Sunday, November 20, 2011

Cake Connection: Angry Bird Cupcake Deco Class

Ever dream of making your own gorgeous flowers or too-cute-to-gobble cartoon figurines all out of sugar? And to have your work of art adorn your perfectly baked cake to impress?

Well, if you have a budding or developing interest in cake decoration, just like myself, attending hands-on lessons gives you a 360 view of the different aspects of decoration that one may not be able to glean off by relying on books alone....an experience I discovered just recently.



A couple of days ago I attended a 'Angry Bird Cupcake Decoration' class held exclusive for bloggers at the invitation and courtesy of Cake Connection, located at Jaya One, Petaling Jaya.

A little bit of background, Cake Connection is truly a dream business made real by two very affable and gracious ladies, Nancy and Shyamala. Once colleagues at an international MNC company, they both share the same personal interest and passion, and were always the happy bakers who would volunteer to whip up something in their kitchens for any function or celebration in the office. One progress to another, they then decided to swap their corporate suits for aprons, and have not looked back since.

It was a few months ago that I came across Cake Connection's website while searching for cake and baking supply shops in KL but have yet to pay the store a visit. So when I received an email invitation to attend a complimentary Angry Bird cupcake decoration class, I was JUST SO GLAD!

I have had a keen interest in cake decoration for years now and have always fully relied on books and the web for instructions. Although the idea to attend courses did occur to me once or twice, it had not stuck, till now.

The class taught us techniques and tips which may not be covered in books, and above all what I really like about it was that Nancy, our instructor, conducted the class with much clarity, patience and a step-by-step method.



These are samples of Angry Bird figurines that were perfectly molded in advance by our instructor, Nancy. They are so neatly and proportionately made!


The class started promptly at 10.30 am with a quick introduction of one another. There were Nancy, our instructor, and seven bloggers including myself. Following the ice-breaker, Nancy started the class by touching on the basics like the different available brands of fondant in the market, which one she favors and why, the difference between fondant and gumpaste and what is each suitable/unsuitable for and how to make our own edible glue at home.

Each of us was given printed notes to refer to and thanks to Cake Connection's generosity, the note even included a sour cream chocolate cupcake recipe (Sonia's blog has it, refer below for the link) and a chocolate butter cream recipe. Both are delicious to boot!! Pre-colored fondant and decoration tools were also prepared for our creative task.

Notes, colored fondant/gumpaste and tools were prepared for our use




After running through the basics, Nancy then started the hands-on way of showing us the correct method of kneading fondant to make it pliable, how to color a huge amount of fondant in a more effortless manner, as well as how to ensure that the color is incorporated evenly throughout.


Here's our friendly instructor at work to show us the right method of kneading fondant to make it smooth and pliable for molding



And then, she proceeded to coloring, rolling and cutting it for the cupcake surface






We were taught six designs of the Angry Bird characters which included 2D and 3D.

Each detail, big or tiny, from the beaks to the eye balls, ears and tails, were taught in a step-by-step and clear manner.

At one point just when I thought I had completed one of the figurines (the 5th one I think) with a feeling of relief coming over me, we heard Nancy said... "okay, attention all you beautiful ladies (ok, she didn't say beautiful), now we make the feather!" Errr...what??? Okay, I'm soldiering on, girlfriend!...

We were also taught on which detail to assemble or arrange first in order to make the whole experience easier, as well as how to steadily secure the 3D figurines on top of the cupcake in order to avoid slippage during transportation of the cupcakes.

Step-by-step method in making 2D characters










After showing us the 2D above, Nancy progressed on to show us how to make a cute electric green 3D piglet






Here are my 'work of art' after 4.5 hours of fun (and some stress!). That's an average of 45 minutes of decoration time per cupcake!! I guess I shall not complain anymore the next time I see an expensive 3D cupcake being sold outside.












Here are the talented bloggers (minus me and 3 others who were busy getting their cameras ready) with their work of art striking a pose with Nancy and Shyamala (in pink)



Sonia with her angry birdies



Lessons are comfortably held in a spacious room within the store itself. Our gracious hostesses also prepared light snacks to thank us for coming. We were overwhelmed with excitement over our work of art and everyone was clicking away, posing with their products.

Few of us stayed back a little while longer to check out the various cake decoration products at the store. Also, one can't help but notice and admire the sugar craft work of other students being displayed. Here are some of the beautiful work:












Products you can find at Cake Connection range from various tools and cutters, silicon impression mold and veiners, Wilton and Americolor food colors, sprinkles and pearl dust, gourmet vanilla extract and bean paste, many kinds of ready-made sugar ornaments like flowers and other figurines, impression mat, cookie cutters and many many more. A full list of products can be found on Cake Connection's website.




It was a fun and creative class, and I would like to again thank Cake Connection for having us there. Special thanks to Nancy for being the wonderful instructor who shared many additional tips with us and to Shyamala for entertaining Veron and myself with a thousand and one product questions at the end. Yes, we were the last two out.

To Ivy of My Story, Chris of Pure Glutton, Zurin of Cherry on a Cake, Tomoko of Caramel Factory, Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover and Veron of Quay Po Cooks, it was a pleasure knowing and meeting all of you. Have fun decorating at home!!

To my readers and visitors, do hop over to Cake Connection's website and my fellow bloggers' blog. Enjoy and hope you''ll be inspired to jump in the cake decoraters' bandwagon!

Also, Cake Connection has a list of upcoming deco classes in December and do check it out on their site. I am personally very keen on its rose-making class. Zurin, who has attended it before, was full of praises and looking at Zurin's cakes, I am totally sold!

Here are the contact details:

Cake Connection Sdn Bhd (above Royal Oak Pub & Restaurant)
D11-1 Block D, Jaya One
72A Jalan Universiti
46200 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: +603-79564450
URL: http://www.cakeconnection.com.my


Till then, cheers
petite nyonya

19 comments:

  1. wonderfully written and beautiful cupcake. so, can I 'hire' you to do Ash's cake??

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  2. Your angry birds are perfect Jocelyn! it was fun meeting all of you :) and playing with fondant :)

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  3. The cupcakes are all so beautiful! The Spongebob and the flower butterflies are so cute! I do not have the patience to do nor the creativity! Glad that you have enjoyed the class!

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  4. Hi Joslynn, it was nice meeting you at the Angry Bird Cupcake Class! Very nice post! I felt excited again reading your post.

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  5. hahaha, i always wanted to have a photo with i holding my serving foods..Thanks for the nice photo. Nice to meeting you again..

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  6. love the cupcake decor of angry birds! how cute!

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  7. Hello Nonya, looking at the beautiful wedding cake makes me want to trade in for a new model, get married again, ha ha ha.
    Wow! Can see its a lot of fun. Too beautiful to eat. But very artistic.

    Have fun, Nyonya, and keep a song in your heart.
    Lee.

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  8. This is really cute! I wanna try too.

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  9. Joselynn, it was a fun class although I may look very serious hahaha, you know lah old lady got to give full concentration when working with young girls like you all, otherwise, when you all finish with you 6 angry birds, I will still be on my first. LOL! It was great getting to know all of you! Look forward to see you at the rose making class next month.

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  10. So cute and colourful! Its fun to get to meet up with other bloggers.

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  11. What a neat class, and wow, I can't believe how long it took. Beautiful work! I love seeing posts from blogger who get to meet other blogger. I like seeing everyone in action, and seeing what everyone looks like! Thanks for posting.

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  12. Awwwww I love it. Absolutely amazing!!

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  13. Love the smurfs... Btw, thanks for dropping by my blog. I've added you to my blogroll. Do come again...

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  14. Those are too cute! So glad I found your blog through a fellow foodie, you've got yourself a new follower! XO Jessica @ Cajunlicious

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  15. so so cute! I love the cake deco!

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  16. These cakes are so cute I wouldnt bear to eat them! Angry birds are my fav game.. hahah

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  17. all of them are very cute!!!
    my children should be dying to have one of these angry birds :) . they're big fan of angry birds --- even though their mommy has never ever ever play the angry birds game :D

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  18. It proved to be Very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commentators here!
    top-5-best-cupcake-makers

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