The lesson for the second Saturday was making roses out of frosting. You can make roses two ways: use icing to make a mound and build petals from that mound or use a flower nail and build petals from the wicker; we learned the latter. Using the flower nail which looks like a witch’s hat on top of a screw, you make the inner most petals, three petals, five petals, then seven petals. For the petals, the icing is applied in a curved motion which always ends with the icing pressed up against the flower nail. Sure, there are basically only four steps to making a flower (inner petal, three petals, five petals, seven petals), but it is difficult. You need to hold the nail in a certain area and angle (or else the flower will be too wide or too narrow), turn the nail in a specific direction, and place the petals in a particular spot (or else the flower will look like a cabbage or a pineapple). But, once you fulfill these criteria, you will make a rose.
I was thrilled for this lesson, because roses were on my cousin’s wedding cake. To sum up this significance, I mentioned in my senior project proposal how my cousin’s wedding cake marveled me as a child with all its fine and elegant detail. It was art. And, besides the fact that all my contacts either couldn’t let me work with them or didn’t respond, being able to make such artwork myself was the reason behind my choice of working at the bakery.
Eileen, it sounds like you're really gaining some valuable hands-on experience in the bakery. The way you described creating the roses and rose petals sounds like the engineering projects at MPR! Who would've thought that decorating a cake could be so technical?! How long did it take you to learn how to create a rose? How long does it take to decorate one whole cake? The fact that your experience decorating cakes reminded you of your cousin's wedding is a clear indicator that you are learning a lot and having a great time too!
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