We are Cake Decor, Derby’s cake decorating store and cake bakery located at 9 Theatre Walk, Eagle Centre and we are putting on a show of local cake making talent! We are organising a cake decorating competition for people who reside in the East Midlands aged 13+ and people of all skill levels are eligible to enter under 3 categories: 2-3 Tier Wedding Cake, Wedding Cupcakes and Freestyle Wild and Wacky. Entries close on 1 March and judging will take place at The Art of Cake Exhibition on Saturday 20 April at Derby’s Quad in the Market Place where all the cakes entered will be on display for the public to admire. Various prizes are on offer including a Kenwood Mixer.

Whilst entering a competition can be very challenging, it is also very rewarding and therefore encourage you to enter. Anyone interested in participating should contact cake@cakedecor.co.uk for further information or by calling Michelle on 07883 107788.

Cupcake classes – a series in posts – there has been an upsurge in the number of cake decorating classes available in the East Midlands in recent months. This series of posts is a review of some of these classes, as I enjoy going to them!

When the Strawberry Cupcakes groupon class appeared on groupon, me and my cupcake-decorating class buddy bought a voucher straight away and booked in for the 20th November 2011 course.

Cost – £36
Original cost – £84
Number sold – 264 (in the round I purchased in)

== Booking ==

After buying the voucher I went to check out the website. I was surprised at the design, as it would have probably put me off purchasing the voucher if I had looked at it first. If I am wanting to commission somebody for a design job (such as, say, cupcakes for a wedding) then I am going to check out their website first. I struggled with trying to find information about how to book groupon classes (largely due to the unreadable text and background images), so I sent them an email. I got a fast response back and the classes were booked very quickly. I hope they are planning an overhaul of this in the future, as an out-dated design of website can really impact on first impressions of a business.

Note: The address given on the groupon voucher was actually different to the venue location. I took note of this and made sure to write it down, as I usually just look at the groupon voucher the day before to get the venue details. Something to watch out for as my cupcake-decorating buddy went to the wrong address this morning by accident !

== Arrival and Venue ==

When we arrived at the venue we were greeted with complimentary tea, coffee and biscuits. An excellent start! The organisers were running slightly behind schedule, but when you see how much they have to put together for the classes this is perfectly understandable.

The venue was Grange Hall in Radcliffe on Trent, which worked really well. It looked like it had some kind of catering-standard kitchen in the back, and the room we were in was spacious enough. Some tables had been arranged in a U-shape, and it didn’t feel too crowded. Strawberry Cupcakes are opening a cupcake bakery / shop / café near here soon, so keep your eyes peeled for this.

== First session ==

First of all we started off the day by baking our own cupcakes! In other classes I have done this has not been a feature, so it was an interesting concept. Some classes buy in pre-made cupcakes, but they are boring and everybody knows what they taste like. We were able to choose the flavouring of our cupcakes, and the tutors explained all of the methodology which goes into a cupcake recipe. I chose strawberry for my cupcakes (ooh subliminal?), but the flavouring wasn’t very strong so I added some raspberry to help boost it. Flavouring was done using coffee syrups (the kind you see in Caffe Nero), which I hadn’t seen done before. I have yet to sample one of my cupcakes, so I will report back on the taste/texture when I do!

The cupcakes were then swept off to be baked whilst we moved onto the…

== Second session ==

In this we learnt how to colour our sugarpaste, and use cutters to make butterflies. We were also taught how to make a “form” out of tin foil, to help make it look like the butterflies had just “landed” on our cupcakes. I forgot to “print” the image of the butterfly on my icing, so had to re-do them but this wasn’t the end of the world.

== Third session ==

In the third session we began to learn how to create sugarcraft flowers, and do them for ourselves. We started with a rose, something which has never gone well before. We heard the tutor say “you’ll need to create 12″ and took her seriously, wondering how we could avoid this horror! Turns out she was joking, we thankfully found out in time There were a variety of cutters available to create the “cut and stick” type sugarcraft decorations, and colours to change the sugarpaste to suit. I gave up on the roses after 2, and switched to daisy and rose moulds to use up my sugarpaste.

== Forth session ==

In this we created, from scratch, our own buttercream and learnt different piping styles. Firstly we started with the medium-sized nozzle (I’m sure it has a proper name, apologies) and learnt how to pipe roses. We then did 4 of our 12 cupcakes in this style. I’m not one to brag, but mine were proper lush.

Then we used the largest nozzle to create two-tone swirls. I cheated and did more roses, too excited over my new piping abilities to actually attempt the piled swirl. Another 4 cupcakes were done in this style. The two-tone is completely obvious, once you know how. Such a lovely and simple technique, definitely a new skill learned from the class.

Last, but no means least, we learnt how to pipe buttercream flowers. By this point my buttercream (and patience) was running low so I panicked a bit for this part. I can see how this would create a nice effect, but mine were very floppy and the colouring wasn’t fantastic. These issues were *my* fault, and not a reflection on the effectiveness of the teaching.

I could see how the piping tutorials had been tailored according to how much buttercream is left, accounting for the buttercream to have been coloured in the second batch of 4 by the two-tone and time. This session was definitely my favourite, as I have had a long-standing hatred of working with buttercream

== Fifth session ==

In this part it was time to put all of our acquired skills and sugarcraft decorations to use, and decorate our swirled cupcakes. I think if I had known what the final result was to look like I would have definitely made different sugarcraft decorations. I nearly took my own moulds along for the day (simply because I had a PLAN for these cupcakes, and wanted to kill two birds with one stone), but decided instead to throw caution to the wind. This paid off though, and I’m pretty happy with the results!

== Overall ==

I found the class to be very interesting, and the four hours went by very quickly. The class did overrun by an hour, and I am not sure of the reasons for this. I think a lot was tried to be crammed into three hours, and it might be better to treat this as a four hour course. I imagine the full-day course is able to cover everything at a slower pace, but the half-day class didn’t feel rushed regardless.

Best part – we actually got a cupcake to eat with the break time tea! What a lovely addition, and totally unexpected. I had been taking photos of the cupcake stand, thinking they were an advert for a future class. Then got handed a cupcake and told to eat it. Bonus!

The quality of materials and teaching were excellent, no expense was spared. Strawberry Cupcakes effortlessly know their stuff, and it shows in the classes.

I think my only, minor, suggestions would be:

- A finished product to look at before we began. A picture of a previous student’s finished box would have been fine, just so we knew what we were aiming for. It was quite difficult working “blind”, and the cupcakes didn’t turn out as nicely as they could have done if I’d have known the types of buttercream swirls we were going to use.
- More cutters available, as there weren’t really enough to go around.
- A larger variety of cutters. If Strawberry Cupcakes are hoping to make sales on these at the end (or in their shop) then it would be ideal to help people “fall in love” with them during the class. I have ended up with many new cutters this way!
- More colour sets available, as people ended up fighting over the popular (red/blue) colours.

I would happily sign up for another Strawberry Cupcakes class, so will be keeping my eyes peeled on their new shop/bakery venture!

Another month, another cake club! Our featured charity was the Hepatitis C Trust, with ambassador Liana on hand to give a short presentation about the work which the charity does. The Hepatitis C Trust aim to raise awareness of the condition, provide support for those diagnosed and provide information about what a diagnosis of Hep C means. They also aim to bust myths about people who are diagnosed with the illness, as Hep C could happen to anybody.

We had THREE favourite cakes this month, as voted for by you! Laura Brown’s Chocolate and Orange Sponge Cake, Helen’s Chocolate and Orange Sponge Cake and Liana’s Cupcakes. Laura received a little token prize in congratulations.

Helen and Sarah joined Verity Cowley from BBC Radio Nottingham to help celebrate the final of the Great British Bake Off! We stationed ourselves in Market Square at 7am and accosted passers-by with cake! They were asked to guess which one was homemade, and which was store-bought. They were then asked which one they preferred.

What was the overwhelming reaction?

HOMEMADE!

A big well done also to John Whaite who was this years Great British Bake Off champion. Congratulations John!

Nottingham Cake Club on Pinterest

Our charity of the month for September is the Neonatal Charity Ball – with 100% of profits going towards supporting Neonatal Units in Nottingham, an incredibly worthy cause. You can read more about the Neonatal Charity Ball here.

We are a non-profitable establishment. We run from a family centre behind the church. We are a registered Pre School for 30 children; we have been a successful established Pre School for 42 years.

We are continuously raising funds to provide opportunities for the children to benefit from.

We are raising funds today for our project to move preschool forward introducing more opportunities and providing more effective child care for everyone. This project will enhance staff training and job opportunities, and to provide the children with more up to date equipment to ensure they access all areas of development effectively and enjoy exploring and learning whilst at pre school.

Thank you for all your support we very much appreciate it from: All staff and children at St Mary’s.

This groupon was one of the first available catering to cupcake classes, and I think that most people interested in cake decorating have probably done this course. I was vaguely aware of April Delights as they had a shop on Hucknall Road, but I don’t recall ever seeing this open.

== Pre-Booking ==

I checked out the April Delights website prior to booking the groupon and it was acceptable enough. There were no details about how to book your place on the groupon courses on the website, but sending off a contact form received a quick reply from Adele.

== Venue ==

April Delights have their own unit on the Southglade Business Park. This is located just off Hucknall Road and is easily accessible by both public transport and car. There was plenty of parking available outside.

The unit itself is kitted out with 3 large workstation tables and a small kitchen containing a sink and tea machine. The space is a really good place for the classes as there is plenty of space around the tables, and it does have an aura of being back in the design labs at school! Right down to the plastic stools.

== First session ==

We began the class by being shown a full demonstration of the cupcakes we were to produce ourselves. There is heavy emphasis on sugarcraft in the April Delights classes, and we were shown how to use sugarpaste to create various designs. The “classic” April Delights designed were demo’ed – the ribbon, the shoe and the handbag. These are easily created using cutters available from either April Delights during the class, or Sweet Success in Radford.

We were shown how to colour the sugarpaste, knead it to spread the colours and how to use the cutters effectively. We were also shown how to use texture mats, which can create a lovely but simple effect.

The cupcakes used during these classes are sourced from Sweet Success, and no attempt is made to hide this as the boxes are left at the back of the room. Adele does not bake her own cakes, and this applies across both the courses and the designs she creates for weddings. I don’t feel either here nor there about this, but the Sweet Success cupcakes do taste somewhat of preservatives. It lacks the nice “home-made” element, but then I guess the emphasis in this course is on creating the designs. We were told to select 6 cupcakes and take them back to our workstations.

We were then let loose on the sugarpaste cutters, and left to our own devices. I managed to create my shoe, handbag and ribbon. As a bit of a feminist I did feel slightly silly creating such ‘girly’ designs, and I wonder what the reasoning behind these designs is as it could put a man off from signing up to the course. Adele did say whilst we were there that she had had some men attend, but a more universal design may have appealed to more people. I did feel *very* silly giving these cupcakes out afterwards.

== Afternoon tea ==

Afternoon tea was provided during the break, and throughout the afternoon. The cakes are pre-bought Mr Kipling jobbies and the drinks come from a machine. I did find it odd that a cake business would be buying in store-bought cakes (as I have been given baked cakes made by the company in other classes I’ve attended), but I know time is of the essence and the important part is that they were available. It did have a slight ”manufactured” feel to the proceedings, but this was unavoidable.

== Second session ==

In the second session we moved the sugarcraft tools out of the way and the piping bags came out. Again the buttercream was sourced from Sweet Success, so there was no scope to change the flavouring of this. I am not a big fan of the Sweet Success buttercream as it does taste very store-bought. I would prefer using Betty Crocker, if we are going to use pre-made products! However, it is easy to work with and we were able to create our designs with it well enough.

We were shown how to do the “swirl” and we decorated the final 3 cupcakes in this manner. We were then shown how to do daisy cut-outs to stick onto the flowers, and create some pretty designs with them. I was much happier with the designs for the buttercream cupcakes than the sugarcraft, as they were more neutral and universal. We were also shown how to do roses using the silicone moulds, and I fell completely in love with this method. The roses created from the mould look very professional and I was very impressed with this design.

== Overall ==

This was my first ever cupcake decorating class with April Delights, and I was impressed with the scope of how much was covered in just 3 hours. Adele takes a very laid-back approach to her teaching style, and this works very effectively. Initially there wasn’t enough space for me and my cupcake-class buddy to sit together, but Adele set us up two extra spaces on the middle table and we were able to hold hands again. Phew!

I don’t have any suggestions for improvements which could be made to these classes, as the format works well and the class itself is thoroughly enjoyable. We enjoyed this class so much we booked again to do the Mini Celebration Cakes class (£35) in a few months time.

I probably wouldn’t do the same class again, even to improve on techniques, as it was very basic in it’s approach. I think that if you are a complete newbie to sugarcraft and cupcake decoration then this is an excellent place to begin!

If you’re still struggling to write your list, or buy pressies for the baking enthusiast in your life, then check out our little guide for some more ideas that might just make your/their Christmas:

This suggestion comes from Kerry at Kerry Cooks whose blog never fails to make me hungry. These little vintage cake toppers can be used adorn your baked offering this year or even give your Christmas table a hint of the ever popular vintage chic. They’re ceramic too so if you treat them nicely they can form part of your festive ensemble year on year.

Vintage ceramic cake toppers

My next recommendation isn’t so much an item but a shop. TK Maxx have branched out and now have a sister store solely dedicated to selling their homewares – Home Sense. As with any TK Maxx store, the stock rotation is quite quick but they do have a baking section and I always manage to find some reasonably priced gems to add to my cake collection.

They also stock food items and some professional cake tools as well as kids toys, which means you can keep the kids entertained whilst you lose yourself in cakey heaven.

Ok, peeps be prepared for some serious apron lust. Yes, you heard me right. Any baker will tell you that an essential piece of baking kit comes in the form of a good apron to protect your lovely clothes from the inevitable splashes of buttercream that *will* stain them and aprons don’t get much better than these. Lana from Sassy Apron makes the most incredible vintage themed aprons which top my Christmas list every year. She designs and hand sews each item in her Etsy shop and if I could, I’d wear one of these every…day….of…the…week.

Sassy Apron

I found it hard to choose one photo to feature but this one is just too darn gorgeous for words. Actually, don’t even look at this apron. I want it!!

And finally, what do you get for the baker who has everything? Answer: you don’t. In the true spirit of Cake Eaters Anonymous why not forego another item to clutter your cabinets and instead ask for your Christmas money to be given to a worthwhile cause? We have so many local charities that need our support this year and if you’re struggling to find just one then why not let Charity Gifts UK help. Buyers can purchase a gift, from just £3, and the money goes directly to the charity of your choosing. Just £5 will buy a Christmas Meal for a homeless young person.

£5. Put that humorous Christmas tie down and give that fiver to someone who really needs it This is how we spread the Christmas love people!

Charity Gifts UK

I hope I’ve given you some ideas that might help you on your present quest. Do you have any other recommendations for us? What about a great local business? Leave a comment below telling us all about it!

And remember, it is better to give than receive. Unless it’s cake. Then it’s WAY better to receive.