Ooo La La, Sur La Table

There is nothing like producing a huge event like the last IronCupcake. So, what do you do they day after all of that? Well, you celebrate your birthday! Yes, it was my birthday just hours after all that work and fun was done. Lucky for me, my friends Karen & Alan of Cupcakes, Cookies & Pie, Oh My! were still in town. They stayed an extra night so they could teach a class at Sur La Table.

Have you been to Sur La Table yet? The newest one in our area is at Bayshore Town Center. I was just going to go and help clean up sprinkles and frosting and such, but they surprised me with the opportunity to actually take the class. Thanks so much to the staff their for letting me crash the party!

 

They also made the others in the class sing Happy Birthday to me and presented me with the awesome cupcake flower above.

It was kind of like coming full circle. I first met Karen at a Sur La Table class in Chicago back in 2008. Their first cookbook came out right around the same time that my cupcake obsession began. Naturally, it didn't take long for us to find each other. Over the years, the three of us have worked together, had fun together and become great friends in the process.

Now, I have always been honest when I say that I am NOT a cake decorator. I am a good baker, I am an even better savory cook; but, a cake decorator, I AM NOT. I get way too easily distracted - oh, shiny! - after I have one good cupcake to look at, I tend to loose interest. Time and time again, Karen and Alan have proven that anyone, including me, can do it.

 

My favorites from the class were the sheep,

 

and the pig in a blanket.

I also got a kick out of the Christian Louboutin-inspired cupcakes - I did mine to match the gift bag that my mom had sent.

We are so lucky to have such an awesome classroom-fitted Sur La Table store here in our area. If you have never taken any of their classes, I highly recommend it. As luck would have it, I was gifted the Knife Skills class from my mom and dad as a birthday present. Yes... Me and Knives ... AWESOME.