- Now, making a cake that tastes great is pretty impressive.
But making one that looks as good as it tastes, is a feat.
Few do it as well as my next guest,
and now you can learn to make cakes like a total pro
through her online baking classes.
From Cake by Courtney, give it up for Courtney Rich.
(audience applauding)
What's up?
- Hi! - Hi!
- So good to be back.
- Yeah I know, nice to see you.
So, can you tell me about your online classes?
- Oh, they are so fun.
I usually teach in person, but last year with the pandemic,
I put it all online so that
we could still make cake together.
My first cake actually, I'm self taught,
so I just through trial and error over the years
have taught myself how to make cakes.
Look at this, this is my very first cake.
- [Kelly] Oh my--
- Cake from scratch we're talking
about for my son's first birthday, that was 11 years ago.
I look at that cake topper though, Kelly, and I about die.
I don't know what's more cringe worthy,
the cake or the cake topper on that one.
- I still would've eaten it and been fine about it.
So what are we doing today?
(chuckles)
- All right, so, we are gonna do a really fun design
and one of my classes is all about design,
it's my next level class, and this one is really simple
and a really cute spring design.
You could certainly change up the colors
for a theme for a party and even skip the flowers
and do something else.
So, we have a cake that's been frosted already
and it's still kind of wet, meaning like,
we just barely got done frosting it.
- Okay.
- [Courtney] And you've got some parchment paper, right?
- Oh, I do, yeah I'm real nervous about this, but go.
- All right, so this is just like, I don't know,
about 20 inches long to go around our six inch cake
and about one inch in width.
We're just gonna place it gently--
- On the bottom? - Around our cake.
- [Courtney] Yeah, start at the bottom
and we're gonna create stripes.
So we're gonna create these sprinkle stripes
and we'll see, my buttercream might even be kind of cold,
so I'm gonna push a little bit, a little firmer.
Is yours sticking okay?
- [Kelly] Uh, pretty, pretty good, yeah.
- Okay, so don't worry about the buttercream underneath.
Like, just gently pat it in place
and then take your next strip and you're gonna just go about
an inch above that, kind of eyeball that.
- Okay.
- And we're gonna push that one into place too.
And so now you have this gap, right?
Do you see your gap where there's some buttercream
showing and then you have the parchment
on the bottom and the top?
Okay, so you can keep adding your parchment
but I'm gonna show you, just take some sprinkles
in your hand and we're gonna pat them right onto the cake
between the parchment and they're gonna stick into place.
Can you see mine over on the screen?
There you go.
- [Kelly] Okay, now just--
- [Courtney] So we're just gonna create these stripes.
- Okay. - How are you doing?
- Mm-kay.
- [Courtney] And they'll stick right onto the buttercream.
- Yeah? - Yes, yes, Kelly, perfect.
That's perfect. - Okay.
- [Courtney] Did you see we went with purple
and pink for your colors?
- Oh, yes, I love that.
My daughter would be so happy.
- Right?
Mine too, she already came in the kitchen
when I was prepping and she was like,
"Oh my gosh, Mom, those are my favorite colors
and we've got buttercream all over."
- My daughter gets genuinely upset with me when
she sees me doing stuff like this on my show
and then I didn't invite her.
(laughing)
We happen to have this one waiting
over here 'cause it's TV magic because like,
I mean, I'm gonna take it off just so you can see it.
But you know, it wasn't great,
but whatever, it's gonna be good.
Here, just out of the freezer,
this one looks perfect, what do we do?
- Out of the freezer, right, we want to set it,
after you're done doing all the parchment and the sprinkles,
it goes in the freezer for like, 15 minutes and then,
I love this magic, look at our beautiful
stripes that we've got.
We're gonna just peel off our parchment.
It doesn't take away any of the buttercream.
- Yes, way to go, art department.
(laughing)
Killed it.
- [Courtney] No, Kelly, you did that.
- That's why they're Emmy winning, people.
(laughing)
- Yes, they're the best, they're the best.
- [Kelly] Okay, so which color, does it matter,
we can use whatever color?
- Grab your white buttercream.
- Your white-- - This is a star tip
and we're gonna make little flowers
and you're just gonna apply pressure
and this one is just like a, oop,
my buttercream didn't want to stick.
Here we go, let's try that again.
Push and pull, like this is a really quick flower.
Just push and then pull away.
(gasps)
And create those little flowers.
- Wait, they're not that bad if you'll take a gander.
- [Courtney] Nice!
(audience applauding)
- Just saying, I might have another job.
- That is perfect. - Okay.
- All right. - So then--
- Then you have the yellow, do you have yellow?
- Yes.
- Just do a little like, dollop, a little circle,
a little piping--
- In the middle? - In the center of.
Yeah, just to make the little center of the flower.
- [Kelly] Okay.
- [Courtney] And then I'm gonna
teach you a really cool trick.
You have a green one, right? - Yes.
- A green piping bag? - Yes.
- This is got a tip in it that's used for leaves.
So, if you have like, there's two little pointy parts
on the tip, have them facing up and down,
and you're gonna push and then pull away
and create like a triangle,
and it's gonna look like a little leaf.
- Okay.
I don't, I don't think it's, you know, perfect.
- Yes! - But it looks--
- [Courtney] No, there's no--
- Yeah, let's maybe not show my mom.
(laughs)
So wait, I've gotta try it,
and they've done really pretty ones, you know?
That I didn't do or touch or ruin.
So wait, here's a slice.
I'm trying it because it looks good,
but does it taste good is what I'm saying.
- Fingers crossed.
This was a vanilla cake, just really classic,
anyone can make this one.
A great flavor, kids love it too.
How did I do?
- I'm just not sure so I'm gonna have to try it again.
I'm just not sure.
Let me just keep trying it.
- Going back for me is always a good sign.
- I haven't had cake in a while and this is really good.
(laughs)
This is really good.
- Thank you, thank you. - It's very moist.
Which is a sign of a good cake to me.
- That is key, right, we want a good moist, fluffy cake
that's really tender-- - Amen.
- And yeah, I'm so glad you love it.
- Thank you so much.
I liked my little lessons,
I'm gonna hide it back here
though 'cause it wasn't that great.
For more on Courtney's online classes
and additional recipes, follow her on Instagram.