Basics 104 - Guest blogger Pam takes us through her 3-Tier Twist experience

Gosh, I feel tired today. For some unknown reason, I haven't been sleeping very well in the past couple of weeks. My muscles are aching and my mind is exploding with information - a little hibernation might be necessary. Not long now - only 3 more weeks to go. Although I'm getting used to this new routine, it would be a lie to say that I didn't miss home. Don't get me wrong, I'm having such a great time here and learning so much - much much more than I could ever hope for - but I just couldn't help but think how lovely it would be to be able to go through this amazing experience with my family besides me.

But now that I'm here, I have no choice but to finish what I've started. As the first three cakes in the Basics Series have already been completed, it's time to move on to the more advanced cakes with more technical learning outcomes. To be honest, I am not at all confident about the next six cakes that I'm going to be making during the next few weeks due to my lack of experience and unpolished skills.

I'll just have to try my best and make sure that I enjoy every second of it!

There's nothing too complicated in Basics 104. The new thing here is the addition of the centre-pole, which is essential for tiered cakes.

Marianne, our teacher for this class, explained that it's a good idea to make the holes in the boards slightly bigger to allow some room for adjustment, especially if the holes are slightly off-centre. We spent the first day preparing the three tiers and the orchids, and the second finishing off the cake. I've decided that since I've always gone for bold and bright colours, I would try making something more soft and feminine this time. I was pretty chuffed with myself this morning because my icing was almost perfect!

Unfortunately, our spirit sagged a little during the afternoon as we were assigned two of the most annoying tasks ever - fiddling with paper templates for our bands and making tiny sausages for the border!

As always, I just had to go out of my way to make my life a thousand times harder.. While the others were fussing over their 'single' sausages, I came up with a not very bright idea of making a twisty rope from two different colours of icing, meaning that I had to double the amount of sausages, which I HATE doing! I guess the good thing was that it turned out pretty well and brought my cake together quite beautifully. (If you haven't already guessed, I like to think outside the box and come up with different ideas, in order to be unique.  Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it makes me want to tear my hair out.. *sigh* )

Alas, everyone finished decorating their cakes! As I stood back and admired everyone's masterpieces, I couldn't help but feel tremendously proud of our work and efforts. Wanna see me cake yet? Here it is!