Amorette’s Patisserie, a delightful bakery in Disney Springs, recently began offering an early-morning cake decorating class. While originally scheduled just for the summer, Disney and Amorette’s have extended this experience through the end of 2017, and recently my husband and I had a chance to attend.
The class is small — only 14 students at a time — and begins at 8:45 am, before most of the stores in Disney Springs are open. (If you’re driving, park in the Lime Garage, and Amorette’s is just a few steps away from the entrance.) You are greeted promptly and offered your choice of specialty coffee, water, juice, mimosas or bellinis, and refills are encouraged. You choose your station, fully stocked with the supplies you’ll need, and then the fun begins!
There are two instructors, both pastry chefs at Amorette’s, and they begin with a little bit of the history of Amorette’s and an overview of the cake making process, including descriptions of flavor profiles, ingredients, and their tools of the trade.
Here’s the best news: even though the gorgeous Mickey cake you’ll be decorating is a work of art, this isn’t an advanced class. Amorette’s does all the heavy lifting for you. When they started talking about frosting with the buttercream and the crumb coat and the second layer and showed us how to smooth out the knife strokes, I got pretty dubious we’d be able to pull this off. But they know that and aren’t expecting more than a novice can do, so the cake with its many layers has been crafted and baked and frozen and frosted in advance.
From here on out, Amorette’s walks you through the process step by step, bringing additional supplies (and even taking them away, to prevent mess and save space) as needed. The key to this instruction is learning how to pour glaçage and coat Mickey’s sculpted ears, tail, belt and buttons with edible paint.
There are actually three layers of glaçage on each cake! In between, your cake is whisked away to spend some time setting in the freezer. In the meantime, you paint Mickey’s ears, tail, and buttons. After the final layer is set, you add these elements to the cake, as well as Mickey’s belt. For the finishing touch, you step to the front to write your name, or anything else you like, on the back of the cake. I let my husband do this part — it looked really hard!
And voila! Your cake is finished, kept into the cooling case until you’re ready to leave. Amorette’s can hold the cake for you until the end of the day, if that suits your plans better. When you pick it up, either way, they pack it for you in a delightful hat box and send you on your way with a delicious treat to enjoy. The cakes do need to be refrigerated, so you do need to think about what you’re going to do with it ahead of time. If you’re dining at a Disney restaurant that evening (and can get to it easily), you might be able to call ahead and arrange for them to hold it in their fridge for you. Or, you can take it back to your resort. If you’re staying at a Disney resort, I can report that we were just able to fit it in our room fridge by taking it out of the box.
The 90-minute cake decorating class is currently offered Sunday through Thursday at 8:45 am. There are two different classes to choose from:
Classic Mickey Design: Featured in Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday classes
Artist’s Current Seasonal Mickey: Featured in Monday and Wednesday classes
The cost is $129 plus tax (there was no AP discount), which covers up to 2 guests (who must be age 10 and up) decorating one cake. The cost is really rather reasonable when you consider that the Mickey Cake itself retails for around $60. Once you consider the beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, that are included, the class fee itself, per person, is nominal.
We had a terrific time. The teachers are friendly and encouraging and ready to help in any way you need. We learned a lot without needing to do anything that required special skills. The small class size lent to a fun atmosphere and at the end of it all, you take home a really delicious cake. Was our cake perfect? No, but it looked pretty good considering we’re total amateurs. If you’re looking for a fun new experience to try at Disney, you’ll definitely enjoy the cake decorating class at Amorette’s Patisserie!
