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The first cake

I remember the first time I ever baked and decorated a cake. It was to be a carousel horse for my daughter's 1st birthday. I had never taken a Wilton decorating class but had watched my mother several times who had. Funny thing is she took classes and never went anywhere with it. I never took a class and do it at least once a week now. Anyway, we were suffering from the worst heatwave in many years. I had one tiny air conditioner in the house and with the heat from the oven you couldn't even tell there the air was on. Using the recipe on the Wilton pan, I mixed my own buttercream icing. At the time it was pretty good but I have since changed the recipe to suit my own needs. I was standing at the dining room table sweating both from nerves and the unbearable heat. The icing which consists mostly of crisco and butter (2 items that don't hold up well in heat). The icing was supposed to be stiff so I could pipe out the necessary stars. I had about 6 different colors all mixed. I put each into the bags with the appropriate tips and began to decorate. After each color I had to rush the cake into the refrigerator to keep the icing from melting any further than it was from the heat of my hand. I was so glad that I had started the cake the day before the actual party. It literally took me all day to decorate this cake. I never gave up! The next day during the party people were commenting on the cake and how it all tied in with the theme. As much as I had cussed the day before and wanted to give up, I never did and am glad for that because as they say practice makes perfect. Now 12 years later people are paying me to make their wedding cakes and birthday cakes. They are intrusting their most special days to me.