Memorial Day 2010

My first post-class cake was done for Memorial Day 2010.  We were headed to a barbecue in my husband's hometown, hosted at one of his friend's parents' house (this friend, A, also happens to be my friend J's brother).  Since I had just finished the Wilton class I decided to whip something up to take with us.  I used the standard Wilton white buttercream on a red velvet cake (so it was super patriotic once we cut it).  I was a little nuts about the stars not having lined up the way I wanted them to, but that's one of my OCD tendencies I had to ignore.

One of the things I was happy about is that my icing technique keeps getting better.  As I continue to practice, the icing gets smoother and more even, and while my shell border isn't as traditionally tight as I'd like, it's consistent.  It's not always important to do it exactly as you're taught, but as long as you keep it the same within your baked good it's usually no big deal.

For the stars on the top I made light impressions with a cookie cutter and then outlined them in blue icing with a round tip (I can't remember which one).  Then I filled in each star using red icing that I mixed with the no-taste coloring paste from the Wilton line.  When coloring icing it's important to remember that the brighter, more vibrant you want your colors the more paste you have to use, which can result in bitter-tasting frosting.  Luckily Wilton makes a few colors as no-taste.  Then I filled in a few areas of white space with three drop flowers.  The BBQ crowd seemed pleased with it and luckily we didn't have any to bring home.