Beginner cake decorating class starts next week at The Cake Cottage. Call our shop in Murrieta to sign up today ! 951-600-4773 This class starts on Tuesday April 9th. It is our 4 week beginning cake decorating class that teaches you all the basics you will need for a good foundation and all around knowledge of cake decorating. Class is $50.00 plus supplies. Just give us a call to sign up.

Ok guys, if you have taken the basic one stroke painting class and are ready for more we have an advanced class this Saturday Nov.17th here at the shop. You remember how much fun you had the first time around so just think what skills you will walk away with in this class. We still have some spots open so give us a call to sign up while it is fresh in your mind and come have some fun. The Cake Cottage 951-600-4773

Well, Halloween is just around the corner and I bet there are lots of trick or treaters  out there ready for some sweet goodies. So we have a Cupcake Class just for them. It’s Friday the 26th at 4:00pm till 6:00pm right here at The Cake Cottage in Murrieta. They will learn to decorate cupcakes into a ghost, a mummy, a witches hat just to name a few. It’s a great way for them to let off a little steam, give you a break for a couple of hours and go home with some delicious, fun treats. Check our Class page for more details. Here are some photos of the Cupcakes they will make.

Hey guys just wanted to let you know that we are having a DAYTIME COURSE 1 CLASS starting next Tuesday Sept. 4th. Being taught by Susan Carberry herself. We don’t do this very often so if you have been wanting to take a class but can’t come at night then this is the class for you. Here are the details on the class……..This is a four week beginning cake decorating class. Week one will cover leveling, torting, filling and icing your cake. Then you will finish by piping a flower design on your cake. Week two will cover many boarders and accents. Week three you will learn to pipe animal faces as well as trees and foliage. Week four you will finish the course learning to pipe roses. After finishing this course you will have a good understand of cake decorating. Beginning Level $50.00 plus supplies. Give us a call to sign up….951-600-4773

Wel,l Susan has done it again !! In between owning and running The Cake Cottage, teaching classes, creating new classes, on the road travels to teach, shooting videos and more….yesterday Susan found a few hours to make a cake for charity for the Icing Smiles group. The cake was for christina who is very sick but wanted a fairy princess castle cake. I think Susan delivered…..what do you think? …….Pete …..

Well we had a great time on Saturday at our Demo Day. Everyone had lots of fun and learned a lot. So here are some photos so you can see what was going on here and next time maybe you can join us.

Ok guys, spring is here and time to start thinking about all those spring flowers……but how about some Gumpaste Spring Flowers ?..well this coming Saturday April 21st Susan is teaching her amazing class on Spring Time flowers, and they beautiful and soooo lifelike….take a look for yourself then get in the class and really expand your skills……………Pete

Hey guys,

Just wanted to point out to you all that we have 2 amazing instructors coming to teach at The Cake Cottage in the next two months. First up we have Charity George. Now she can show you how to make your cakes taste just fantastic and for those of you who would like to learn about gluten free baking then does she have a class for you. Here is some info on her and her classes:

Charity Pykles-George is a Pastry Chef and Cake Artist in San Diego, CA.  She specializes in chocolate and sugar art particularly with regards to wedding, specialty and extreme cakes. She has also specialized in baking and cooking for those with food allergies and sensitivities. Charity owns d’Zrt Cake Studio in La Mesa, CA.

Charity is a native of Southern California and was raised in San Diego.   She wrecked 2 Easy Bake Ovens as a child so her mother decided to teach her to cook on the “big oven”.  By age 12 she had “tapped out” her mother and grandmother’s cooking knowledge so she resorted to reading cookbooks (which you can still find her doing if she gets 2 seconds of spare time).  During her senior year of High School she went to work for a local cake shop where she cut, filled, iced, delivered and occasionally got to decorate cakes.

She attended Brigham Young University for her freshman year of college, and then attended Le Cordon Bleu in London & Paris and Le Ritz Esscoffier in Paris but did not finish her degree there.  After returning to the States she gained experience in the “corporate world” in graphic design, marketing, advertising, radio, film & TV.

Charity continued throughout her career to teach baking, pastry and culinary skills in the private sector and created cakes for friends and family.  She created “cooking clubs” in each city she lived in, most of which are still holding meetings monthly.  After a 15 year “culinary school hiatus”, during which she married, had 3 children, divorced and moved back to San Diego, Charity went back to school to finish her Culinary degree in Baking and Pastry Arts.

For the last 6 years she has worked exclusively with cakes and has been a contestant on TLC’s Ultimate Cake Off twice in season 2; winning the taste competition, and was most recently featured on TLC’s Fabulous Cakes and the Niecy Nash Wedding Bash.  She has been a judge at numerous cake shows/contests and teaches sugar arts across the country.

So check out her classes on our schedule and learn something new.

Next up we have Peggy Tucker. She will be teaching Isomalt like you have been asking for. Here is a little info on her:

Hey guys, I just wanted to give you a heads up on some great Free info today. On November 19th we are having a Cake Class on Isomalt Sugar with guest instructor, Peggy Tucker. She knows a ton about working with sugar, and in our class she will teach you sugar, pouring, casting, and basic pulling techniques plus a whole bunch of other things as well,…..all the details of the class are on our Classes Schedule, if you want to take you skills to the next level this is the class for you. Now here is the Free part. Peggy just did an interview on “CakeFu Master Series” ( Susan did one of these earlier this year on extreme cake infrastructure) and right now you can go and watch it and learn about Peggy and how she creates some of her amazing Sugar Art…….so go take a look and start learning………….here is the link to her interview…..Cakefu Master Series Remember seating will be limited in this class so sign up as soon as you can……….Pete

In case you did not get this months Newsletter I have am posting the tips section for you to check out. If you are not getting our Newsletters just  sign up in the box on the right,  then you too can get all of our tips and tricks, special promotions, and see what we are up to each month to help you with all your cake decorating needs…..Pete

To make your cakes better, here are a few tips on Baking your Cakes…….this month, Rose Everett, from our shop, is going to give you a few tips on measuring your ingredients.

Helpful Baking Tips

By Rose Everett

When some people bake they seem to be able to just toss a few things together and achieve wonderful results. This is a skill they developed over many years of baking. However, it does not take having a special gift or a magic touch to bake in the kitchen. The real secret is practice, practice and more practice. So today I am going to give you a few tips on how to correctly measure your ingredients so your baking products turn out just right.

How to measure your ingredients.

Accurate measuring is crucial to successful baking. To properly measure, you need three types of measuring tools: clear glass or plastic cup with a spout for wet ingredients, cups in graduated sizes for dry ingredients and a set of measuring spoons. Most American baking recipes measure ingredients by volume, not weight; for example, a recipe will call for 1 cup sugar instead of 8 ounces sugar. If you become truly passionate about baking, consider investing in a scale, as it really is the most accurate way to measure.

Measure the quantities correctly: This is a baking must! Improper measuring of dry and liquid ingredients is one of the most common mistakes in baking. You can use the best ingredients in the world, but if you do not measure correctly, the recipe will not come out properly.

To measure liquids: Set the cup on the counter, bend at the knees so you are at eye-level with the lines on the cup and pour the ingredient right up to the line indicating the amount needed. If you don’t have the lines at eye-level you will not get an accurate amount of liquid in your cup.

To measure dry ingredients: Spoon your flour or other dry ingredient into the appropriately-sized measuring cup, 1/4 cup, ½ cup/ etc…. filling it generously above the rim of the cup. Then, run the back of a knife over the edge to sweep the excess back into the container.

A couple of things to avoid:

Don’t dip a measuring cup into a bag or container of flour; this packs the flour in the cup and adds more flour to the recipe, resulting in dry and dense cakes.

Resist tapping the cup on the counter – the flour settles and you will have more than needed

Never use eating utensils as measuring spoons; they are not correct and may affect the result of your baking;

Do not “Eyeball” any ingredients in baking. Baking is a science and it requires accurate measurements to ensure that you products will turn out right every time.

Never measure over the mixing bowl containing the other ingredients. You may accidentally tip the measuring device or over pour the ingredients and excess ingredients would fall into the mixture. This could ruin the whole batch, depending on the ingredient and how much was spilled.

Cultivate the do-it-right attitude and habit.

Remember: If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right!

Baking demands accuracy and care. Because each ingredient in baking results in a particular action or reaction that’s critical to the recipe’s success, one misstep could mean the difference between baked goods people pass on, to those people can’t pass up.

Once again remember – Skill and confidence come with practice.

Happy Baking,

Rose

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Thanks,

Pete