So here is my story.....

I am not so new to cake decorating but still have losts to learn. I usually bake for family and friends but Im starting to branch out a bit.

I am not so good at making flowers. i can do the rose and drop flowers but want to expand on that. I am taking the Wilton Course 2 and last night was my first night. It was really slow and we speant half the class making shell borders and rosettes. They showed us the rose bud and the mum too. they only teach you 6 different flowers so if i want to learn any more i need to take course 3. I have been learnng things on my own and with the help of ou lovely people here on CC. I have done some fondant and am tring my first stacked cake next weekend. I felt it was kind of basic(i know im still new)and the instructor didnt really seem to do much. It was kind of like a do it yourself thing.


So here are my questions...

1. Are there any dvd's that you would recommend for flower making?
I am a visual learner, so it helps to see the process.

2. Do you make you flowers from buttercream or royal icing?

3. my flowers seem to have cracked edges. I can never seem to get them as smooth as the picture. Why? Im using a crusting buttercream just so you know what im doing.

I dont know if I want to continue with the classes so thats why i came to you all.

TIA!!!

~Shannon

Hey, Shannon!

I think you are putting way too much pressure on yourself. The whole purpose of taking any class is to learn, not to become a master in 5 minutes or less. You are not alone in putting this much pressure on yourself. In the classes I took, I was the only one who didn't do that to myself. The rest got frustrated, and aggravated, and were ready to give up right away. People quit because they think they are not getting the hang of it, but that's not true. It's just a pressure thing.

As far as videos, most of them specialize in gumpaste flowers. Wilton sells videos on their website. You can send them an e-mail to inquire about the content.

Your edges are cracking because you are piping slowly. But then, you are a student, so you are supposed to be piping slowly. As you practice, you will pick up speed, and then your petal edges will not crack any more.

My best advice to you is to continue with your classes, then invest in the Wilton Way of Cake Decorating, Volumes 1, 2, and 3. These books are no longer in print, and are available on eBay almost all the time.

They teach many techniques, including lots of flowers. Buy book 1 first, and start at page 1. Some of it will be review, but how can that hurt? The other two books can be purchased interchangeably.

Theresa

She should have also showed you how to make Royal icing and discuss color flow, as the next two classes are with these two types of icing. I make all course 2, and 3 flowers out of royal icing as the pipe is cleaner. If you find your class buttercream is cracking along the edges, it could be three things 1) it is too stiff and it needs to be thinned down, 2) it needs additional fat content (this is when you know it is not too stiff and any additional water would thin it down way too much); 3) as mentioned above if you are moving too quickly and your pressure is not hard enough, there will be cracks, but it takes some practice.

About the book and practice board, these are done by people that work for Wilton, it is their day job. These pictures have been taken and retaken until they get the "perfect" one. Please don't judge your talent by them.

Unless you are really unhappy, it does not hurt to continue


Remember that the Wilton courses are designed to cover basics and not to be the end all of cake decorating. Course 3 you only learn 4 additional flowers. However, if you feel your instructor is not providing much guidance, you should either provided feedback to the store, or to Wilton.

Thanks Teresa...i thank you for your advice!!

~Shannon

Suela...

Sounds like your a wilton instructor..

The first class was really crazy...peolpe signing up that night and not being prepared...one lady didnt even bring frosting.. . So i was a bit aggrevated. But the instructor is really nice but just basiclly stood in the front of the room and only really came over if i had asked her too. I would have liked her to have been more involved.I just thought that there would be more material to cover than just the 5 or so flowers and the royal icing/color flow since it is called flowers and borders. I am going to stick to it because i have an 9 month old and its nice to get out even if its just 2 hours.

The frosting was stiff so i think i could have put some more liquid in. And i dont usually use it but i made the class recipe for buttercream.

Thanks for your help!

~Shannon

Don't give up. I thought the first class was a bit boring, a rerun to be exact, but it did get better and more interesting. I loved all of them.
They do go over adding gel, or making it thinner, RI and BC, in order to pipe the flowers without the rough edges. Call the instructor over. That's what they are there for.

cakegenie.com has a dvd on buttercream flowers. Wilton has a floweres dvd too. I know everything seems to be going the way of gumpaste, but I prefer buttercream flowers myself.

I loved the final cake for course 2. The royal icing flowers were tons of fun to make, and the cake with the basketweave was beautiful. The first class was chaotic, but the rest were tons of fun! Good luck.

You sound alot like me. I'm actually starting my first Course 2 class tonight. I took Course 1 exactly 5 years ago .

I've pretty much taught myself most of the flowers they go over in Course 2, but would like to see visually how to do it, and clean up my flowers a bit, especially the daisies.

I know much of it is going to be review for me, but I don't really care. I just want to learn some new things and practice. Like you, I have some small children at home, and getting some dedicated practice time is hard.

lol...I am...I have had similar experiences, however very few sign up the night of class. First nights can be a little hectic, especially with people who are not prepared and seem to absorb all the time in the class.

If you try to go to class with a few questions, it should get the instructor going a little, and maybe remind her of her purpose? Let us know how it goes.