Recently having released a book called Planet Cake, which flew off the shelves so fast many were left waiting for the next print run, they have decided to expand their classes outside of Sydney.  First stop has been Melbourne.  Lucky enough to involve Cake Friend Fran, who has helped them find a venue and get the classes off the ground, they recently ran a week of classes which were attended by many a known Cakes & More Cake Friend! 

Classes range from beginners to the more experienced, including Novelty, Cupcakes and Demonstrations on how to master their enviable ganache method.  I’ve yet to come across someone who has come away from the class without a great looking cake!

Now taking bookings for Brisbane, there are threads on the their forum for those in Western Australia and South Australia to register interest in the hope that they will eventually make it there also.  Having said that I’ve known other cake friends who’ve flown into Sydney or Melbourne for classes and not been disappointed.

Classes to do seem expensive.  But everything is supplied and you do come away with a cake that you could onsell to help cover some of those costs.  Again, I’ve yet to come across someone who didn’t find the class worthwhile or worth the cost in the end.

Remember if it’s not for you for now the book offers a comprehensive guide to their ganaching process and a lovely mixture of cupcakes and cakes.  While I’ve heard some people complain that the book didn’t contain the popular mad hatter/topsy turvey design, I have to say well come on folks they had to save something for the second book!

Here are some pictures and comments by some of Cakes and More Cake Friends who attended the Melbourne Classes.

Fran

who helped facilitate many of the classes and taught the Mad Hatter class.

Make sure you check out her flickr stream - http://www.flickr.com/photos/franjmc/

 “It’s a fantastic, day of fun, learning and chocolate, how can you beat that?”

Yana

Make sure you check out her flickr stream – http://www.flickr.com/photos/28607271@N02/ 

“The course was fantastic and I highly recommend it .”

Lili

Make sure you check out her flickr stream - http://www.flickr.com/photos/liliscakes/

“I’ve been doing workshops and classes for over 3 years and got more out of the first 2 hours than I have in the last 3 years. It was fabulous being part of the PC class and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to take their skills up a notch!”

Effie

Make sure you check out her flickr stream - http://www.flickr.com/photos/designer_cakes_by_effie/

“Handi & Fran were wonderful teachers/facilitors. They were happy to share their knowledge and love of cake decorating.
Very informative and learnt heaps of tips and tricks for decorating the PC way.
Cant wait for some more PC courses to come to Melbourne!”

Helena

Make sure you check out her flickr stream - http://www.flickr.com/photos/31041954@N07/

“It was a very worthwhile experience, I loved every second of it – it was informative, constructive, everything is included in the price including the cake so all you have to concentrate on are the various techniques in decorating you’re there to learn. I’ll definitely be enrolling in another course in the future.. The instructors are fantastic – very entertaining too!”

Rouvelee

Make sure you check out her flickr stream - http://www.flickr.com/photos/rouvelee/

“The Melbourne Planet Cake courses were a delight to attend. Fran and Handi make a fantastic team and are the best teachers. I especially love learning the orchid and the magnolia flowers. I would definitely be back for more courses.”

You can check out or register for their classes here. Check out our list of places to buy books here if you want to buy the book. 

All photos courtesy of the participant, permission sought to use photograph and quote, thanks girls.

This issue also includes the instructions on how to grow edible crystals, and again contains links and numbers to suppliers, websites and so on.

And Lindy if you are reading this I did manage to pick up the previous issue and bought you this issue too!  So don’t worry when I see you at seminar I will have a set for you!

One of my all time favourite books, when I was starting out, and still even today is the Women’s Weekly Kid’s Party Cakes Book. It has great instructions, it includes templates, but most of all if you are just starting out, doing cakes for kids or just want to do something fun, the combination of cake and lolly designs is assured to make many a kid happy!

Here are some of my earlier attempts straight from the book when I was simply starting out.

Recently my new purchases included the newest Women’s Weekly book Women’s Weekly Kids’ little party cakes, which is a similar book but based around cupcakes! With some very cool ideas.

See you don’t have to be an artist, just a knife, a paper template and some mint leaves, smarties or licorice and you can still create a kid’s or big adult kid delight!

Different people have different ideas about what they want out of decorating cakes, for some they just want to be able to something a little special for their kids party cakes, some try it and decide they just don’t have the patience, some just become the baker amongst family and friends and other’s go on to have business, teach, enter competitions and so on. Some people love the baking as much as the decorating and some just want to decorate, the beauty of cake decorating is that you can have or be any of these things. You can take it as far as you want to go, be creative as you want to be, learn as many techniques as you want to learn. It’s all about taking the information in and then deciding what is best for you!

Have you made a cake from one of these books, send me the picture and I’ll add it to this post so other people can see the fun other people have had with it too!  Or as always feel free to leave a comment!

Starting off with some basic information on tools, how to cover cakes and some recipes, it then goes into the Lindy Smith styled step by steps of cakes from some of her books, including, tips and tricks, timesaver comments, alternatives AND templates.

In addition there is a two page spread on Cake Decorating Suppliers throughout Australia, mainly names and numbers with the odd website thrown in, I’ll definitely be looking into more of them to add to our suppliers directory!

Turn the page and there is another two page spread called On the Net, showing some popular cake blogs and sites, including Planet Cake, Cake Journal, Extra Icing on the Cake and a Shop squealing surprise to find The Cakes and More Blog included in the mix! Yep I did squeal in the shop when I saw it, lucky it was my local newsagency who ignored me anyway! hehehehe Unfortunately a screen shot of the brief orange colouring, it is still a huge coo to see Cakes & More receive it’s first official published press. With an average of 1000 hits a day, with on average around 350 of them unique (meaning each person is hitting the site approximately 3-4 times a day), we are doing very very well, so I hope to continue sharing ideas, tips and tricks with all our cake friends out there!

A new one in May is Party Cakes and will include more Lindy Smith delights by the look of the cover.

I’m not sure how many of these will be published, but here’s to Lindy Smith and the publisher for remember the Aussie contingent of Cake Friends and Decorators! If you only have one Lindy Smith book or don’t have any, definitely pick up this mag, great for beginners through to more advanced decorators. Thanks to Lindy & the publishers for including Cakes & More, it’s great to know we have made an impact in the Cake world.

One great thing about Debbie’s sharing is her website, in which you can see pictures of all the cakes in each book. Now as a visual person, I adore that! It means if the pictures don’t interest me, then I probably won’t buy the book. But should they capture my attention, then I am out the door, or defrosting my credit card to order online!

One of my favourites is this rose creation I find the idea of this cake very inspiring.

As with many of her books, this one contains templates and nice break downs of objects. There are also mini cake options to do in association with the cake or just if you want mini cake versions!

So by all means head over to Debbie’s website and check out the cakes, then hop on line or head out to a book shop and pick it up if you are so inspired!

Pictures courtesy of Debbie Brown, click on the cake pictures to go directly to her website.

Recipe charts are in the front of the book telling you how much cake you need. Some helpful tips on technique, equipment and materials as well. With helpful templates in the back!

The inner cover reads:

“Enter Debbie Brown’s wonderful and fabulous world of exquisite cake decoratings. From the Snow Queen, the Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, to sparkling Pegasus, beautiful sea witch and wise wizard owl – there is an amazing variety from this collection to choose from that will charm children of all ages and help adults to recapture the magic of childhood.”

I do like Debbie’s Books, nice explanatory pictures of cake and figure construction. I really love the breakdown pictures so if you are lazy and don’t like to read instructions, the break down virtually says it all! 

It appears that this book is currently only available in Australia as I haven’t been able to find it on the US or UK Amazon or at the Book Depository, so I say Aussies take advantage, for $30 it’s two books in one!  Try Dymocks or Border or Seekbooks.com (in the Books page) where it’s currently $26.95.