Confession: I am a rotten cake-decorator.
I could bore you with stories of lopsided cakes with badly applied frosting (all of which were delicious failures), but let's skip straight to the point. Are you like me, high on imagination, low on skill? Want to change that? I'd love to help you get those awesome cakes out of your head and into our gallery where they belong. First, of course, we've got to work on those skills.
Don't get me wrong; you can go a long, long way on imagination, even with limited resources. Just look at the original Star Wars. Lucas didn't let special-effects limitations stop him from making three awesome movies; you don't have to master the pastry bag before you start making fun, creative cakes. Yes, I just compared you to George Lucas. Here's the point:
With that in mind, I'm planning a personal challenge: I will bake and decorate one cake every month for a year. Each cake will include a basic technique that I haven't tried before. Of course, each cake will also be stuffed with creativity. We don't do boring over here.
Want to join me? You don't have to be a beginner; this is about growing your own skills as a baker, wherever they are right now. What can you do? Prove it! Pick an occasion, or no occasion, or throw an “I made this neat cake” party; choose a theme (patriotic cakes, anyone?) or just do a simple cake that shows off what you're learning that month. Most importantly, take a picture and send it to us!
My first Cake of the Month will be in July, but it won't be patriotic; it's a first birthday cake for my little girl. I'm thinking daisies and butterflies...and yes, you'll get to see the results, good or bad.
Next week: How do you teach yourself cake-decorating skills? I've got some ideas.
