TAS
Artist in Residence
This term the TAS department were very fortunate to host Nicole Slater from Sweet Love Cake Couture as our guest Artist in Residence. Nicole worked generously with our Yr 9 and 10 Food Technology elective classes, and Yr 11 and 12 Hospitality VET students, to produce an abundance of amazing cake creations over the week.
Nicole demonstrated the popular and trendy technique of layering cakes with ganache and then covering in buttercream to produce a ‘Semi Naked’ finish. The students used specialist equipment to develop and refine their techniques in order to achieve the desired straight lines and clean coatings.
Decorations were then applied to the cakes in the students individual designs. Nicole gave advice and direction on how to place items in order to achieve maximum impact, with each design becoming its own masterpiece. Precision piping techniques were used skilfully by the students, and colour combinations explored for visual effect.
The students are to be commended for their enthusiasm, interaction, and positivity towards the workshops, with many trying these skills for the very first time. There were plenty of smiling faces at the end of each group lesson, and an abundance of pride as the students collected their cakes at the end of each day. The concepts and abilities that the students have taken away from the classes will hopefully be put to very good use at home!
To simply say ‘thank you’ to Nicole does not seem enough. Not only has she imparted excellent skills on our students and teachers, she also spent many hours in the preparation and organising of the Artist in Residence program.
Please be sure to visit Nicole’s website to see her amazing works of art Sweet Love Cake Couture
One winner was selected by Nicole from each class, with the criteria for selection being:
- Mastering the level top, smooth sides and sharp corners
- Presenting a cake with good design principles
These 10 finalists were then narrowed to five overall winning designs representing the different Year levels. Our winning cake decorators will each be receiving a prize pack containing cake decorating equipment and links to Nicole’s online workshops so they can further their already amazing skills.
Year 12 - James Pappalardo, Year 11 - Nicholas Bullock, Year 10 - Celeste Barker & Year 9 - Ella Robinson & Stefanie Battaglia
Even though there were five overall winners, each student should be exceptionally proud of the work they produced and the skills that they came away with from the workshops!
Susan Haley
TAS/Hospitality Teacher