I don't cry. I learn...from Kelvin Chua of Vinism Sugar Art

ROYAL ICING PIPE DREAMS

Confession: Piping scares me. Even when I watch Buddy on Cake Boss do the drop points my heart skips a beat. Dangling royal icing mid-air? Is that even possible in the real world?

But that’s exactly what I did a few weeks ago J It’s been a while since I did a cake course of any kind the last one being my magical time at Faye Cahill’s studio in Sydney. When Sugarart announced that Kelvin Chua of Vinism Sugar Art was coming to KK to teach his amazing piping skills I thought this was a great opportunity to face my fears.

Whoever thinks the world of cake decorating is a bunch of old ladies sitting around in pretty aprons sipping tea and squeezing bags of sugar and butter is completely and utterly wrong. Armed with piping tips, razor-sharp blades and whole lot of sugar, cake decorating is about bringing imagination to life (and tummies). Sometimes I look at my cake deco tool box and can't decide whether it resembles something belonging to an artist or a ninja. Cake decorating is not only back breaking but is somewhat like an emotional roller coaster ride (minus the nausea) which is sometimes the best part of it all.  The piping class was a physically-challenging and emotional day! All worth it, of course ;)

Kelvin is renowned for his piping skills. Creating 3 dimensional gazebos, hats and butterflies with some icing sugar, water, meringue powder, a piping bag and tip Kelvin’s work is definitely jaw-dropping worthy. After doing a stint in Melbourne Kelvin had come to KK to teach 3 classes and I signed up for his popular Black Charm class mainly cos it looked like the one with the most piping work. Talk about challenging myself, ey?  J

Before doing Kelvin’s class I had only piped basic words on cakes. Never did I imagine I’d be creating a 3 dimensional top hat and butterfly, painting a flower onto a cake and *gasp* dangling royal icing off the edge of my cake all in a span of 9 hours!

So here it is! My creation! And check out the hanging icing on the bottom of the cake :) The class was back breaking work but don’t get me wrong, I LOVED every minute of it. There were a few accidents in class where my not-so-delicate hands broke my other butterfly (and some other poor souls dropping their creations on the floor) but at the end of the day all of us had something amazing to take home. Not only did I have a display to take with me but a whole new comfort level with piping and a wealth of information for my future projects. If you’re a budding cake decorator and Kelvin is coming to your hood I’d say sign up for his piping classes. You might come home with a stiff neck and shoulders but trust me, it’s nothing a good massage cannot fix J  

Peace and Love,

Daphne