Let the Fun Begin! Wilton Decorating Basics

Last week I was in cupcake mode and was wandering the baking isles of my local Michael's craft store in search of cute cupcake liners. While looking at all the gadgets and decorating goodies, I overheard a lady asking where a certain item was that she needed for her class. My ears perked up... class? what kind? Just then I noticed a flyer taped to the end of the isle where I was standing. It read.... "Are you interested in cake decorating?" I answered "Well yes, I am actually" to myself of course.

 I obviously love to bake and feel confident that I have mastered the art of making delicious-tasting desserts. However, I have been incredibly slow on the attention to deliciously decorated cakes. Bundt cakes, no problem!

After the cashier helped the lady I began my inquiry. Before I knew it, I had signed myself up for the Wilton Basic Cake Decorating class. I was very excited as I snagged the last spot for the class that would start in one week. It was on a whim and totally spontaneous so I really didn't know what to expect. I was given a sheet of paper with details of the class and what supplies I needed to purchase. It even had a 10% discount on all supplies for the class. This discount can be used over and over as you go. I quickly found out there are a total of 3 courses, you are not expected to take all of them and can sign up for them in order or take just the ones you are interested in. I decided I would just sign up for the first and go from there.

After fun shopping and getting all my supplies together, excited to learn, I showed up for my first class with flat sugar cookies ready to decorate. We went around the table and introduced ourselves and said what we hoped we’d get out of the class.

The majority of the class was lecture. Our Wilton instructor actually made buttercream icing right there. This is the same icing recipe that’s in the lesson book. She passed around toothpicks, then the icing she made for the class to show us the different consistancies, and also let us sample the icing. Tasted just like the bakery!

Our little project for the first class was to decorate our cookies using the star tip (No. 18). For the first time I used a Decorating Bag with a coupler and a metal tip to put the icing on my cookies. This in itself was worth the price. I have definitely had it with my zip lock bags busting at the seems. I had purchased the Wilton Ready to Decorate Icing and filled my bag and started squeezing.

The instructor also showed us how to level a cake and frost it. It was impressive to watch her easily and perfectly ice her cake. She made it look easy! The class exceeded my expectations! It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed every minute of it. My only complaint, the class isn't long enough. I was having too much fun and the time flew by. My instructor, Carol (who is amazing by the way) explained everything clearly and is very supportive. I can't wait until next week. We will be torting our baked cakes, icing, then decorating them ourselves. It was nice to meet other people who share the same interest. So over the next couple of weeks I will share my experience and progress with you.

Week 1: We learned: ♦Tips on how to bake a great cake ♦Recipe for the class buttercream icing, how to make it and how to change into the different consistencies (stiff, medium and thin) you will need depending on the type of decoration. ♦Decorating bags and filling the decorating bags ♦How to level, tort and fill a cake ♦Decorating tips ♦Coloring the icing ♦Using the Star Tip - you're first decorating experience sugar cookies using tip 18. ♦Piping Gel Pattern Transfer Method

We all brought in some colored icing of our choice. Having pink and blue on the brain, I wanted to decorate my cookies with those colors. The bag made it easy to control the flow of the icing and with a little practice I was able to garnish the cookies with little stars. Look at how cute these are!

Since Valentines day is coming up, I wanted to decorate at least one cookie with a heart shape. My favorite though, the baby carriage (maybe you see pac-man there). How awesome would that be to have these cookies at a baby shower? Okay I'm not that creative, there is a picture in the lesson book we were given - it had lifesavers for the wheels and piped icing in the center. All I had on hand was heart shaped candies my youngest son brought home so you get the idea right? 

The most important thing I learned at this first class? All mistakes are edible!