So, we had been joking about the idea for years and for the most part, it was just that... a joke. But, this year came along and for some reason, I pushed the idea with just a little more of a straight face, and this time he took on the challenge!

Now, just because he never touched a cake doesn’t mean he wasn’t well versed in ALL THINGS CAKE! You see… Zach is the man behind the camera. Yep, he’s our resident filming and editing expert here at Avalon Cakes!

Which means he’s not only watching me create and teach cakes as he films it in real-time… but, then he watches it OVER and OVER again for hours (and days) editing 12 hours into 1 hour.

So, after 5+ years of watching, filming, and editing yours truly, naturally we were BOTH kinda curious to see how this would turn out! How much of it all “sank in”. He watched it being done… but never touched it.

We decided it would be best if he actually followed one of my tutorials in the school instead of just wingin’ it for his first time. He ended up choosing the Bride of Frankenstein tutorial. He chose it for a few reasons…

1. It was adaptable, so he could use it as base instruction, and then adapt it to his choosing.
2. He said while editing the tutorial….  “You make it so easy to understand how to do this, and with such simple shapes. I could do that! ...”

Now, I, on the other hand, was a little skeptical! Why you ask? This tutorial is listed as ADVANCED in the school! And my boyfriend, bless his soul, was attempting it for his first cake EVER, and that made me a tinsy bit nervous.

Along with this ...there was ONE rule that HE laid out for me from the beginning...

My hands could NEVER touch this cake! He wanted it to be purely him.

Once again... I was skeptical. And nervous.

But, to be honest, he had his headphones on the entire time, listening and watching the Bride of Frankenstein tutorial… he rarely poked his head out to ask for help. Still haven’t determined whether I was “just a good teacher”, or if his pride wouldn’t allow him to ask for help. 😉

My first bout of “shock” was when I watched him ice the cake with ganache.

GUYS…. It was SO SMOOTH.

I mean, I knew he was a perfectionist… but dangggg. I was in awe! Apparently, me harping in my videos so often about how important it was for your ganache to be as smooth as possible before putting on the fondant really sunk in!

Don’t get it twisted though, it was NOT all smooth sailing!

He got to learn the “lovely” nuances to our cake mediums… like having to work fast enough that your fondant doesn’t dry out before you get it onto your cake.

Zach meets Elephant Skin… Elephant Skin, meet Zach. You two will be arch-nemeses from now on, congratulations!

There was even a moment in time where he was trying to attach fondant to fondant without any agent to make it stick…. I was clued into this after hearing a stream of curse words under his breath for about 30 minutes straight. Oh, artists, we are so stubborn! Finally pushed myself into the situation to offer some tips.

So there were definitely hiccups and mini-panic attacks along the way… as to be expected with any new medium (especially when one is attempting an advanced tutorial straight out the gate!!)

He of course found himself baffled by how quickly time passed. Which is when I shook his hand and welcomed him to the “cake world time warp”...

But, he did it… and he did it SO WELL! Like, honestly… I’m still a bit baffled.

I am SO proud of him. HE MADE THIS AMAZING CAKE his FIRST TIME! Sure he had a slight upper hand of watching me for years on end... but it's still no small feat!

So, thank you Zach for this amazing gift of your time, patience, and energy….and cake! Such a unique birthday gift for me, to get to see first hand how an all-out newbie does with my teachings and for the time and energy he put into it. 

And, for anyone out there that has ever been intimidated by an advanced tutorial, I say just give it a try, you might surprise yourself!