Iced up with Cookie Girl

I've made a few cupcakes in the last couple of years, and one thing I've been meaning to do for a while is learn how to make them look pretty (as opposed to looking like they've been thrown at icing).

So when I saw an offer for a two hour cupcake decorating class for £27 in Time Out a couple of weeks ago, I jumped at the chance - and last Saturday was the big day.


I'd been excited about it all week (the excitement not lessened by the fact that the class was in Kensal Green, in North London - and everyone knows how much I like to venture North Of The River), and it didn't disappoint. The class was run by Cookie Girl, a business started by a woman called Xanthe Martin that specialises in baking and decorating classes for a number of occasions. We didn't get taught by her, but instead had a very nice girl (whose name I can't for the life of me remember) showing us how to use our nozzles.


When I arrived at the pub in which the class took place, there were 15 or so people waiting to go into the events room at the back. When we got in, we were greeted with a table scattered with tupperware full of different coloured icing and several small jars of decorations.

 

Before we started icing, we were shown how to use the piping bags and nozzles - one tip she gave us was to half turn the piping bag inside out and rest them on a pint glass (I wish I had taken a photo at this point), and then to fill them with icing (which,for those interested, was cream cheese and butter based icing with gel food coloring). The trick is,once the piping bags are full, to twist the top of the piping bag closed and to hold it from the top so that the icing doesn't get too warm. Also, it allows for a more even finish as it allows for a more constant flow of icing.


Then we got down to business - first up, the "Mr Whippy", which was a method where you start from the outside of the cupcake.Once you've iced around the outside once, you then follow the inside line of the icing until you reach the middle,at which point you dip the nozzle and pull up sharply to make a neat point in the middle of the cupcake.


Needless to say my first attempt was pretty poor - however I covered it with green sparkles and mini candy canes and found a flattering angle from which to photograph it (if I'd taken it from the side, you'd have seen just how flat it was!)

I had a second go,with purple icing - slightly better, but still a bit lumpy. However, it became the front for my retro style cupcake - purple baubles, neon pink hundreds and thousands and small black sheep roaming the icing. 

Next up - the two tone Mr Whippy. Basically like the original style, but once you've done the first round, you switch to a different colour icing. I wasn't a huge fan of this version - but quite enjoyed the yellow and pink combo. On the second one, I screwed up the icing slightly- but then learnt how to cover up messy icing by using decorations like the bead flower below. I have a feeling I'll be using this method a lot!!

The next method was what I like to call the blob method. You basically start in the middle of the cupcake, squeeze out a blob of icing,and then dip and pull up sharply. You do the same all the way round - using the optional different nozzle types and icing colours. The one below, I used a rose nozzle for most of it, but for the yellow part my nozzle had a sort of crown shape. I then decorated with large pink edible balls, small ivory balls and edible glitter. I have to say,this is my favourite.

The one below was the using the same method-except I screwed up the tip of one of the pink blobs so put green balls on the tip of each. I then made an inner circle with the ivory baubles (you may have noticed I have a slight love of the ivory ones).

Last method - the rose - you start in the middle like a Mr Whippy, do a tight circle in the middle and then work outwards. This is really pretty when you get the hang of it - which I didn't so well (rose fail) - and again you can cover up your errors with decorations. The yellow one below was my first attempt, which explains why it's covered in stars, hearts and edible glitter. The second one (in pink) went slightly better - and just needed a bit of covering up on one side (although it looks a bit squashed as I took this picture after carrying it home).

 

I left the course with 8 cupcakes, a decorating kit (£15) and a feeling of achievement - several of my friends had to endure photos of cupcakes that afternoon (which was a great relief for those of my friends that had received photos of the blister on my foot a couple of days earlier). All in all, I can only recommend this course - the one thing I would say was that it would have been nice to have a stab at doing fondant shapes, but when I asked, I was assured that Cookie Girl is in the process of setting these up. I'll keep you posted!!