The second week of Cake Decorating required we bring in a cake. Our instructor, Sue said she prefers to make a box cake in an 8"x 3" pan and then torte it...new terminology for me here...torte. That means to cut the cake horizontally in layers. So who am I to question Sue's experience. I bought the pan, the strips to wrap around the pan to keep the cake level while baking and a Duncan Hines cake mix. I have not made a box cake in a zillion years...so my experience here was lacking. Also being a bit of a know it all, I mixed the cake put it in the pan, popped it in the oven and then the light bulb went off...I forgot the cloth band around the pan...cake out of the oven, band on and cake back in...oh oh...just read the instructions...band must be wet...cake out, band soaked, reapplied, cake back in oven...then I read the temperature with the band in use must be at 350 degrees...not the 375 degrees as on the box. Great...this is not going well...so I reduce the temperature. Probably should have read the directions first...oh well...now the cake bakes...then I realize I forgot how long to bake the cake in one pan opposed to two pans...plus I didn't have large eggs...my eggs come from my niece who raises chickens and they are much bigger. How could making a boxed cake be so difficult?! But I am no quitter so I march on....
So the cake is baked with a jumbo hole in the center...but I decide I'll fill it something and hide the hole with frosting! Ha ha...got the hole covered! So I bought a cake saw and I torte the cake like a semi- pro.
I use a lemon curd I made to fill the layers and the HOLE! 
Not to shabby...looks pretty good to me.
Gotta love the big glob of frosting covering up the hole....
Now I ice the cake and voila...the hole is no longer.
I used this jumbo tip to frost the sides of the cake...love it! Fast and easy...I am liking this!
Another thing I have learned is...making frosting is very messy. This whole cake decorating thing is very different from other areas of baking...the sugar is flying, the greasy Crisco is in a world of it's own and I am baffled as to why I can't seem to get a grip on keeping things neat.
My bag half packed for class...a lot of "stuff" is needed to get things done.
So I make it to my second class and ready to roll. Tonight on the practice board we learn to make dots and also drag a dot...once again pressure and control rule....
We then learn to use piping gel to outline a picture and transfer it to the top of the iced cake so it can be filled in with colored frosting.
So I finish the cake with dots and dots that I drag and look at my finished project...not to bad for a beginner...I take my cake home and give it to my neighbor to take to work...as he works with a gang of men. He told me they loved the cake...they ate through the hole and never knew it was there!
They even bought me a lottery ticket as a thank you...hey if I win...maybe I'll open a bakery!
Elizabeth
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