CUTE CUPCAKE CAPERS… DOWN UNDER

I recently had the absolute pleasure of partaking in The Cupcake Lady‘s decorating workshop, Cupcake Basics, in a suburb close to South Australia’s capital, Adelaide. As soon as we had confirmed our Australian travel plans back around October, I jumped online and booked my spot in the class (they sell out fast!). I was not disappointed with this decision! Janet is indeed THE cupcake lady, but aside from living up to her moniker, she is a wonderful host and teacher. Her workshops are held in her home kitchen-cum-studio and her lessons are packed full of practical tips and a veritable truckload of hands-on experience. Janet’s organisational skills are second to none, moreover her cupcakes are truly delicious and her decorating techniques often as simple as the results are gorgeous.

Here is a run-down of the workshop inclusions:
• “the perfect cupcake” baking demonstration (which took place during the coffee/lunch break… perfect!)
• expert tips on baking, including how to achieve a perfect, flat, crack-free, ready-to-decorate and utterly scrummy cupcake
• creating the perfect buttercream high swirl and rose swirl using the same magic piping tip
• how to colour butter cream (including tips for avoiding colouring problems), prepare a piping bag, and use a spatula to spread frosting
• creating an amazing (and amazingly simple) grass effect with frosting and a piping tip
• fabulous fondant work, including applying fondant achieve a perfect domed finish, colouring fondant, using moulds to create edible cupcake-crowning cuteness
• creating simple sugar flowers and creatures
• creating 4 set buttercream designs and 4 set fondant designs PLUS 4 of your very own designs (prepared in advance as pre-class “homework”) in buttercream and fondant, for which we all received personal assistance and expert tips
• delicious homemade lunch (we had grilled ciabatta rolls filled with yummy goodies such as grilled vegetables) and refreshments (including some of the delightful demo cupcakes!)
• a buttercream swirl piping tip to keep (the ultra-useful Wilton 1M)
• printed workshop informations sheets (yes, she even includes the names and addresses of her suppliers)
• some yummy tried and tested recipes
• $15 gift voucher
AND the entire dozen delectable vanilla cupcakes that you have lovingly decorated during the workshop, presented in a box which you can take home… and impress your family with!
Speaking of impressing the family, mine were absolutely amazed at the amount of ground my fellow cupcake decorators and I covered during the 6 hour workshop and, furthermore, were extremely complimentary of my beginners efforts. I too was a little taken aback, both by the results and the sheer amount of inclusions (not all of which are covered in the list above!). Really, I think that for all of this, 160 Australian dollars is a bargain. I would love to do another course with Janet, but alas, our trip will be over before there is another workshop with space available in the class. Yes, the results and inclusions may astound, but the popularity of The Cupcake Lady’s courses is entirely unsurprising!