Sometimes it’s easy to forget how many great things there are to do right on our back door. So this weekend, I’m doing some local activities and having a foodie weekend in Petone. I am booked into a cake decorating class on Saturday morning with my sister in law, and a ravioli making class with my brother on Sunday afternoon.

It’s guaranteed to be a delicious weekend.

We arrive at the Cake it Forward studio eager to get our cake on and learn some skills. We are warmly greeted and offered a complimentary tea or coffee from the cart out front. A great start. We chat with some of the other ladies while waiting for everyone to arrive. Classes are small with a maximum of 6 people, great for learning lots of new things and keeping a casual relaxed atmosphere.

Could you imagine a birthday without gifts? Without a birthday cake to celebrate your special day? I know that I am lucky to have never experienced this, but there are many for whom this is a reality. Cake it Forward was started by Bridget as a hobby but it has grown into much more than that. Wanting to teach her daughter that they have enough ‘stuff’ and that there are others who don’t have a lot, Cake it Forward has partnered with the Angel Tree Programme. Through this programme, she is able to bring some joy and happiness to children on their special day, by donating birthday cakes to children with parents in prison. I also noted that Bridget has adopted and fosters rescue dogs. What a legend!

Today, we are trying our hand at creating a rainbow drip cake. I have made many cakes in the past, so I was surprised at how much I learnt in this class. I was already OK at making cakes, but these skills have enabled me to work to a much higher standard with a professional looking finish. They are simple tips, but make a big difference to the end result.

Over the next 2 hours we watch demonstrations, have hands-on experience decorating our own cake and learn lots of tips and tricks. I quickly realise what a big difference it makes having the right equipment. I love the cake turntable and palette knife, they’re a game changer! Bit by bit we build our masterpieces, stacking the layers, crumb coating and then creating some magic with the rainbow icing. We learn how to create a chocolate drip finish and garnish with our home made chocolate shards.

This 2 hours class was so much fun and the time went by so quickly. At the end of the session, I was able to take away a beautifully decorated, 3 tier cake to enjoy with the family. I love the motive behind this business venture and was glad that I could be a part of it today. I have since made 2 birthday cakes and the skills I learnt have been so useful with these. I am sure I will be booking in for another class soon. I have my eye on a cupcake class!

On Sunday afternoon my brother and I head to La Bella Italia ready to spend the afternoon soaking up some Italian atmosphere. La Bella Italia is an authentic Italian restaurant serving up delicious meals in a casual setting. You will also find quality Italian products you can purchase, from pastas, cheeses, meat and of course gelato. Everything that reminds me of Italy.

The class begins with a glass of prosecco and a large platter of antipasti shared among the group. I love Italian food and this brings back some wonderful memories of eating my way around Italy, especially Bologna, gosh, the food was incredible there! Bellissimo.

After getting our fill of these tasty bites, we head to the tables all set up with ingredients and pasta makers ready for us to use.

We begin with mixing the eggs and gradually adding the flour to make a globby mess that eventually becomes dough. Now the hard part, kneading it until it becomes the right consistency – smooth and elastic. This takes quite a long time and I am pleased to have James with me to put in the hard work. I am a bit useless at this step!

When the dough is ready (after what seems like ages) we let it rest while we clean up our work bench, ready to roll it out. We get a demonstration from the chef and then it’s our turn. Working with half the dough at a time, we put it through the rollers, changing the setting every couple of turns to roll it out thin.

Once we have the right thickness we can add the fillings. There are 2 options, feta & ricotta and a pumpkin one. Yum! We roll balls of fillings and place it on the pasta before folding the pasta over to enclose it.

The last step is to use a pasta wheel with a zig zag edge to cut it. Using this also seals the two layers together so the filling doesn’t come out when cooking.

And that’s it. Easy right?

I have to say, making pasta is a labour of love! But tonight I will be having Italian, made the Italian way.