Fake-a-Cake

After the fun we had with Friday night's birthday cake, Chloé, Wynham and I decided on the spur of the moment to take a "beginning fondant" cake decorating class at Cake Art on Saturday afternoon. Fondant is the smooth covering you usually see on wedding cakes, and it's an amazingly pliable medium; you're only limited by your imagination when it comes to the designs you can make with the stuff.

It's always fun to watch the kids at work in this kind of environment. Even though the teacher's English is barely understandable, Chloé gets it right away and is covering her styrofoam "cake" with perfect precision. Wynham and I stare at each other as we scrape our second, third, and fourth attempts off the table and try again. The teacher gets impatient and comes over to do it for us, which rather defeats the whole purpose.

Coloring the paste for the decorations is time consuming, as you have to knead the colors in by hand, although it's great physical therapy. I don't think we would have chosen these colors or designs, but hey, we're learning something. Wynham's flowers are a marvel of minute detail. I have to admit, I brought him to the class with me because I know I'll need his help on projects that require a steady hand.

Claire is beside herself when we bring our dummies home and she discovers that we can't eat them. James wonders about the futility of our endeavors, but I'm sure he'll enjoy the results when it's his turn and the cake is real. With all the birthdays coming up in the next couple of months, we're going to get plenty of practice...