Imagine a room of multiple cakes that resemble the lopsided “Sleeping Beauty” cake scene— except, the cakes are edible and located in College of the Canyons Institute for Culinary Education.
The eight-week advanced cake decorating class, offered for the first time ever this semester on Mondays and Tuesdays, is led by world-renowned pastry chef James Rosselle, who is a champion of various Food Network series and a mentee of pastry legends in the culinary world.
Rosselle brought in Marina Sousa, a celebrity cake artist, Food Network champion and a prior guest on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” who he met 20 years ago on the set of “Food Network Challenge.”
With a career of over two decades of working with top chefs, traveling and teaching the next generation, Rosselle and Sousa have cultivated a friendship that has transcended beyond their own artistic styles throughout time.
“The people that [Rosselle] have worked with have required an entirely different approach — a very professional, corporate, high-level, quiet kitchen, whereas I came into it strictly cake and ‘let’s have fun’ and strictly colors,” Sousa said. “It’s been the perfect marriage over the years; our friendship developed personally.”
Using the publicity from the Food Network meant that both Rosselle and Sousa had the opportunity of cultivating new approaches from the experiences.
“We’ve taught on cruise ships, trains, planes and automobiles, Australia, Mexico, England, France,” Sousa said. “A lot of times it’s teaching in hotel ballrooms, and it just causes your approach to change. It’s a lot of critical thinking, and whatever life throws at you, figure out how to turn it into a cake.”
Rosselle has taken a new approach with his class at COC, due to how different the environment is compared to what his background entails.
“We’ve always taught other cake designers, and other people who are just hobbyists, whereas this is a professional classroom setting where the students don’t have a lot of basic knowledge or experience,” Rosselle said. “They’ve been really eager to learn new techniques, and I really enjoy empowering them.”
“As a teacher, it’s super cool to see their excitement, whereas a lot of people we’ve taught have seen us on TV and know what they want to do,” Sousa said.
According to Rosselle, the class has learned to work with various mediums to help bring their culinary vision to life, while building the confidence to do so along the way.
“They learn more about how to work with different sugar pastes, like gumpaste, fondant, modeling chocolate, and then from there, we can do sugar flowers, applicators, ribbon bows, it really ends with how creative you want to be,” Rosselle.
“You learn by doing and touching and feeling,” Sousa said. “We sent them off on Monday with some templates and said, ‘Think of a plan.’ And then a lot of them came in [on Tuesday] and said, ‘You know, I started thinking because we saw you hand paint on a cake, that’s something I’m really good at.’”
While the duo have worked closely for over 20 years, their styles are vastly different, but complementary.
“That’s why I brought in Marina in …,” Rosselle said
Sousa confidently interjected: “Because I’m more fun.”
“I wanted them to get a well-rounded experience. You’re going to get a lot of knowledge from me, but having someone else in my classroom like Marina, it just opens their eyes.”
Each student not only gets to bake and decorate their cake, but also eat it, too, according to Cindy Schwanke, department chair of culinary and wine studies at the college.
“The students are learning very upscale, very modern, different techniques. Each week they learn a different technique, and they get to take their cakes home,” Schwanke said.
The institute opened nearly a decade ago, but each semester grows with classes such as cake decorating.
“We’re so grateful to have Marina here, because it’s amazing for them to actually see it in person. It’s valuable for them instead of YouTubing or Instagramming. Seeing the techniques that Marina and James are offering is exceptional,” Schwanke said. “It’s a great program and we’re growing.”
The students, such as Makena Lopez and Jean-Paul (JP) Lafontaine, baked their cakes on a Monday, and actualized the whimsical “topsy-turvy” theme the next day, tackling fondant.
“We both graduated last year — we took the ‘Cake 1’ class, and now we’re learning how to do more things with our hands, like with fondant, which we didn’t learn before,” Lopez said. “I’m not professional, but I’m trying to learn.”
Lopez, who previously earned a baking certificate, finds enjoyment in the techniques, despite how hard they may be to grasp.
“I love piping with buttercream. I think it’s easier and creative, which is why I like it. It’s hard, but cool, to work with fondant and gumpaste, being able to sculpt,” Lopez said. “We all have to do the same techniques every week, but each person looks completely different because of the colors and how they put their own spin on it.”
Lafontaine describes the dedication and muscle memory it takes to master a technique.
“The whole class really challenges me, but it’s a skill that I wanted to increase. All the techniques are pretty new. You can understand the theory, you just don’t have the muscle memory until you’ve done it for 10,000 hours, as they say,” Lafontaine said. “I like the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and have the space to freely experiment and practice.”
Giving everything in the class a chance, including fondant for its bad reputation, Lafontaine finds a correlation between perfection and the “topsy-turvy” cakes.
“I think fondant gets a bad rep because people don’t like to eat it, but if you can pull it off, it’s just really gorgeous. It’s the most elevated and perfect medium for cake design,” Lafontaine said. “The ‘topsy-turvy’ cakes are gravity defying, so I am just trying to lean into shapes that go along with the crookedness of the tops and lean into horizon lines.”
Despite the challenges that inevitably come with taking a class with a professional chef, both Lopez and Lafontaine appreciate every lesson learned.
“It’s been a really fun class. It may not turn out the way I want to all the time, but we’re still here to learn,” Lopez said.
“I feel lucky that I made it in the class because there was a limited number of people,” Lafontaine said. “This class gives you a chance to push yourself, and in turn, show yourself through what you make.”
