Chef Nicholas has been traveling A LOT. I really cannot say it enough- the man is a machine. He recently had a break from traveling and got some time to relax here at home in Atlanta. He had quality time with Scott, got time to tend his amazing garden, and most importantly we were able to finalize his teaching schedule for the remainder of 2017! Yay!

Chef Nicholas is wasting no time- there are three classes in June. Yes, I realize that is next month! It's never too late to sign up!

Rolled Fondant Techniques with PME Certification is being offered June 17-19th. This class is one of longtime favorites. It's great for both beginnings in rolled fondant, but also helps old pros strengthen their skills! This course is a PME certification course; if you are interested in earning the PME Master Certification and diploma, this course is one of the three necessary modules. Due to the high demand for this class, it will be offered a second time, September 23-25, 2017.

Chef Nicholas will next teach two flower courses back to back: Exotic & Tropical Flowers, and Exotic & Tropical Orchids. Both of these classes are two day classes (June 24-25 and June 26-27, respectively). Flowers included in the Exotic & Tropical Flowers class will include: Hibiscus, Plumeria, Bird-of-Paradise, Bougainvillea, Anthurium and White Ginger. Tropical foliage will also be included. This class is one my favorites- I just love tropical flowers, and watching the students create these gorgeous flowers always makes me want to kick back on the beach with a strawberry daiquiri! 

The Tropical & Exotic Orchid class is perfect for those of you who make bridal shower and wedding cakes; orchids are a favorite wedding flower! In this two day class, students will maximize their time and create seven different orchids under Chef Nicholas' instruction: Vanda, Miltonia (pansy), Slipper, Phaleaenopsis (moth orchid), oncidium, Phaius, and Epidendrum.

July 8-12, 2017, Chef Nicholas will be teaching his 5-Day Ultimate Gumpaste Flower class with PME Certification. This could be Chef Nicholas' most popular class. It is intense, students will learn a total of 18 different flowers. That works out to more than three new flowers each day of class! What flowers are included, you ask? Well, let me share: The Ultimate Rose, Stargazer Lily, Calla Lily, Cattleya Orchid, Cymbidium Orchid, Dendrobium Orchid, Gardenia, Gerber Daisy, Lizianthus, Hydrangea, Stephanotis, Lily of the Valley, Sweet Peas, Carnations, Daisies, Eucalyptus, Ferns, and Ivy. Where appropriate, buds and leaves will be included. Oh, and it is a PME Certification class; it is one of the three modules needed for the Master Certification and diploma. Due to the popularity of this class, it will be offered again September 9-13, 2017.

 If you want to learn how to be amazing with royal icing, you can sign up for Three Day Advanced Royal Icing with PME Certification, August 19-12, 2017. During this class students will learn color flow, run-out, Wedgwood style figure piping, lace and filigree, Lambeth and English-style border work and string work. Students will learn the finer points of how to smoothly coat a cake with royal icing. Many different styles and techniques in this class can only be described as supremely elegant. Please note: Students attending this class must have attended the 3-Day Rolled Fondant Techniques Class with Nicholas Lodge, as the Advanced Royal Icing Techniques class will build upon skills and techniques learned during the Rolled Fondant Techniques Class.) As with the other PME Certification classes, this is one of the modules needed to earn the Master Certification and diploma. This class is also being offered a second time, September 26-28, 2017. This will directly follow the Rolled Fondant Techniques class, a perfect opportunity to take both classes back to back!

Finally, Chef Nicholas is teaching Fall in Gumpaste, August 26-27, 2017. I absolutely love the rich jewel tone colors of the fall flowers and foliage in this class. In this class students will create seasonal fall flowers, berries, fruits and leaves: Maple Leaves, Japanese Maple Leaves, Oak Leaves, Acorns, Blackberry, Chrysanthemums, Buckeyes, Chinese Lanterns and Fall Berries. My favorite are the Chinese lanterns; they are so delicate and papery looking- even though they are made out of gumpaste! 

Well, I hope that you all see a class, or classes, that you are interested in signing up for! We have had loads of requests for PME certification classes, so I expect to see lots of your sunshiny faces soon! 

Oh, and who wants to know the winners of last week's blog contest for the ProGel and edible Food Art Pen?! Without further ado, the winner of the ProGel is:

 Mary Thompson!

"I would love to try the red pro gel color. I make many, many French Macarons and red is a hard color to achieve. I would love i.e. To see how this color stands up against other brands. I have used the pens and I love them!!"

The winner of the Food Art Pen is:

Shupan Abraham

"I would love, love, love, to try the edible food art pen. I make x-box game controller cakes weekly. For one of the buttons, I have to make a round ball of fondant, paint it silver and put an 'x' on the top. Currently, the edible writing pens that I have don't make a defined 'x' on the ball. So, I have had to use a brush with some vodka and black power color to paint the 'x' on the top of the ball. I would like to try the edible food art pen to see if they would make my life just a little easier."

Thank you to everyone who entered, and congratulations to both winners! I cannot wait to hear what you think of the new colors! 

ISAC 25th Anniversary Fun Fact: In 2001, Chef Nicholas Lodge is inducted into the ICES Cake Decorator Hall of Fame. He is the youngest person to ever receive this prestigious award.

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie

Don't just follow our blog! Follow Chef Lodge on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter!

Finalist for the 2017 Golden Tier Awards Educator of the Year

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award. 

Congratulations to all of the wonderful students in the spring 2017 PME Master Certification class! Today is the final day of class, basically graduation day, and they have put in two long weeks of hard work! We had such fun with each and every one of the students in this class, and we are proud of all their accomplishments this week! 

For your viewing pleasure, I have included photos from throughout the last two weeks of class, mini baking essentials class with Reva Alexander-Hawk, as well as our celebratory dinner out together! Congratulations again students! Now get out there and wow all your clients with your new skills!

Last week we had two special blogs about the fabulous line of Creative Cake System molds by Katy Sue Designs. We were asking our readers to submit a comment for a chance to win FOUR molds from the Creative Cake System family! We had an overwhelming response, but I am excited to announce the winner of the Butterfly Trio, Serrated Rope, and Small and Medium Ruffle molds!!

Congratulations to Christine Great Banks!

"I would use the ruffle so many ways to use it to cover cakes, makes skirts for figures ruffled flowers what a great prize. Would love to have a go at the butterflies they look amazing."

Christine- please email us at customersvc@nicholaslodge.com so we can get your details and send out your great prize! We can't wait to hear what you think after you give them a try. I know you are just going to love them!!

You all left really great comments, and I think that nearly everyone was most excited about the ruffle molds! If you didn't win, there is no need to fret. We are carrying the Katy Sue Creative Cake System molds at ISAC- we got ya covered!

Congratulations again Christine, and thank you to everyone who commented. It's nice to know there are so many of you reading this blog each week!

There is still time...

If you are looking for something to do this coming Saturday (March 18, 2017), we still have several openings in each of our annual Spring Open House event! This year Chef Nicholas is joined by guest instructors Marilyn Bawol and Michele Sweeney! Marilyn will be creating and edible Easter basket, and Michele will be demonstration how to use wafer paper to decorate cookies! You can sign up online or by calling us at 1-800-662-8925.

Finally, there is also still time to sign up for Chef Nicholas' PME Master Certification Class beginning March 25! Chef Nicholas Lodge and the International Sugar Art Collection are excited to once again offer the PME certification master classes! This intense 13-day class includes all three modules of the PME certification program. Once completed students enrolled in this super class will be awarded a total of seven certificates: three certificates from Chef Nicholas Lodge, three PME module certificates, and the PME Master Certificate. The Master Certificate is awarded only upon completion of the three PME modules.

Days 1-3 (March 25-27): Rolled Fondant Techniques course - 9:00am-6:00pm

Day 4 (March 28) - Free Day for the Students to Sightsee!!

Days 5-7 (March 29-31): Advanced Royal Icing Techniques course - 9:00am-6:00pm

Day 8 (April 1): Free Day for Students with optional afternoon demonstration on cake baking, filling cakes,  and working with real cakes in Studio B. This demo is included in your class tuition, but is not required if you would rather go sightseeing, sleep, etc. 1:00pm-5:00pm

Days 9-13 (April 2-6): Ultimate Gumpaste Flower course - 9:30am-5:30pm

The class tuition includes:

-Multiple booklets of handouts, recipes, etc.

-ISAC & PME aprons

-Water, soda, tea/coffee, lemonade, iced tea, lunch each day, and the ISAC signature sweet break in the afternoon.

-A celebration dinner with Chef Lodge and Staff after class on April 4.

This is the ultimate master class for any cake decorator!

This class is usually offered twice a year by Chef Nicholas. However, due to his heavy travel schedule in 2017,

THIS IS THE ONLY TIME THE PME MASTER CERTIFICATION CLASS OFFERED BY CHEF NICHOLAS IN 2017.

If you have been considering taking this course with Chef Nicholas, do not wait any longer! We still have a couple seats open, and would hate for someone to miss this opportunity! 

Hope to see you all at our Spring Open House this Saturday, and maybe even in Chef Nicholas' PME Certification class too!

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie

Don't just follow our blog! Follow Chef Lodge on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter!

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award. 

Today is graduation day for the 14 students in Chef Nicholas' PME Master Certification class! It has been 13 days of hard work AND fun! We had students from Nigeria, Curaçao, Bahamas, Argentina, and all over the United States. It will be so hard to say goodbye to all of our new friends, but I know that all of these wonderful students are going home having learned amazing skills to share with their own clients. Thanks to all of our PME students, we are going to miss you!

Normally I do photo blogs after our Open House events, but I thought I could share some of the photos we have taken over the last two weeks! I hope it might inspire you to take a class with us- from a quick 2-day class or up to our 13-day master class! (and yes, I share the winner of last week's blog at the bottom).

We are smack dab in the middle of our HUGE 13-day PME Master Class! The students have already conquered rolled fondant and they are two-thirds finished with the royal icing module. They will finish up with five days straight of gumpaste flowers! If you know anything about Nicholas Lodge, you know that flowers are his game, so it's fitting to end a two-week class on such a high note. I myself have been a busy bee- printing class textbooks, getting practice sheets made, printing recipes, and preparing the diplomas and master certificates, that I realized I didn't have a blog topic for this week! But thanks to a suggestion from Scott, I realized that I could share some Chef Nicholas gumpaste flower magic with all of you too (his students shouldn't get to have all the fun)!

How exactly can I share sugar flowers through a blog? Well, because Chef Nicholas has a new book out with SIXTEEN different types of beautiful flowers: Spring & Summer Flowers in Gumpaste. Has there ever been a sweeter sixten? I think not. In fact, there is even a chance to win this new book!

As promised here are the winners of the Birthday Blog prizes! Thank you to everyone who commented on last week's blog! I do hope that all the winners listed below enjoy their prizes, whatever they may be!

Nicholas Lodge's 2015 Class Schedule

Last week, at the end of my blog, I casually mentioned our new 2015 class schedule was available on our website. Let's talk about that, shall we?

PME Diploma and Master's Certificate!

Are you certifiably crazy for cake decorating? No? Well, you are in luck! This fall Chef Nicholas Lodge is offering three classes with PME certification! PME Diplomas and Master's Certificates are internationally recognized awards and they are designed as professional level cake decorating courses.