Monday, April 2, 2012

“A Day of Modeling Chocolate”

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Last week amongst all of the excitement of the cake competition at the National Capital Area Cake Show, I was also taking several classes for “cake education”. One of the classes that I took was called “A Day of Modeling Chocolate”, taught by Lauren Kitchens and Mike McCary. Both of these cake designers I have followed for quite some time and I am always baffled by the creations that they design. Fortunately for me, I was able to take an all day class co-taught by the both of them and attempt to absorb everything that they had to offer!

The start of the morning began with Mike giving us a sort of modeling chocolate 101. We did everything from learning to make and temper our own modeling chocolate, to finishing a cake with it and air brushing it! There was a lot of demoing on the versatility of what you can do with this type of chocolate! photo 1This guy was a piece of work! So knowledgeable and talented, yet his personality was perfect for a chocolate instructor; there was no ego there, just a urgency to make us love the craft as much as he does!

In what seemed like 30 minutes turned out to be 3 hours and it was time for lunch. Upon return Lauren had taken over and Mike became her sous chef- which meant it was sushi time!IMG_9832

As much as I would like to take you through the step by step of how we made these super cool bites of chocolate, I don’t think that that would be right…instead you’ll have to take her class! I highly recommend that you do!  In the meantime I will give you the up close of each piece of sushi!IMG_9813

Shrimp Sashimi

IMG_9814Sushi Omelet

IMG_9815Salmon Sashimi

IMG_9816California RollIMG_9817

Salmon SashimiIMG_9818

And sure enough, your wasabi and ginger!photo 3

This is Lauren. She demoed each piece and then sent us back to our seats to make our own! I loved it and was even happier with how her style of teaching set us up for success!

After we were done making the sushi I thought we were done for the day. I was wrong. After the sushi we created plates of the “Grand Slam Breakfasts” that you would often see at fine dining restaurants such as IHOP!IMG_9845

There your have it folks. Four of the absolute best things on earth! Bacon, eggs, French toast, and chocolate! That’s right, chocolate. Did you forget already that this was a chocolate class? Everything you’ve seen here so far has been made with chocolate! Which means, if you were to pick up that nice thick slice of French toast and bite into it, it would most certainly taste ten times better than fondant. Therefore, I’m fairly confident that from here on out most of my cake decoration details and sculpted objects are going to be modeling chocolate!

As for now, I’m now furiously saving money in an attempt to attend another class taught by these two! The one that I see on the schedule that interests me the most is “Muppetizing” with Lauren! Eeeeek I need to get moving!

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What do you think? Did I have you fooled with the first photo? Do you know someone who LOVES sushi and would love to have a sushi cake or an occasion?

As always, thanks for reading!

8 comments:

Jayne said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

So cool! What a fun class that must have been!

Molly said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Wow!

Pink Little Cake said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

What a wonderful job you did with the modeling chocolate. I would love to take a class with them. You are so lucky!

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

These are AMAZING!!!!! I wish they would come to California, I'd love to take these classes!
You did a fabulous job!!!

Alli said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I love Mike!! I am so jealous of your cake fun. The muppet class looks like a blast, I hope you go to it (and report back)!

Sara said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

That looks like a fun class to take, great job!

Canterbury Cakes said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I never realised that chocolate could be so versatile. I would never have guessed you were using modelling chocolate and would have assumed it was gumpaste.
It's great to take classes with such knowledgeable people isn't it? Last week I took a two day class with Lorraine McKay and loved every second of it. The time flew by far too quickly and now I want to take another class ASAP! :o)

Paula said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

That class sounded like so much fun and so educational! What great instructors you had. Looking forward to seeing your cakes adorned with your own modelling chocolate masterpieces.

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