- Hello everyone, and welcome to a video
we are calling Masterclass Disasterclass,
with an expert guest.
It's Laurie the icing artist!
- Yeah.
- How are you doing?
- Good.
I'm a little intimidated being called an expert,
being self-taught, but I'm here for it.
I'm just like the normal version of a cake decorator,
but we're good.
- No, no, no, no.
Compared to us you are the expert.
- I'm like the Ben Chef version of the normals.
- Better. - Better.
- A lot better.
- Don't lower yourself to his standards.
So, Laurie is gonna treat us to a cake decorating masterclass
and Laurie's gonna judge a winner at the end.
- Cake decorating is one of many shortcomings
for Jamie and I.
So, grab your popcorn.
Okay Laurie.
- Are you ready?
- No. - No.
- Not at all.
What do you have in store for us
- Today, we're gonna be taking those grocery store cakes
and turning them into like a high end wedding cake.
That is the goal.
You guys are gonna be attempting
the same one that I did on my channel
that went like super viral.
And it's a very high end wedding cake,
at least that's what a baker told me.
Cause when I called a bakery to have them quote it
they told me it was worth $500.
But I'm curious to see when you guys are done with these
what we think they're worth.
- Oh, nice.
- Whatever we paid for them, they're going to be worth less.
- This is what you're gonna be trying to do today.
(Jamie and Mike laughing)
Now, I'm gonna remind you
that I started with the same sheet cakes
that you guys have.
- That's impossible, Laurie
- I believe in you.
You guys might as well get started,
cause we only have two hours.
- Two hours?
(Laurie laughing)
Grocery store cakes, which you can get hold of in the US.
They don't do them over here in the UK
but we have had versions recreated for us.
So, where are we starting?
- So you're gonna start scraping off that icing.
So, basically we're gonna reconstruct these rectangle cakes
and turn them into two different sized round cakes.
So like we're completely changing these up.
So if you start scraping off the icing
off the top and the sides,
and put those into a bowl cause we're gonna need
some of the icing after.
Now you do wanna be careful
that when you're pushing down you're not like
cutting into the cake and scraping chunks of the cake off.
- We can cover that off later, right?
You've got all of that space over there.
You're backing into me.
- Yes.
- [Mike] I'm happy with my top.
- Yeah, the tops looking good.
- So, how much would one of these grocery store quick cakes
cost in Canada?
- $20.
- Wow. - $20?
Jay, seriously mate.
You're all elbows and it's going into my spine.
I can feel your breath on my neck.
These are decorated better
than I could ever imagine
and I'm just undoing that work.
- I know decorating, but I'm not big on recipes.
The way that you guys do flavours on Sorted
is crazy and next level,
which is why I love your guy's channel.
Have you guys thought about a way that you
can level up these cakes with the filling?
- I mean I'm thinking now that you've mentioned it.
(Laurie laughing)
- I've instantly got an idea.
Definitely.
- [Jamie] I think that cake is done.
- How are we looking?
- You're looking good.
I feel like you guys are ready for the next step.
- Great. - Yes.
- So you're gonna cut out two five inch ones
and two seven inch ones each.
- Okay.
- And then just use like a pairing knife or something
and you're just gonna cut it out.
But be careful that you don't go tapered any which way.
Especially with that bowl,
cause it's easy to like go with the curve of the bowl.
You want a curve of the circle but like straight edges.
- Right, I think I'm ready for my first extraction.
- Okay, so like make a couple little cuts
outside of the circle,
and then you can just like pull away the corners.
Perfect.
Mike, you got some catching up to do.
- [Mike] I don't like that you called his thing perfect.
(Laurie laughing)
- Perfect, even better!
- [Mike] Yeah! - [Jamie] Don't say
even better.
- Yes.
- From here they look really good.
- From 4,000 miles away they look really good.
- Okay, this is dangerous
cause I'm starting to build in confidence.
- What next?
- You're gonna take a little bit of the icing
and you're gonna put a little bit on the large cake board
and the small cake board.
This is just gonna like glue our cake
down to the cake board.
Now you're gonna lift your cakes onto your cake boards.
- I don't want to.
- We've only got one of these
so I'll have to watch you first.
- [Laurie] There you go.
- That was very good.
That was annoyingly good.
- Perfect.
Now, what is your guys' plans for fillings?
- I'm thinking strawberry, berries, and basil.
- I like the edition of basil,
cause I've never done that before.
That sounds really good.
Jamie, pigs in a blanket?
- Now you mention it.
I'm gonna go for passion fruit curd and bergamot.
I know how to use it properly.
So a little bit of the zest,
a little bit of the juice mixed into the passion fruit curd.
Best of both worlds.
- A little bit of floral is good,
but floral can be so overpowering so quickly.
- I know.
- But I feel like with a little bit it should be good.
So if you get your fillings ready now
then you'll be ready to start layering it up.
- So I am dicing these up,
and then I'm going to just combine them
with my red current jelly.
- What I've done to be careful,
which I can only imagine Ebbers didn't do,
is I've zested my bergamot onto a board
and I'm adding it in bit by bit along with some juice,
rather than just zesting it straight into the bowl.
- [Mike] Okay.
- Wait, what are those things?
- A pepper grinder.
- Pepper in a cake?
- Yes, I'm gonna go basil and black pepper,
a little bit with my strawberries,
and I've got red current jelly.
- You failed to mention the black pepper.
- They go together really well.
Like basil is quite fragrant and peppery,
and a little bit of extra black pepper.
- Sounds like too much to me.
- No, it sounds like perfect to me.
Has that got any bergamot in it?
- Exactly, the perfect amount.
(Mike laughing)
Laurie, some of us are done with our fillings,
so what's next?
- Oh you're such an a-hole.
- So you need some buttercream in a piping bag
and you're gonna pipe a dam,
like that's gonna go a border on the top of your cake
to hold in your filling.
So either you can leave them together
and then you only have one layer of filling,
or you could lift that up so you have two,
and then you have two layers of filling.
It's up to you.
- I think two layers of filling.
- I wanna see you do that.
- [Laurie] Oh, he's doing it. He's doing it.
- [Jamie] It could have gone a lot worse.
- [Laurie] Looks good.
- It's on, it's on.
- [Mike] Tops coming off.
Is that okay?
It's a bit wonky isn't it?
- It's a little bit wonky.
So with building cakes, if you have it high on one side
and low on the other side, when you're done icing it
your cake is gonna be high on one side
and low on the other side.
And same thing with the middle.
If your dam is too tall on the outside,
cause that's looking a touch tall,
and you have a thin filling on the inside,
then the cake's gonna wanna sink down to that.
- [Jamie] We're going Laurie, we're going.
- Perfect.
Okay, yours looks a bit thin.
So with a thinner filling
I'm gonna get you to add in an extra step.
I want you to create a little barrier
between your filling and your cake
so that way your cake doesn't soak up all of your filling.
- Great tip.
How does that look Laurie?
- That looks great.
I think you're ready for the filling.
- [Jamie] Okay, Laurie, I'm onto my fourth layer.
- He's moved quick, he's puttering over there.
- My cake's got a crack in it.
- No!
- That's not like a crack, that's like a divide line.
You do not want that to be the top of your cake.
So that layer needs to go on next.
- This is a great idea, this taking a a pre-made cake
and levelling it up.
How did you come up with the idea?
- Honestly, I did it more as like, is this a challenge?
Can you take something so simple and so basic
as a grocery store cake and turn it into something
so extravagant like a wedding cake?
But the internet turned it into like a hack.
Then you can save baking time and you just use that
and then just level up the flavours with the filling.
So people took that more as like a full hack
they could do their own thing with
- Right, Laurie, my final layers going on.
Crowned.
- That looks perfect.
- I'm really scared about what's next.
There's a little bit of Pisa going on.
- A little bit of Pisa, okay.
Push down on the top a bit with both of your hands,
cause you're gonna squish out some of that filling
to make sure it doesn't do it
after you get all the icing on, after you tier it.
And then I want you to take both hands
and then do the same around the side.
You're just gonna squish all those layers together.
- Oh, your cake's been to Pisa as well.
- No. Where?
That is straight.
- Yeah, no, you're right mate.
It is, yeah.
- [Mike] Oh no, Have I got some leakage?
- Oh! Oh no.
Okay, we're gonna need to fix that.
You need to like plug that with more icing,
but make sure you're pushing that right in
so it doesn't come back out.
If it starts leaking again
then that's gonna come out in your final coat of icing.
It is the risk you run when you go with a thin filling.
Okay, you guys look ready.
The next step is going to be crumb coating these cakes
and locking in your filling,
locking in all those crumbs,
and giving us a base layer
for the next coat of icing to go on.
- Oh, I thought we were nearly done.
- I like the sound of locking in the filling.
(all laughing)
- Okay, so start off by adding
like a dollop of icing onto the tops of your cakes
and smooth that out a little bit.
We just need a thin coat of icing over the whole cake.
- No! I've got a gunshot wound.
- It looks very delicious,
but it might be a touch thin for a cake filling.
It looks like you guys have a nice thick layer though,
I think you're ready to start smoothing that out.
And you're gonna spin the cake board around
as the scraper kind of takes off a little bit of icing
and smooths it out.
- [Mike] Okay.
- So once you guys have done your crumb coats
you're ready to start colouring and your icing.
So you're gonna need pink and you're gonna need blue,
that's what I did for mine.
- I feel like you're going to say we're colouring our own.
- We're colouring our own.
- Fine.
- I would say probably like three cups.
Give it another heavy dollop.
You think you have enough? Safety dollop.
- [Mike] Safety dollop.
- I safety dollop every meal that I have.
(Laurie laughing)
- It's very stainy, isn't it?
- Yeah, it's a very concentrated food colouring.
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] At the moment it's pastely blue.
- You might need a touch of black.
- I've got some on the end of my scissor.
- [Laurie] Perfect.
- Woo.
- See how that black is making his
instantly a little like bolder and less pastel.
- This looks like the cookie monster.
- If it's feeling cookie monster
then you might need a bit more black.
- This is knackering.
- Yeah, I think I could do more
but I might need to sit down first.
- I think you're ready to start icing.
You're gonna do the same as the crumb coat.
So you're gonna start with a dollop on the top
and then you're gonna start like icing it onto the sides.
You just wanna be careful you're doing light pressure.
You don't wanna mix any of that crumb coat into your blue.
Now usually for sake of time
the fridge would be your friend too,
because you could pop this in the fridge,
it would set up,
so you know that that crumb coat is very hard
and then your next layer isn't gonna go into it.
- I put my small one in the fridge.
Would you like me to put your small one in the fridge?
- Oh, could you put my small one in the fridge?
(laughing)
- Yours is on the left hand side.
- I'll be able to tell which one's mine.
- Now careful not to scrape into that white coat.
Just do a light waving motion.
Waving is gonna be your friend.
Yep, that's perfect.
So if you bring your right arm around,
and then you can do a big spin.
So you're not doing
like little spins, cause that's gonna leave
start and stop marks.
So if you go almost like hug your cake
and then turn it around
you'll notice you get like nice even strokes.
Yeah.
(Jamie screaming)
- I feel like I take one step forwards
and then two steps back.
(Laurie laughing)
- Cakes are cake.
They're not plastic, they're not made in a factory, right?
They're edible creations
and they're not gonna be perfect.
And if you think you've learned
and you've gotten a little bit progress with the cake,
that's all that matters.
Because every cake you decorate
is just gonna get a little bit better.
Jamie, try the small upset spatula
and try waving that back and forth,
going like around the side.
- [Jamie] Oh my god, that works!
- If your icing looks pretty even
you can come in with icing smoother now.
Look at that one though.
Whoa.
Believe it or not, the scary part is yet to come.
Now you actually have to tier the cake
and lift that tiny cake on top of your other cake.
- Any tips for that?
- Don't drop it.
So you're gonna cut three straws
to the same height of your like blue cake.
And then those are gonna go in,
and those are gonna be your little pillars
that's gonna help hold up the weight of the small cake.
- Oh, I'm not confident.
I'm not confident.
- [Laurie] It's lifting up.
It's lifting up.
You just have to be careful with the weight and then-
- Oh, it's so heavy.
- [Laurie] Put it on the other cake.
- It's a bit wonky.
- Slightly push it over.
Slightly push it over a little bit to centre it.
- Oh no!
It's left a, no!
- It's okay.
You can add, oh, oh.
Just add a little bit more icing on.
You're alright.
And we'll just, we'll put the flowers there.
I feel like a little,
a little to the left.
- [Mike] Just pull it, just pull it.
Yeah. Yeah.
Pull it, pull it, pull it, pull it, pull it.
- What am I not seeing?
- Oh, oh no.
See, we can just put flowers there too.
- So many flowers.
- Little did you know,
us cake decorators are just using flowers
to cover up our mistakes.
- And now it's a decorating job.
- The hard part's over, now is the fun part.
Now you just get to stick some decorations on top.
You're gonna need a little bit to stick into the cake
so I'd leave a bit more of the stem.
I also used to use real flowers all the time,
but then it's hard to get the colours
that you want in season.
And then you have to worry
about the pesticides going into the cake
and wrapping the ends and it takes a lot of time.
So I like fake flowers lot.
Woo.
Look at that.
- [Jamie] So what would you do now with the gold leaf?
- We have the little sheet of gold leaf.
You're just taking your finger
and you're kind of going like that
and pressing it into the cake.
- I'm just fingering it on.
- [Mike] I just breathed it all onto the side.
(upbeat music)
- That looks amazing!
Oh my god, I love the gold leaf.
- I'm pretty proud of that.
- I feel like you should be super, super proud of that.
Let's see it Jamie.
Let's see it.
- [Mike] Mate, that is great.
- That's beautiful.
(upbeat music)
- I want to be honest, because that did take us
slightly longer than the two hours that we had anticipated.
- Double.
- But this is the end result.
- I'm really proud.
Like, I've learned a tonne, so thank you Laurie.
You know what an amazing thing
to actually have someone- - [Jamie] I know.
- [Mike] Talking you through it.
- And it only makes me think that
when I do the next cake and the one after that,
it'll get better and better.
- A hundred percent. - Just practise.
- Hundred percent.
- I love that you're already thinking about the next cake.
I feel like you guys both did amazing,
and I think we should keep in mind where we started
with like a $20 grocery store cake.
I feel like if we look at these and we think,
are they elevated?
Do we think that we've,
with just time and a little bit of love,
made them worth more than $20?
And are they like really cool and elevated?
I think yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
I like the flower placement on both,
and I really like the gold leaf and everything.
I feel like no matter what
if you turn around both of your cakes,
both of them are having a hard day in the back.
Just a little bit.
Just a little bit of a hard day.
- Yep.
- Mine's having a hard day in the middle as well.
- If I had to pick a winner.
- Yep.
- Maybe I would say Mike's because it looks
a little bit smoother and more square edges.
- [Mike] I've had more experience.
- I also like the deepness of the colour.
I feel like the black that you put in there
really came through and it like dulled down
that like brightness that you're getting.
But they both look really, really good.
- I have to agree.
I think yours does look 10 times better than mine does.
- [Mike] Should we see if our flavours worked?
- [Jamie] Yes.
- Right, prepare for leakage.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh.
- Nice layers, mate.
- Okay, you can see it running.
- The fact that there is no leakage
in the final coat, needs like a round applause.
And that looks amazing.
(all laughing)
- So these are whole strawberries,
red currant jelly, basil, and black pepper.
- Cheers mate. - Cheers.
- Oh that is really good.
- I'm happy with that.
You can actually taste a basil more than-
- You can taste a basil, but the strawberry
like the gin, the black pepper is there
cause it helps bring out more of the strawberry flavour.
- I'm really happy with that.
- That is really good.
- My cake might look a little bit better,
but guaranteed your guys cakes
taste so much better than mine.
- Okay, let's try this.
What've we got, Spaff?
- [Jamie] Passion fruit curd and bergamot.
- Oh, oh zinging.
- Bergamot at the beginning, passion fruit at the end.
- Yours definitely tastes better than mine
and I think that the consistency is much, much better.
Mate.
Well done.
Oh, we're cuddling.
And this one I'm consenting to,
instead of you backing into me.
- Laurie, a massive, massive thank you
for all of your help today.
We really needed it and it's been fantastic.
You said you've got a course coming up?
- Yes, I do.
The course actually is coming out in a couple weeks
and it takes you through the entire process
of recipes and baking, designing your cake,
what to watch out for, building a good foundation,
and brings you through to like the end
of the decorating and all of the details
that you need to know.
- I think from what we've learned so far
that's very, very worthwhile.
- It's very helpful.
- So go and check that out.
And Laurie's also filmed a video with Ben
that's gonna go over on her channel
where she makes a cake entirely from AI.
And our chefy mate, Ben,
is gonna help with some of the flavour combinations.
So that is definitely gonna be worth a watch.
All the links are downstairs.
Please give the video a like
if you like this brand new format
and let us know what you thought in the comments.
Thank you so much for watching, and thanks again Laurie.
- Thank you Laurie.
Yay.
- Thanks for having me, bye guys.