on the little Halloween figures! For me the most amazing experience of the afternoon were the moulded figurines, these have always seemed impossible, but in actual fact they really are EASY and such FUN! I was quiet literally squealing with delight! I think the other ladies thought I was quiet loony- but I was having such fun! Zolita (the lovely cupcake lady) then gave us some very logical information, start with the light colours and move to the dark -something I would NEVER have thought of! Invest in a Dresden Tool. A what????? A funny little plastic thingy that cuts, shapes and gets into tiny little corners- that's what it is!You can see it sticking out above the white plastic knife,in the picture above. Soon little ghosts appeared and then pumpkins and witches hats and spiders! I was having the time of my life!!!!

 

 

Pumpkins and Ghosts

 

Table 1

 

 

Table 2(My Table)

 

Actually, judging by the heavy concentration,but all round secret smiles, every body was having an absolutely wonderful time!  Whats more, even the ladies who were saying, "I will never be able do that", were looking well chuffed with their gorgeous yummy creations!  All too soon the afternoon was coming to an end and to be honest I was HEARTBROKEN, I could have stay there the entire afternoon and evening and the whole of the next day........ but that was not to be, I had to leave! Well, they pushed me out the door if truth be told!

 

My Little Box of Creations

 

Not Too Shabby!

 

I must highly recommend a course with this lovely lady, or even pop into her shop, because she also sells cupcakes! And they are goooood! Her Christmas Course is fully booked and maybe going down on my knee's begging to be on the course was not such a good idea! You walk out with 6 beautiful cupcakes, the recipes and loads of confidance in your own ability! And that is priceless  Her website is great and you can book yourself onto a variety of courses  - www.zolita.co.za  And I most certainly will go back to do more......

 

Little Madame and I feasted on cupcakes last night, and they were absolutely yummy! Actually they were pretty good this morning too! xxx 

 

 

PS:: If there are any spelling/grammar errors, please forgive me, I did this in minutes as I was so excited.....and did'nt want to forget anything!