My Obsession with Icing

My Mom and I have baked together ever since I can remember. When I was little this usually meant adding ingredients my mother had already measured out and anxiously awaiting the bowl after my mother had put its contents into the oven and left over just enough for me to scrape some up to try. For our birthdays, she’d make brownies, Mississippi mud, apple spice cake, or our family’s signature birthday cake – a triple layer golden cake with brown sugar caramel frosting. They were delicious and (usually) simple. Just like my grandmother, my mother took a very “no frills attached” attitude towards the look of all her dishes. I however always made sure that my presentation was spot on, though I didn’t sacrifice flavor for appearance.

My first buttercream rose

My great discovery in my freshman year of high school, or 9^th grade as it is called in Germany, was buttercream. It was magical. I bought a couple American cake cookbooks, pieced together the ingredients that were available to me, and dove headfirst into the world of decorating. 

First time making and using marshmallow fondant

That year, I made all my friends cakes for their birthdays, experimenting with new techniques every time. Soon thereafter, I discovered fondant and royal icing, both of which I made at home.

My sister's wedding cake for a small reception of 25 people

I taught myself how to pipe roses, shells, swirls, leaves, edgings, and anything else I could think of. Soon I became the designated cake baker in my family, made some cakes on commission, and even got to make my older sister’s wedding cake.

To this day I love decorating cakes, cookies, cupcakes – anything that requires an icing of some sort. I could spend days baking and subsequently decorating my creations; I would never tire of it. Maybe, just maybe, I could create my future out of that. For now, I’ll stick with college but maybe I could go to culinary school instead of grad school. Who knows…