So, now that everyone is at home making all kinds of roses and flowers and ferns with their amazing Flower Pro toys... let's talk about what's happening at ISAC this fall! 

We have a month packed full of classes this August! We have two classes with our very own Chef Nicholas Lodge (yay!), and two classes with Chef Joseph Cumm. I have written about Chef Joe's classes, but we have had a change to one of the classes that I think you will all be very interested to hear about. Before I tell you all about the new class projects that Chef Joe will be teaching, let's talk about Chef Nicholas' two August classes!

Three weeks ago, I announced that Chef Joseph Cumm would be returning to our very own Studio B to teach two days of his Tea Party Pastry class! Just two days ago, Chef Joseph sent me an email including all new, detailed, close up images of the desserts featured in his class! You guys... I opened his email and my mouth instantly began to water! I honestly started at the photos for a good five minutes before decided I needed to find some sort of dessert at that moment. 

All joking aside, the desserts look delicious! As a reminder, if you forgot what was on the roster of tasty pastries being taught in the class, here is a refresher list: Mini Cakes, Scones, Rugelach, and a variety of cookies and tartlets. These desserts are not only perfect for tea parties, but also dessert parties or dessert buffet. They would even impress your book club members, teachers (or camp counselors I guess since it's summer!), boss and coworkers, etc. These desserts, wrapped up in a box would be a perfect thank you gift. 

I bet you guys want to feast your eyes on the photos that I mentioned earlier... don't you? Well, before I show you- don't forget that this is a one-day class, and it is being offer twice (on two consecutive days). You can sign up for either session: August 25 and August 26. Both classes will offer the exact same subject matter, instructions, and desserts. If you are ready to register for Chef Joseph Cumm's Tea Party Pastries class, please just click one of the dates above to be taken to the registration page. 

Now, on to those mouthwatering dessert photos!

Is your mouth watering? Mine sure is! I need that Opera Cake in my life right now! Which dessert are you looking forward to making with Chef Joseph?! We can't wait to see you in our next class. 

Upcoming Classes at ISAC:

There are still seats available in these great classes this summer at ISAC! Click the links below to register now. 

Hanging Handbag with Mayen Orido

The Boombox Cake with Mayen Orido

Renshaw Academy Sugar Flower Module

5-Day Ultimate Gumpaste Flower Class

Tea Party Pastries with Joseph Cumm, 8/25

Tea Party Pastries with Joseph Cumm, 8/26

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie 

Our goal is for you to be completely satisfied with your Amazon order! If for any reason this is not the case, we would appreciate it if you would give us a chance to address your concerns, before leaving feedback or a review, by emailing us at customersvc@nicholaslodge.com. We would be grateful if you would leave us a positive feedback and review of your Renshaw Fondant. Leaving feedback seems like such a little thing, but it has great impact on our business and we would greatly appreciate your time in leaving it.

2017 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

WINNER of the 2017 Golden Tier Educator of the Year Award

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

Cake, cookie, cupcake, and candy making is our business at ISAC (what, you guys didn't know that? HA!!). You may have also noticed we sell a lot of tools to make all those sweet and delicious treats. To the uninitiated, a cake supply store selling floral tape is a bit confusing, but we all know that Chef Nicholas is the all time reigning champ on finding sweet related uses for ordinary everyday products. Because Chef Nicholas is so creative, he sees things like  ice cube trays as flower formers. Things we mere mortals would never be able to envision ourselves. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen Chef Nicholas pull out a mundane tool or household object, and then do something incredible with... the best part is hearing his students actually OOH and AHH during this mind blowing process.

My favorite example of this was a few years back at our Grand Holiday Open House event. Chef Nicholas had a cake on display that had fondant in the exact same texture as a comfy, cozy thermal shirt. Many people were murmuring that there must be a new texture mat out, because how else could you achieve that look. When Chef Nicholas presented the cake during his demonstration he whipped out a piece of drawer liner. Yes you read that right. DRAWER LINER. He simply pressed it onto the fondant and voila! Instant thermal cake. I mean, come on man! 

March Madness usually refers to the big college basketball tournament here in America. I am using it to discuss the class schedule at ISAC this March! We have three guest instructors in March teaching a total of five classes, Spring Open House, one Chef Nicholas class in Texas, and two Chef Nicholas classes at ISAC. AND, one of the classes at ISAC is part of the BRAND NEW Renshaw Academy series! Let me tell you about all of our March classes, and hopefully you will find a class that you'd like to register for. 

In less than two months ISAC will host our 2018 Spring Open House on March 10, 2018. This year we will have two guest instructors that we know will be crowd pleasers: Chef Joseph Cumm and Chef Sachiko Windbiel! As many of you know, Chef Joseph is a frequent guest instructor in our Studio B. Just this past December he taught several French Macaron classes; we started with one, and it sold out so quickly that we ended up adding additional classes! Earlier in 2017, Chef Joseph had taught a chocolate bonbon class and a chocolate showpiece class! All of his classes were very popular, so it was only fitting to invite Chef Joseph to be a part of our Spring Open House this year. 

Chef Sachiko is a Renshaw Brand Associate Partner, or as Chef Nicholas likes to say, "BAP." Chef Nicholas has worked with Chef Sachiko quite a bit in recent years due to their Renshaw Americas association. Sachiko is also the designer of the Chef Nicholas Lodge page picture! She has not taught at here in our school with us yet, but we are all huge fans of her work. Yesterday, we received her demo project and the plans for her classes after the Open House... wow! You are all going to be amazed! 

Last week I mentioned that Chef Joe Cumm would be returning to ISAC and Studio B this December for a class on French Macarons and petit fours. The class was completely sold out in four days!! Wow. I understand, I love me some French Macarons. I love the variety of flavors and how light and airy they are with a slight crunch when you take a bite. Yum, yum, yum. 

Big, BIG news to share! If you missed the big announcement yesterday, Chef Nicholas has collaborated with Katy Sue Designs to create four autumn and winter themed molds! Here is a quote from yesterday's press release:

Chef Joseph Cumm is coming back to ISAC! Last February, Chef Joe taught an amazing mini-chocolate showpiece class. This fall he's back to teach Introduction to Chocolate and Bon Bons! YUM!

A few weeks ago I shared the news that Chef Joe Cumm was returning to ISAC to teach his stunning Valentine Chocolate Mini-Showpiece on February 12, 2017. Things are about to get even sweeter because Chef Kathryn Gordon will also be returning to ISAC to teach two French pastry classes on February 11, 2017! Studio B will be host to the ULTIMATE PASTRY WEEKEND this February 11-12, 2017!

Calissons by Chef Kathryn Gordon

I'm always so sad to see summer go. I love hot summer days, and days by the beach and pool. Of course, in the cake decorating world, the summer can be less relaxing; it is wedding season after all. Weddings every weekend, and hot weather making buttercream melt and fondant sweat. Yuck. The end of summer brings in a calmer period for many cake decorators, and it also means that ISAC will be open on Saturdays again! Hooray! Starting September 10th, we will be in house every Saturday for your cake decorating needs; and I know you are all excited, because just yesterday on Instagram, one of our amazing followers lamented that she wished we were open on Saturdays. 

Reopening on Saturday's isn't my only fun fall tidbit. Nope, I have some fun events, classes, demos, and guest instructors to tell you about!

Here at the International Sugar Art Collection we are known for offering very high quality instruction on all manner of sugar arts.  Well, this month is no different. In fact, we are busy, busy, busy this August!! The best part is that we have loads of fun classes for you all to take, and it's not too late!

August for ISAC started off big- the 40th annual International Cake Exploration Societe Convention and Show. Chef Nicholas and Scott have been attending the convention for a long time with demos by Chef Nicholas and an ISAC vendor booth. This year was very exciting because we were able to share the Renshaw line of Ready to Roll Fondant and Gumpaste with all the convention attendees!  Yay! Chef Nicholas and Scott drove home from Omaha early this week to prepare for our first guest instructor of the month: Greg Cleary.

Greg is visiting Studio B all the way from Australia! He will be teaching White Wedding Favorites class, an all-white demo cake topped with gorgeous flowers. He will be instructing students on how to make peonies, roses, morning glories, and filler flowers. Tips and tricks on how to assemble and arrange the flowers and foliage will also be covered. It's not too late to sign up for this class, there are only THREE seats left! Since it is not every day that we get an instructor from the other side of the planet teaching in Studio B, we have kept registration open. If you want to sign up you MUST CALL (1-800-662-8925) by 2:00pm EST on Friday August 7, 2015. 

Next up in August is Cake Camp out in Las Vegas, NV. From August 13-16, you will be able to find Chef Nicholas at the Green Valley Ranch! Chef Nicholas is going to be teaching three different gum paste flower classes; overall his three classes will include the tuberose, Love-in-a-Mist, oriental peony, avalanche rose, bride protea, calla lily, bells of Ireland, and bouvardia. These flowers are divided up between each of the three, one-day classes. You can sign up for Chef Nicholas' classes at Cake Camp by clicking here. The course numbers for his classes are NL100, NL101, and NL102.  Who doesn't want to visit Vegas? What makes Vegas even better?! CAKE! Go, sign up now. I'll wait right here. 

The weekend after Chef Nicholas and Scott return from Cake Camp we welcome our second visiting instructor to Studio B- Chef Joe Cumm. This class sounds pretty spectacular to me, plus I think it's a two for one: oriental string work AND modeling chocolate! That's right folks, you heard me, Chef Joe will not only be teaching his students how to create gravity defying oriental string work designs, he will also be teaching them how to make modeling chocolate flowers! I mean, come on... this is a great class to take to learn and build your techniques. You always want to be able to offer the very best to your clients, and if you haven't ever tried modeling chocolate, or the stunning elegance of oriental string work, I want to see you in this class! Oh, and it's just a one day class, so it should fit nicely into your weekend on August 22! 

If you are looking for an activity to do the day after you take Chef Joe's class, then head on down to Pastry Live with the ISAC team on August 23! For three days (8/23-8/25) Pastry Live will be hosting seminars, competitions, and vendors! Chef Nicholas' seminar, New Trends in Wedding Cakes (hosted by Nielsen-Massey), is on Sunday, August 23 at 3:00pm. Last year a pastry chef in attendance told me that Chef Nicholas' seminar was by far the best of the entire weekend. So, I think you should come and watch! Plus, it's a lot of fun to walk around, check out all the different competitions, and chat with pastry chefs and students from around the world. Oh, and Chef Nicholas will again be one of the judges for the Art of Cake competitions! Last year there was a Sharknado cake... I just can't wait to see what the competitors come up with this year! If you would like more information, click here for schedules and tickets.

The judges of the 2014 Art of Cake competition; everyone has fun at Pastry Live!

2014 Art of Cake Winner

The day after Pastry Live, August 26, our third guest instructor will be teaching in Studio B! The wonderful Peggy Tucker is bringing her isomalt skills to her students in two different one-day classes! The first class is Basket and Bow, and students will be creating an adorable basket and multicolor bow, and on August 27, Peggy will be teaching students how to make a little garden fairy. While both of these classes use isomalt, each class teaches different techniques that can be used with this medium. Isomalt classes are not offered regularly at ISAC, so if you have been wanting to try a class now is the time to sign up! If you are interested in both classes, we are offering a special discounted price on the two classes together! 

There you have it friends; our August is chock full of fun visiting instructors, ICES, Cake Camp, and Pastry Live. Chef Nicholas, and all of us in the ISAC family, hope to see you this month!

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie

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