In spring 2019, I began taking cooking classes at Cary's community center, starting with Valentine's desserts before moving on to cake baking and cupcake decorating. After my disastrous (but tasty) attempt to make Brendan an ice cream cake for his 26ish birthday, he and I signed up to do the summer ice cream cake class together!

Jason and Brittany joined us for an afternoon of lessons, where our instructor Sandy used 'the magic of TV' to let us work through different stages of ice cream cakes without having to wait for them to freeze completely.

Over the next three hours, Sandy showed us how to make ice cream cakes inspired by brownie sundaes and strawberry crunch bars, along with the technique for perfectly shaped ice cream sandwiches (the secret? cookie cutters!) and one rocky-road-cookie-dough cake from her own imagination. Sandy's a chemist by trade, so I've always enjoyed the hefty dose of science that her classes provide. I stumbled upon one of her tricks earlier that month, using instant pudding and whipping cream to create a delicious (and stable) cake filling or whipped-cream icing.

In the end, we taste-tested our creations and got a whole box to take home and enjoy at our leisure. We had a good time and learned a few new things.In spring 2019, I began taking cooking classes at Cary's community center, starting with Valentine's desserts before moving on to cake baking and cupcake decorating. After my disastrous (but tasty) attempt to make Brendan an ice cream cake for his 26ish birthday, he and I signed up to do the summer ice cream cake class together!

Jason and Brittany joined us for an afternoon of lessons, where our instructor Sandy used 'the magic of TV' to let us work through different stages of ice cream cakes without having to wait for them to freeze completely.

Over the next three hours, Sandy showed us how to make ice cream cakes inspired by brownie sundaes and strawberry crunch bars, along with the technique for perfectly shaped ice cream sandwiches (the secret? cookie cutters!) and one rocky-road-cookie-dough cake from her own imagination. Sandy's a chemist by trade, so I've always enjoyed the hefty dose of science that her classes provide. I stumbled upon one of her tricks earlier that month, using instant pudding and whipping cream to create a delicious (and stable) cake filling or whipped-cream icing.

In the end, we taste-tested our creations and got a whole box to take home and enjoy at our leisure. We had a good time and learned a few new things.