So I start the Wilton class next week. I usually read a lot and am self taught in most things but I saw that Hobby Lobby had a special 17.50 for the class and a 15.00 certificate off anything online from their new website. Anyway I signed up and went through my book and bought the few remaining things that are in the Course 1 that I didn't have.

I have a couple of questions.
1. Do we need to use the Wilton buttercream recipe?
2. Can I make a different design than the rainbow cake the first time?
3. My Course 1 book didn't come with a "diploma" like I have seen some online come with, is it missing something? I mean just in case I pass..lol
4. I think it says one nite we have to bring a 10" cake but I have 8" and 9" cake pans does it HAVE to be the exact size?
5. What do you find is the best way to transport your cake?
6. I saw SOMEWHERE where they had variations of the clown design that is made during this course, like a monkey or a bear does anyone know where this is?
7. It says in the course book NOT to use parchment or waxed paper to cook the layers BUT only use Wilton pan release, they said "this was very important" which seems like a sales ploy.

Whew lots of questions, thanks for any info and help.

Anyone?

It's been about 2 years since I took Wilton classes but my instructor was really flexible and never insisted on anything being exact. I never made the clowns...they freaked me out a little and so I made a cake with drop flowers on it instead.

I've been teaching for 12 years now and the best advice I can give you is to walk into that classroom like you've never decorated a cake before. Keep an open mind. Do what the instructor says and use the materials (e.g., class decorating buttercream) that is called for. Do your experimenting at home. Sure, it's fine to be creative with your cakes - and any GOOD teacher will allow you to use the techniques you've been taught in any way that you want on your cakes - but don't be that showoff in class who comes in all self-taught with different materials and asking far-reaching questions that don't pertain to what is being taught. It is those students who inevitably do not succeed because they already think they know it all.

I have to give myself this exact same advice any time I take a course from people like Nick Lodge, Jen Dontz, etc, because although I may have made a thousand gumpaste roses (for example), I am there to see, do and learn THEIR way of GP roses. I have never been disappointed.

The best way to transport your cake is in a Wilton (or other brand) Cake Keeper with a small piece of non-skid drawer liner under the cake circle.

Enjoy your classes! I hope you get a great instructor!

Thank you Elcee and Cakepro. I appreciate the information and Cakepro you are exactly right, thanks for the reminder. I typically play the good little student even when I know more than the teacher but I don't know much about cake decorating so that won't be hard at all! I am just a bit turned off by the rainbow and the clowns but I need to suck it up and just do the class and let the teacher "guide" where it goes. Thanks.

I hope I get a good instructor too, I mean I wish I was where tonedna teaches, I mean wow who could imagine? I'm sure there are other great teachers on CC that do/have taught but I don't know they are, only Edna, so I can only hope to get someone half as talented as her and the pros from CC.

I'm also a WMI and here are my thoughts on it...

1. Do we need to use the Wilton buttercream recipe?
Yes please use it! I ask my students to use it because if something is wrong with the recipe I can try to fix it in class. We use this recipe because it is a good one to learn with. If you want to try other recipes then I would suggest doing it on icing your cake, but to use only the Wilton recipe in class.

2. Can I make a different design than the rainbow cake the first time?
I actually give my students options for all cakes. In my class they can do the rainbow, or use a another simple pattern with the piping gel. They can also do the Pastel Petals cake in the back of the book using a cookie cutter, or using any cookie cutter they want.

3. My Course 1 book didn't come with a "diploma" like I have seen some online come with, is it missing something? I mean just in case I pass..lol
These classes are not a pass fail but you will recieve the class certificate at the end of the class. Your instructor will fill it out and have it signed by someone in the store.

4. I think it says one nite we have to bring a 10" cake but I have 8" and 9" cake pans does it HAVE to be the exact size?
I always tell my students that they can do what ever size cake they want. For me it doesnt matter if you use a 8in or a 10in cake, nor does it matter if it is two layers or only one. You just need a cake. You can ask your instructor her thoughts on this.

5. What do you find is the best way to transport your cake?
I actually think cake boxes are better than the carriers, especially if you do a two layer cake with a taller design on it, like the clowns or roses. Put them on a flat spot in your car and as CakePro said, use non skid stuff under it.

6. I saw SOMEWHERE where they had variations of the clown design that is made during this course, like a monkey or a bear does anyone know where this is?
There are other ideas in the Wilton yearbooks and on their website. I actually show my students some of these when we do the clowns so they can see how they can be done differently using the same techniques. There are many other things we learn that lesson and if my students dont like clowns then they can do another cake. I usually suggest the cupcakes in that lesson or the grape cake in the back of the book.

7. It says in the course book NOT to use parchment or waxed paper to cook the layers BUT only use Wilton pan release, they said "this was very important" which seems like a sales ploy.
As far as I am concerned bake your cake at home the best way for you. You will see many debates on here on the proper way to prepare your pan for baking a cake. Im in the opinion there is not a right or wrong way, but the way that works best for you.

I will say that I am a laid back teacher. I want my students to have fun, but I do not stress over them doing the exact cakes in the book. I want them to learn to be creative but do ask that they use techniques that we learned in class on their cakes. That is the point of the cake is to reinforce ideas.

I will second what CakePro said, follow what the instructor says rather than going in there with a game plan before you even know what the instructor will require. Dont be afraid to ask questions, but stick to the topics that are being discussed in class. If you have any other off topic questions ask your instructor before or after class.

Texasugar, thank you so much for your detailed information. I will definitely follow all the advice. Hopefully my instructor will be laid back also. If not, then whatever it takes, it is their class!
Thanks again

In my class we were given a choice between the rainbow cake or any character shaped pan for the first cake. Those of us who chose the rainbow got our cakes finished. Those with the shaped pans did not.

I am wondering why you bought the book already? All of my classes included the book and our instructor passed them out in the first class.