Cake Decorating Classes at Charm City Cakes

Ever since I heard Duff Goldman opened a second Charm City Cakes location right here in LA I knew I had to check it out. I must admit, I’ve never seen an episode of Ace of Cakes but I was a huge fan of his short lived show Sugar High (why oh why did it go away?). Well, it took me a couple of years but I finally stopped by.

Immediately upon entering I was met with this charming display. Aren’t they just so lovely? The one with the vintage salt and pepper shakers is calling my name. But I didn’t stop by just to admire the merchandise. I was there to learn about a series of cake decorating classes available to the public. Yup, you to can learn how to decorate a cake just like the pros.

I spoke with general manager Mark Muller who gave me the lowdown.  The artists at Charm City love decorating cakes. The public loves the cakes they decorate. So it’s only natural that they started to teach classes on various techniques.

Classes are offered bi-weekly and are open to folks of all ages (okay, maybe not babies) and skill levels. No need to feel intimidated…all classes are introductory and serve to teach basic design skills. Each class focuses on a different technique -say quilting or piping and no class is repeated. That’s right, no repeats. Like the Energizer Bunny you can keep going and going and going…

Now, when I say there are no repeats I’m referring to the specific design of the cake. There may be various classes that focus on a specific skill but the cake will always be different. One day it will be a tree stump. Another day it will be cupcakes. Or an emoji. Or a minion.

Gah! How did I miss that one!

When you go to class you can expect to spend approximately 2 hours learning to decorate your cake. Don’t worry about baking, that’s done before you arrive. In fact, your cake will be already prepped with fondant leaving you the perfect canvas to start decorating. And no worries if you have dietary restrictions – vegan, kosher and gluten free options are available. And you can choose your flavor. Um…chocolate, please!

A brief introduction will be given and you’ll start decorating away. And here’s the fun part…there are no specifics. Don’t care for the sample color? Choose a different one! Want different initials on your tree stump? Carve away! You want a bald minion? Skip those hairs! Basically, they give you the tools and you can interpret them however you want.

And just who is coming up with these designs? Let me introduce you to your instructor, Rachel.

Rachel came to Charm City from the makeup and special effects industry. Yup, before she was designing cakes she was designing faces for Hollywood. Now she puts those skills to good use decorating cakes and teaching. I was lucky enough to meet her and, let me tell you, she’s pretty awesome. She super talented and quite lovely. You’ll definitely be in good hands when taking her classes. And she makes miniatures for fun! Now I love miniatures so this excited me to no end. Here’s a few of her pieces on display at the shop (follow her on Instagram @rachelslittlethings for more amazing pieces).

Okay, back to the classes. If you want to sign up be sure to check out the News & Events section of the Charm City Cakes Page. Coming up next is the Tree Trunk Cake and after that it’s all about Emoji’s! Classes start at $100 per person and $150 for pairs (sharing one cake). Have fun and tell them I say hello!