Flowery cakes...just in time for fall?

I've been taking some cake classes for the past few months. (I have been LOVING them.) So much fun. Mostly in the classes I'm taking right now, we're focusing on making flowers. Learning how to use gum paste and fondant to make petals, perfecting my butter cream leaves, piping roses. It's been a lot of fun to learn. However, it has required some patience. It's frustrating when the picture looks better than your first (or second or third or fourth or fifth) try. But I've also learned to appreciate the fact that not all flowers are supposed to look exactly the same. So when you put a bunch of pretty flowers together, it's harder to see their small imperfections. I've also learned that there is (almost) always a solution to a cake catastrophe. Just yesterday I tried a new frosting recipe on my cake and it completely melted bringing the sides of my cake down with it. I was ready to throw it away, but with the help of my teacher (and a pep talk from mom) I was able to fix it! You would almost never know.

Here are a couple samples. I'll post more next week. :) There have been lots.