Upcoming Fun with Chef Nicholas and ISAC

Hello dear friends! Can you believe that January is already over?! Chef Nicholas is busy imparting knowledge to students at the French Pastry School as we speak, lucky ducks! He did want me to share some fun upcoming events with you all though!

The Austin Cake Show, That Takes the Cake, is up first (February 21-24)! Chef Nicholas is one of over 20 amazing instructors! If I was going to name drop, I’d day that Marina Sousa, Lauren Kitchens, and Joshua John Russell, among many others, are going to be there. If you are all about the competition, this year’s theme is “Once Upon a Cake.” I wish I was going so that I could see all the entries. I am intrigued by the theme; there are so many possibilities! Of course Chef Nicholas will be one of the judges, and I know the competitors won’t make it easy for him and the other judges to decide on a winner! Chef Nicholas is offering a two day class at this cake show: New Trend Flowers in Gumpaste. Students will learn six different flowers that are very popular with brides this upcoming wedding season- not a class to be missed. If you want to sign up, just click here.

In early March, ISAC is hosting guest instructor Ann Ruth! Her two day class (March 7-8) will use cold porcelain to create a stunning Oriental Peony Cake topper! Ann, a master sugar artist, will also be teaching students how to make sunflowers, roses, ferns, and all appropriate foliage in this class. Cold porcelain pieces last a lifetime, can be cleaned and stored easily, used for demonstrations and holds up well during shipping and traveling. What exactly makes cold porcelain so amazing? Well, it’s flexible! It’s made of cornstarch, white glue, and either baby or mineral oil, and the finished product is virtually unbreakable! The flexibility allows petals to be reshaped and bent months and even years later! Grouping and bunching flowers into arrangements is a breeze, because there is no fear that they will shatter! Colors appear bright and clear, and will not fade with time. Sounds like a pretty useful and durable medium to learn, if you ask me! You could not ask for a better instructor either; Ann has studied with Alan Dunn, Ron Ben Israel, Wayne Steinkopf, and our very own Chef Nicholas! She has taught all over the US in Wisconsin, North Carolina, New Mexico, Georgia, has demonstrated at ICES conventions, and will be teaching at the Austin Cake Show this year! I know you’re dying to sign up and learn all of cold porcelain’s secrets, I don’t blame you!

If you are in the St. Louis, Missori area, and would like to take a class with Chef Nicholas on March 7-8, you are in luck! Chef Nicholas will be teaching his two day Contemporary Trends in Sugar Flowers class at Patty Cakes in Highland, Illinois! Students will learn six beautiful flowers: Oriental Peony, Southern Magnolia, Ranunculus, Succulents, and Vanilla Orchid. If you would like to learn more about this class, just click here! At the Tennessee ICES Days of Sharing, March 15-17, Chef Nicholas will be teaching his New Trends: Wedding and Celebration Flowers class (March 16-17). You can find more information on this class at the ICES website here. People are always asking when Chef Nicholas is coming to their state to teach classes. All you Texans, Missourians, Illinoisans, and Tennesseans- I’m looking at you. You best go sign up! :)

Rounding out March, and this particular blog entry, is our Spring Open House on March 28th! This is a ONE DAY event, and two of the time slots are already sold out! Susan Carberry will be the guest instructor at this event. Of course Scott and Chef Nicholas will be there to wow you as well! If you want to jump on the bandwagon and sign up before it’s comepletely sold out, you can call us at 1-800-662-8925 or click here for the 12:45 time slot or here for the 2:30 time slot.

Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog (there is a button at the top of the page), because we will soon be sharing details about the launch of Chef Nicholas’ new Craftsy classes! We will have lots of fun promoting these classes when they come out. There will be chances to win prizes and maybe even win one of his Craftsy classes for free! Stay tuned for more details!

One final thing. Last Friday we were named Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog in the 2016 Craftsy Blogger Awards. Thank you so much to everyone who nominated us, and then came back to vote for us! Chef Nicholas, and the entire ISAC team, are so thankful for all of our students and clients! I write this blog for you, so it’s wondeful to be appreciated in such big way! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Sweetly Yours,

Stephanie

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