‘I found my joy for baking again’
Longing to make elaborate Instagram-worthy cakes for family birthdays, Helen Mountain from Kent took a class with baking professionals.
I’ve always enjoyed cooking and baking for my family. When my son, Daniel, 18, and twin daughters, Yasmin and Zoe, 20, were all at home during the pandemic, we entertained ourselves with family versions of TV’S Come Dine With Me.
Eventually, while looking for more enjoyable and therapeutic things to do, we moved to baking cakes. I could make basic sponges, but I really wanted to do more. I would always see elaborately designed cakes on Instagram and it ignited a passion in me to have a go.
My son’s birthday last September was my first attempt at creating something more extravagant, but my icing was too hard and I struggled to coat the cake. It looked messy and I was disappointed. I disguised my failed attempt by adding sprinkles and a drizzle around the edge. Though my son was delighted, it wasn’t what I had in mind; that was when I decided I really wanted to do a baking and decorating class to hone my skills.
When I arrived at Rosalind Miller’s studio, I was really nervous, but Rosalind and her team were very welcoming. We would be making a lemon sponge with raspberry cream filling, and she shared her special tiered sponge recipe.
I loved learning all the tricks, such as using room temperature eggs and that you can get a tastier cake if, instead of all butter, you use half butter and half margarine. But the best tip was that to create four layers, you should use two deep cake tins and cut the cakes in half – rather than four shallow tins – to get a lighter sponge. I realised this was where I’d been going wrong, I just wasn’t familiar with the basic principles of baking
While the cakes were in the oven, we made American buttercream for the outside and a Swiss meringue buttercream to go between the layers. I’d never made a Swiss meringue buttercream – it wasn’t as sweet as regular icing, and had a much lighter texture, but was delicious.
When the cakes came out of the oven, they looked well risen and had a nice golden colour. We left them to cool for half an hour, before moving on to the part I wanted to learn most about, layering, filling and decorating.
The most difficult part was coating the cake with buttercream because
I kept either pressing too hard or not hard enough with the spatula, but Rosalind helped me get it just right. I found it really difficult, but after a few tries, I got the smooth finish I wanted.
I was so excited to show my family what I’d created and, not only did it look good, it tasted delicious, too.
I’ve realised the process of baking and decorating can be straightforward and all you really need are the right tools and some good advice. I can now bake cakes in a more pleasurable way rather than treating it like a chore each time a birthday comes around.
I’ve already made plans to bake for my daughters’ birthday this June and my husband’s 60th in August. You never know – I might even get some orders from my relatives!
For online courses, visit rosalindmillercakeinstitute. com/cakelabuk