“Whipping up a storm!” is the Stormie D’s Cupcakery catch phrase! That is certainly what was happening at the cupcake mini masterclass I attended with my two small children.
It is a certain kind of person who is prepared to open up their kitchen to a group of children in the school holidays, let alone attempt a cupcake decorating class. I know that I am probably not one of those people!
Little A and I had discovered this cute little cake shop a few days earlier. When we were told they were doing cupcake decorating for little ones I knew this was an activity we would have to try. I booked Miss A and Mr Cool into the lion and monkey making class.
On the day I gave my “always hungry daughter” her instructions.
“You can’t eat the cupcake until it is decorated, and you can’t eat the fondant or the frosting while you are making the cake”. Her little face did fall a little in disappointment, but she was soon smiling again when she learned that each child was making two cupcakes.
There were ten children in the class, a mix of boys and girls ranging in age from 5 to about 10 years. Once the class commenced parents scattered and Stormie was left to work her magic on the children.
Each child had a setting at the table which included a cake decorating tray with all the necessary tools. Stormie instructed the children to choose a cupcake as she distributed little balls of coloured fondant and buttercream frosting.
I was amazed at how well behaved all the children were. Step by step Stormie went through the procedures for making the monkey starting with stirring the buttercream to achieve a smooth consistency.
Each child was silent, concentrating intensely at the task at hand. Even Mr Cool was having a great time icing the cupcake.
I was really quite surprised that all the children were able to manage each step on their own under the watchful eye of their teacher.
Little A is only five and didn’t need any help putting her monkey together.
As the monkeys started to take shape the pride the child had in their creations was obvious.
Stormie told the kids they could put any face on the monkeys so each monkey ended up with a very different personality.
Once the monkeys were all complete the children lined up to show off their cupcakes in a photograph. Miss A was one of the children missing from the line up…
She had resisted the monkey for as long as she could, I turned around just in time to see her biting the face off the poor little fellow!
There were quite a few children who ate the monkeys straight away. For the others (like my Mr Cool) Stormie had cupcake containers so the children could safely transport their edible works of art home.
As they say, “there is no rest for the wicked” and the class settled down to create the second jungle animal, the lion!
The lion was a little trickier as the children had to make a mane of little triangles.
There was also the dotting of the snout with a toothpick and inserting whiskers to be done before the lion was looking like the rightful king of the jungle.
By now however, they were all very accomplished masterchefs!
They could roll the fondant out with ease and were well versed in cutting out the required shapes and adhering them to the cupcake.
The lions all took shape very quickly.
As the parents returned to collect the children the look of disbelief was evident. The children continued to work steadily on their animal cupcakes and the parents watched on.
I don’t think any of us expected our children to be able to create such cute little intricate animals.
I know I was a very proud parent!
Thank you to Stormie for her patience, all the children had so much fun!
At the time of our workshop classes were being held in school holidays only. To inquire further contact the cupcakery.
Shop 4/919 Mate St
Albury NSW 2640
Ph: (02) 6040 5268