Blue Lavender Cake Decorating School

Blue Lavender Cake Decorating School

Why I chose Blue Lavender School

I receive Daily emails from Group on and noticed one day one for the Blue Lavender School to make cake pops. I thought they looked very different and while I do enjoy making cakes something I had not tried. I was not aware of the school’s Reputation or knew anyone who had attended a course but the website did look professional so decided to give it a try.

I paid through Group on then could book through the website. There was a selection of dates but due to a bit of chaos going on in my life I couldn’t book immediately and when I finally booked places were limited. I managed to book a course for a Saturday afternoon which lasted three hours.

Location and planning

The Course takes place at various places in Derbyshire and the course I selected was in a village hall. A week before the course I received an email listing what I needed to take to the course this was simply an apron, container and a tea towel.

My Experience

I arrived at the venue 15 minutes before the course began and there had been a complication that the venue had been booked till the time the course was due to start so we were able to wait in the Kitchen where I was greeted by the course organiser Rachel and she made drinks for everyone. Drinks and biscuits were provided free throughout the course but after an initial cup of tea I was far too busy been creative to stop for a drink.

We were all sat in table groups there was a variety of a big group of friends, some pairs of friends and a few on their own which included me. It was only attended by females and Rachel did say that she had only had Females on the cake pop courses although he had some on the cup cake course. There were 17 students on our course

You may be wondering what a cake pop is but they are a simple idea which has made its way over from America so .It is basically a cake on a stick covered in chocolate and decorated to create various deigns and even a simple one can look very effective.

We were all delivered a chopping board with holes drilled in containing 16 cake pops and four empty holes and a selection of decorations and cutters and sugars. We were all grouped together and she gave us tips and techniques on how to decorate the cake pops. We were told we would be taken into the Kitchen in small groups to learn how to make the pops themselves.

I found the whole group to be friendly we all swapped and encouraged each other. I did have one slight problem that I was applying the glue wrong and it wasn’t working but found Rachel very approachable to help and I was soon happily creating. I made a whole range of Cake pops ranging from animals, to planets and a space ship especially for my son. I am hoping to recreate these for my son’s birthday party in a month’s time who wants a space theme so I did focus on although I actually made some covered in flowers which I thought were very pretty.

We went into the kitchen in a group of four and explained how to make and prepare the cake mixture and chocolate. Obviously we didn’t have time to make the cake mixture in a three hour course but she did state she would send an email through with all the ingredients listed. I found her explanations very simple and comprehensive and following her instructions I was able to create four of my own cake pops which I was actually proud of. I took them back to the table and they were not distinguishable between mine and the tutors.

To finish off the cake pops we were given wrappers and ribbons .I wasn’t able to wrap my spaceship as it was far too tall and delicate. We got to take our 20 completed cake pops home.

Rachel does have a shop selling products although due to the late start she didn’t set it up. She did state her priority was not selling products.

Summary

Overall this was a very informative, fun and productive afternoon which I am not quite prepared to recreate these for my son. I took these back to my friends who was looking after my son for the afternoon .I did get some tips on techniques that will give me the confidence for my next attempt. Some of these techniques are transferable to various cake making styles. The family of five all tried one and enjoyed the taste thoroughly. My friend herself said the standard was amazing.

If you are in the Derbyshire area and looking to improve your cake making skills I can highly recommend Blue Lavender School of cookery. The courses she runs are on a variety of Cake decorating techniques from sugar paste Modelling, royal icing and fun classes like Halloween cup cakes. She does a range of levels from introductory to advanced so there is something for all abilities. When I spoke to her she was planning to run a children's Christmas cake one which I would like to book for my son and I to attend together. For further information check out her website at http://www.bluelavendercakes.co.uk/