Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Wilton Cake Decorating Class- Day 1

Last night was my first night of cake decorating class at Michael's! My friend, Kim, and I signed up a couple weeks ago...we have both always wanted to do take one of these classes so we thought it would be fun to do it together :) And it was!

The classes are Tuesday nights from 6-8 for the next 4 weeks. Our teacher's name is Lisbeth and we have a total of 6 people in the class. I did not really know what to expect and what the lay out of the class was until last night. Each week we will learn new decorating techniques and designs as well as the basics of baking & icing a cake.

Last night was our first class...we met the instructor, signed in, met the rest of the class and got started! We learned all about baking a great cake...how to prepare the pan, mix the batter, fill the pan, test the cake for doneness and remove the cake from the pan when finished. We have all baked cakes before but there are so many little tips and tricks she taught us that I had no idea about! Next, we learned all about icing...how to make it, what it is used for and all about the 3 kinds of consistency (I had no idea how important that part is!). We learned about decorating bags, decorating tips, couplers and how to fill the decorating bags with icing. Then we moved on to leveling a cake (dividing it into a top & bottom half) and adding fillings such as pudding, preserves or fruit to the middle. Finally, came icing the cake! There is a real technique to that. It is not as easy as it looks...you have to worry about it being even and you don't want any crumbs showing. We ended the class by getting to practice on our own. Whe we signed up for the class we had to buy this little kit. It includes all the basics we would need. So, we filled our decorating bags with icing, added a coupler & tip and started practicing making stars on paper. The instructor showed us a little about piping gel but we ran out of time and did not get into that much.
I seriously learned so much in that first class! When I usually bake a cake, I bake it out of box, in a glass baking dish and slab some icing on the top. Those days are gone. I can't wait to start trying new shapes and sizes, adding fillings and decorating the tops!

I feel kind of like I am in school again, except this is way more fun. We actually have homework...kinda. We have to buy a bunch of supplies that we will need for the rest of the class, make 2 batches of icing at home and make a cake and bring all of that to class next Tuesday. That night will be our first try at icing a cake and adding filling on our own and doing some very basic decorating. WHOHOO!!! Can not wait :) Kim and I actually bought almost everything we needed after the class was over. This is what I came home with....


Have any of you ever taken one of these classes? If you haven't, but you have considered it, you really should look into it! Just go in a local Michael's or Hobby Lobby for all the info. I will post a recap of day 2 next Wednesday!

Happy Baking! =)

2 comments:

Megan said...

that looks so fun! I have thought about doing that in the past.

MrsKT said...

I LOVE to bake. It is such a cathartic experience for me... Laying out the ingredients, following the recipe, experimenting with the filling and icing flavors. Just wish I had more time (or more occasions) to do it! Have fun =)