Meet your Hosts

Dawn Butler is an award-winning cake artist, tutor and innovator, known for her creative carving skills, flawless finishes and passion for helping others grow in confidence. With years of experience in both teaching and product development, Dawn has inspired cake makers around the world through her warm, down-to-earth approach and expert guidance. In The Most Fabulous Vase, Dawn leads the journey by sharing her signature techniques for carving, ganaching, smoothing and seamless covering, while also stepping into the role of student as she learns alongside her talented cake friends. 

Suzanne Esper - Sugar Flowers

Suzanne Esper is an award-winning cake artist and tutor, best known for her elegant sugar flowers, modern cake design, and her ability to teach beautiful floral techniques in a clear and confidence-boosting way.

Emily Hankins - Hand Painting

Emily Hankins is a UK-based cake artist and designer, known for her beautifully unique hand-painted wedding cakes and her signature floral style created using cocoa butter paint. Widely regarded as one of the world's leading cake painting specialists. 

Laura Lane - Baking 

Laura Lane is one half of "Esper Lane" and an award-winning baker and tutor, celebrated for her exceptional flavour combinations, flawless finishes, and the expert baking skills that bring beautiful cake designs to life from the inside out.

Course Highlights 

Expert Carving and Structure

Learn how to plan, structure and carve an elegant vase-shaped cake with confidence. Dawn takes you step by step through carving, ganaching, smoothing and seamlessly covering an unusual shape with modelling chocolate for a flawless professional finish.

Beautiful Hand-painted Detail 

Discover how to create stunning floral artwork using cocoa butter paint with Emily Hankins. From planning the design to layering colour, highlights and shading, you’ll learn how each brushstroke works together to bring the vase to life.

Award-Winning Flowers & Flavour

Take your cake from beautiful to breathtaking with Suzanne’s lifelike sugar irises and Laura’s expertly taught baking recipes. You’ll learn how to create, paint and arrange stunning sugar flowers, alongside delicious cake, curd and buttercream that taste every bit as impressive as they look.

Curriculum

6 Chapters · 54 Lessons

  1. 1

    making the vase

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      WELCOME! To the MOST Fabulous Vase Class

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction and structure

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Assembling the kit

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Adding Rice Krispy Treats

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Carving RKT

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Adding Cake

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Adding to the Shape

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Final Carve

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      Ganache

    10. (Included in full purchase)

      Making a Ganache Template

    11. (Included in full purchase)

      Adjusting the Shape

    12. (Included in full purchase)

      Adding to the Top and Bottom

    13. (Included in full purchase)

      Covering

    14. (Included in full purchase)

      Trimming

    15. (Included in full purchase)

      Dawn's Rice Krispie Treat Recipe for Cake Decorating

    16. (Included in full purchase)

      Ganache Recipes

    17. (Included in full purchase)

      Cake Pop Mix Recipe

    18. (Included in full purchase)

      Vase Cake Materials & Equipment List

    19. (Included in full purchase)

      Useful Links for Vase Cake

  2. 2

    But we can't just leave it plain......

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      More Planning...

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Heating the Join

  3. 3

    Painting with cocoa Butter

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      What is Cocoa Butter Painting

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Painting Part 1

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Painting Part 2

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Painting Part 3

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Painting Part 4

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Painting Part 5

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Painting Part 6

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Painting Part 7

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      Painting Part 8

    10. (Included in full purchase)

      Hand Painting Finishing Touches

    11. (Included in full purchase)

      Vase Painting Materials & Equipment List

    12. (Included in full purchase)

      Useful Links for Painting

  4. 4

    Before it goes off up to Scotland

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Covering the Board

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Packing for Transport up to Scotland

  5. 5

    Baking a tasty carving cake!

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction to Esper Lane

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Baking the Cake

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Making Curd

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Making Buttercream

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Splitting and Filling

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Earl Grey Raspberry and Lemon Cake Recipe from Esper Lane Bake School

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Raspberry Vanilla Bean Curd Recipe from Esper Lane Bake School

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Lemon Vanilla Buttercream Recipe from Esper Lane Bake School

  6. 6

    sugar Iris

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Iris Part 1

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Iris Part 2

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Iris Part 3

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Iris Part 4

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Iris Part 5

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Final Touches

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Cleaning Marks off the Vase

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Securing the Flowers

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      Iris Sugar Flower Materials List and Step-by-step instructions

    10. (Included in full purchase)

      packing up the finished vase for transport

    11. (Included in full purchase)

      Did it make it?

What you'll learn

BONUS LESSONS - COMING SOON

Now that Dawn has come home from Scotland with a wonderful cake from Laura, she we re-carve a different shaped vase, ganache and cover it AND using her NEW skills, will see if she can hand paint it, and make sugar flowers all on her own! (to be filmed soon and will added to the class.)

BONUS - "VASE OFF"

Enrolled Students will get to watch Dawn, Emily, Laura, and Suzanne in a live "Vase Off." They will put their skills to the test as they each make their own vase cake live in a private Facebook group. 

LIFETIME ACCESS + ALL FUTURE UPDATES

Enjoy unlimited access to the full course, including every new lesson, bonus feature, and update we add over time — all included at no extra cost.

Join The Most Fabulous Vase today and master the signature techniques of four award‑winning cake artists. 

This is your chance to elevate your skills with a showstopping project that blends carving, finishing, painting, florals, and baking into one unforgettable learning experience.

Enroll now