Cake decoration is my latest craze. I love to dip my hands in ten thousand things at the same time and complete everything on time. Aha…just wishful thinking! I could surely juggle two hundred things single handed…so I asked myself, ‘Why not one more?’ Whenever I get immensely interested in a particular thing, I go online or to the library (yes, I still go there!) to kick start some learning, before my curiosity dies. At times, a hands-on experience is the best bet!
Wilton was offering a cake decoration course at our local Michaels store at a discounted rate of $10. That was unbelievable, lucrative and tempting! After a short contemplation about my ability to control my mind and fingers, I bravely ventured into it by registering for the course. The Decorating Basics Course consists of four classes of two hours duration each.
- My old icing and cookie press
Last week, I started the course. One of the requirements was the Decorating Basics – student kit. Being overconfident that I have my own cake icing set, I attended the first session with it. That was a clear mistake because my tools proved to be quite labourious when others worked with ease. The icing tips were not the right size and I struggled with the icing due to uneven pressure. Well, half way through the lesson, I rushed to the store and bought the kit. The kit has 12 icing tips, a spatula, design template, couplers, flower nails, reusable and disposable decorating bags, etc,.
As beginners, we got a Lesson Plan book for Course 1 which had detailed instructions and pictures about what we were about to explore and learn. The instructor showed us buttercream icing and explained how to make it, in thick, medium and light consistency by adding the right amount of water. This is essential for different types of decorations.
We were asked to carry some cookies and buttercream icing to practice and decorate in the class. Wilton has a recipe for buttercream icing here and I made a thick icing which had to be adjusted to a medium consistency. Using the star icing tip fitted to the decorating bag with the help of the coupler, we piped out stars on the cookies. All 10 participants got busy decorating their cookies and soon we had flowers blooming on our plain sugar cookies.
The first session was, sort of, introduction to icing, how to bake a great cake and assembling the decorating tips. The course is interesting and I am anticipating tough workout for my fingers and knuckles. Overall, it was a fun-tastic time!
coconutcraze
Coconut craze 
So interesting! I have thought about taking that class. I am awful with a pastry bag and tips.
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I was clumsy with the icing in the beginning. With a little bit of practice the results improved. I’m sure you can do it with the right tools and your artistic inclination.
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That’s pretty neat and colorful work. Its a great idea to join a class…even i have been contemplating joining baking and icing classes but i am still to take that final plunge.Your experience is definitely encouraging… 🙂
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Don’t think twice. Go get it!!!
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