Fred, Wilma and Family - A Graduation is Cause for Celebration - Day 11 Part 1 (Decorating Delights)

[wilma-bride]

Thursday 30th August

So, this morning Rhiannon and I were off on an adventure. I had booked the cake decorating class at Amorette’s. Both Rea and I are avid bakers and Rea is very artistic, so I knew this was something we would both enjoy and I was really excited to be spending some time with my daughter.

I woke up at 5.30, but waited until 6, then got up and got ready as quietly as I could, which wasn’t very given that there was no door between the main bedroom and the bathroom and I needed to dry and straighten my hair. Once Rhiannon was ready, we left the room and went down to the Boardwalk, where we got a light breakfast from the Boardwalk Bakery. We went back through the resort, to the front of the hotel where we ordered an Uber to take us to Disney Springs. The driver dropped us off by the old Cirque du Soleil building, but we needed to be at the other end of Springs. It was a lovely walk at this time of the morning, though, as it was empty and so peaceful. I know I said this before but I really do think that Disney Springs looks beautiful now and I love having so much choice for shopping and dining.

We soon arrived at our destination and were joined by a few others. Soon after a young man with a clipboard came out and checked off our names.

We were then led inside, given our welcome drinks – we chose mimosas, although there were bellinis and non-alcoholic options too - and invited to choose a table.

Rea and I, being the first in, chose a prime spot right in front of the instructor.

Our instructor was Cody and, after he introduced himself, he told us a little bit about his history with the Walt Disney company and then gave us the (invented by Disney) ‘history’ of Amorette’s. The intention of Amorette’s is to combine the beauty of art with the deliciousness of their pastries and cakes. And I think they do that very well. The inside is vaguely reminiscent of an art studio.

Each table had been assigned a colour, which is what they would use to identify our cakes throughout the session and we were invited to write our names on a place card to go on our table, plus a smaller name card which would accompany our cake each time it went to the chiller.

Cody showed us the cake we would be decorating today, the signature Mickey Dome Cake, and demonstrated how the cake was made, assembled and covered in buttercream. We had been given a sample of both the cake and the buttercream to taste. The cake is made up of chocolate chiffon cake, chocolate mousse, chocolate crispy pearls and orange pate de fruits. It was absolutely delicious. The buttercream was rich, smooth and very sweet.

Luckily for us, all of this hard work had already been done for us and the cake we would be decorating was primed and ready to go. So, now it was time for the first coat of mirror glaze (Cody called it Lesage), which was presented to us in a jug. He demonstrated the best way to pour it and explained that you needed to be fairly quick so as not to end up with an uneven coat. We decided that Rea should do the first coat (the cake would have 3 coats in total) and she donned her apron, picked up the jug and poured.

She did a pretty good job and Rodriguez (who was assisting Cody) collected our cake from the table and placed it onto the trolley to go back to the chiller. The glaze that had collected in the bottom of the tray was poured back into the jug for the next coat.

Next, we painted a first coat of cocoa butter ‘paint’ onto the accessories – Mickey’s buttons, ears and tail.

Cody gave us the opportunity to ask any questions we had. We discovered there are 25 full time employees at Amorette’s, Cody’s favourite thing to make is bread and the Mini Mickey Cake is their best seller (having had the delight of tasting one a couple of days before, I wasn’t surprised). Cody also told us that everything that Amorette’s makes which is Disney themed has to be approved by Disney’s legal department. This is everything from the shape to the colours to the number of layers of buttercream and glaze, in order to preserve character integrity. It was absolutely fascinating.

It was time for the second coat of glaze and this time it was down to me. Talk about pressure. I made sure to take my time and get it as faultless as possible. Rodriguez was hovering, waiting to take our cake and told me I was obviously a perfectionist.

After a second coat of cocoa butter on the buttons, ears and tail, we poured the third, and final coat of glaze and then had a short break before assembly.

During the break, we were offered another drink and given the chance to watch them decorating some of the individual cakes and pastries. We had a picture with Cody and used the restroom. We were also given one of Amorette's delicious NY Cheesecakes. It was so good.

It was time to finish the cake and we were presented with a roll of black fondant to go around the bottom. Again, Cody demonstrated how to assemble the cake and get the ears, tail and buttons situated perfectly and then our cake was finished. It was beautiful, even if I do say so myself. The finished cakes were displayed in the lit glass cake alongside the other amazing treats and I felt so proud of what we had produced.

We were told we could now purchase anything we wanted from the shop before it opened to the public and, when we went to the till to pay for the class, we were also presented with a beautiful gift bag with some macarons and cookies and a little card from the Amorettes staff, for us to take away.

The cake was put into a beautiful cake box for us to transport it back to the resort, although anybody who was staying at Disney Springs for a while was given the option of leaving their cake and collecting it later. We had to get back, though, so we said goodbye and thanked Cody and Rodriguez, then made our way to the bus stop. When we passed Chicken Guy! there was a whole host of media people there for the grand opening.

We had heard that Guy Fieri himself was going to be here today, but we couldn’t stick around to find out. We had somewhere far more important to be...

[mick]

Yourcake looked fantastic

Joan

[Cinderella]

Those cakes look good 👍

[Dogwalker]

Tha cake was delicious!

[dixonsontour]

Wow what a lovely experience. Your cake looks fabulous.

[Unexpectedpenny]

I’ve just recommended this report to another dibber and realised I didn’t actually comment on here. Great report of the cake decorating experience! Your cake looked delicious. I’ve booked it today for next year

[wilma-bride]

Originally Posted by mick

Yourcake looked fantastic

Joan

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Thanks, it was so much fun. I would love to do it again.

Originally Posted by Cinderella

Those cakes look good 👍

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Everything we had from Amorette's tasted great

Originally Posted by Dogwalker

Tha cake was delicious!

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It really was - best breakfast ever

Originally Posted by dixonsontour

Wow what a lovely experience. Your cake looks fabulous.

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Thanks, we had such fun decorating it

Originally Posted by Unexpectedpenny

I’ve just recommended this report to another dibber and realised I didn’t actually comment on here. Great report of the cake decorating experience! Your cake looked delicious. I’ve booked it today for next year

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Wow, thanks for recommending the report - and thanks for reading

[Tweety1]

How much is this as it looks fabulous

[wilma-bride]

Originally Posted by Tweety1

How much is this as it looks fabulous

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It's $149 + tax per person for up to two people working on one cake.