Why I Love Online Tutorials and You Should, Too

I ‘like’ several cake and baking pages on Facebook. And I follow a lot of talented cake artists on Twitter and Pinterest. One such talent whom I discovered years ago on Facebook, Peggy Does Cake, posted a link to a great Rose Cake tutorial by the talented i am baker. As it happened, a coworker of mine was retiring and her last day of work was on Saturday. So, I decided to make a special little cake for her since we were only going to be six or seven at her going-away lunch.

With the help of i am baker’s tutorial I put together a six-inch, two-layer simple yellow cake filled with buttercream and fresh strawberries and decorated in pink buttercream rose swirls. I’ve gone on to repeat this method a couple of times.

As someone with a restricted schedule and limited income, I have not been able to take professional courses. I am wholly self-taught. Often, we home bakers turn to internet tutorials on blogs and YouTube for advice and techniques. How lucky are we in this day and age to have all these resources at our fingertips?

It goes without saying that not all attempts work out on the first try (you’ve heard of the sarcastic term Nailed It in reference to a Pinterest fail?) For instance, my square, four-layer sprinkle-covered cake was covered in too-soft buttercream which resulted in the cake sliding off-centre, therefore creating one side more buttercream-heavy and resulting in a lopsided finished product. Luckily my daughter loved it.

But I’ve also had successes since discovering how easy it is to decorate with ombré petal and ruffle buttercream designs and it has encouraged me to get online and offer my own tutorials, like this fun tutorial on making marshmallow popcorn toppers for movie-themed cupcakes on my YouTube channel.

What’s the last tutorial you used? Have you posted your own tutorials online? Post the link below and share! (P.S. It doesn’t have to be cake related!)

~ Erica

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