My DD and I just took the first class of the new Wilton courses. We had already taken the old course II class last month. But because it is being changed out, I decided to take the new Flowers and Cake design class which is the old Course II class again this month.

I'm taking it at Hobby Lobby this time and they are not offering the free Yearbook there. That is part of the reason why I wanted to get a course in June taken and now I can't get the book for free. I usually take them at a Michaels closer to me, but because they didn't fill the class, it got canceled.

Tonight we started on making a fantasy flower our of a mix of fondant and gumpaste. We used the new Flower press they have. It was okay - simple. I think that Wilton is really going for simple in these new classes.

Then we made a pansy out of gumpaste/fondant rolled thinner. That was fun to do and we can't wait to do more gumpaste flowers. Unfortunately tonight is the only night we will be using gumpaste and doing anymore gumpaste/fondant designs at all. So if I want to learn more, I'm on my own. Unless it is covered in the third class also. But you only learn one flower, the pansy. And it pains me to say this but I do not like the Wilton pansy. I didn't like the RI pansy either. I went online and found some photos of a pansy and devised my own. But now I have applied to be a Wilton instructor which means I'm going to have to teach this one if I get selected to be an instructor. And to me it looks nothing like a pansy.

So basically you buy the neon box of fondant and a package of gumpaste to use about the amount of two golf balls of gumpaste and a marble size of fondant of only two of the colors. Plus the roller to do this is not included in the kit, nor is the practice board. I already had bought all this stuff because I intended to teach myself how to work with gumpaste. In the class I took last month there was some discussion on the cost of everything. I'm not too sure that this part will go over well, time will tell.

After tonight, the rest of the classes is almost identical to the old Course II. The only exception is making the Lily flower. And instead of tip 47 for the basket weave you now use a star tip. DD and I have decided we don't like the look of the star tip basketweave. But basically once you get the hang of the process, you can use whatever tip you want.

The odd thing I don't see a showcase cake in the book like the old Course II had of all the flower decorations. There is the pansy cake on the cover and some ideas in the back, but no one cake with all the flowers learned. And using RI to outline and color flow is now gone too. There is no more bird and birdhouse. That was one of the things I liked about the old Course II. I'm glad I got it in when I did.

This may sound like I didn't like it, because I did. It wasn't til I sat down to write this message that I realized the price of the fondant and gumpaste may be cost prohibitive to some people.

Bump.

I would love to hear from others taking the new courses.

I took the old classes I - III right before they changed. I looked at the books for the new classes (our instructor was nice enough to show them to us at the end of the last "old" class) and decided the only new class that was going to be enough new material for me was the Gumpaste and Fondant class. So far, we've learned some gumpaste flowers that I didn't learn before and the only repeat has been the rose. If you are interested in learning more gumpaste flowers, I would recommend taking the Gumpaste and Fondant course. You can use the fondant and gumpaste that is left over form the course you are taking now.

In terms of the final cakes in the new classes, I actually like the new way they are doing it. Instead of giving you one cake design and having everyone in class do the same thing, they give you options and it's a little more open for creativity. Our instructor had us select the cake we are going to do after the first class so we can make sure to make and keep the right decorations for the cake we have chosen. Each person has their own style and I think this opens up your options and allows you to express that more. I'm liking the course and will post the final cake in two weeks when it's done! As long as it comes out OK, that is.

I think that's where the instructor of the course makes a difference. I've taken classes with two different instructors. The instructor I have now is very proactive and really adds her own tips and tricks to the class. Good luck with your class! I'm looking forward to seeing your final cake when you're done.

I think if you compare the new vs old in anything you will always find pros and cons. I loved some things in the old courses and didn't like some things in the old courses, and I am sure I will feel the same way this time.

The thing is that no matter what Wilton (or any other company for that matter) does will never please everyone. For every person that doesn't like the ribbon rose I'm sure there is another person that loves it. So Wilton did their research for this is what they decided on.

While the first course, Decorating Basics, really does go back to the basics I think there are many people that have never held a icing bag that really need it to go back to that. In a world where people barely cook at home even less know about baking. I do think there are some things in there that will be good for begginers, and there are some cute things that even people that know what they are doing will like.

I'm only teaching Decorating Basics and Gum Paste and Fondant this month, so I don't have any hands on experince with my students and the Flowers and Cake Design. I'm happy to see that Wilton is focusing more on designing the cakes, and coloring designs. I think that will promote more creativity and help students when they get home design their own cakes with out feeling they have to follow pictures and directions completely.

Where the Pansy is concearned, I think I prefer the look of the royal icing on over the gumpaste one and neither really looked completely like a real pansy. The nice thing though, is that you can take what you learned and use it in designing a flower that you like. I've learned that there are so many ways to do flowers that there really isn't a right or wrong way and you can play around until you find a way that works for you.

The Gum Paste and Fondant class will cover more flowers, they actually focus more on the flowers than the previous Fondant and Gum Paste class. In that class we will cover the rose, mum, carnation, calla lily, and daisy. I think they teach some good basic techinques that can be translated into other flowers down the line.

When I first watched the Twilight Movie after reading the book I was disappointed in the movie. I felt like there were too many differences and that it changed it all up. When I watched it the second time I told myself to forget I had ever read the book and watch the movie as any one else might, and realised that the movie in its self wasn't bad when I wasn't comparing it.

The new Wilton classes may be the same way. If we sit here and compare long enough we can find all kinds of things we liked or didn't like in old vs new classes. Also if we look for things we don't like, we will likely find more than if we have an open mind.

I'll miss the clowns, but I know alot of people were happy to see them go. I think the cupcake is a cute idea, and that students will probably like doing it better than the rainbow cake idea. I liked the birds and I think it was a great techinque to learn, but I'd be curious to know how many of my students from the past 6 years actually did it again at home after the classes. And I will not miss the string work at all.

TexasSugar,
I always enjoy hearing from you.

I like the birds, and so did my DD. She is going to use the technique to make some other stuff for her friends. I can't remember what they were - the Batman signal and some other things. When she made her birds, she took the cake to work and then sat at her desk and munched on the bird after she served the cake. And I have a couple of things I'm thinking of making too. I also liked learning it only because we are now going to be making cutout cookies for Christmas. I believe the exact words my daughter said was that Christmas will never be the same - and in a good way too!

Count me as one of those who thought the clown was creepy. That is until my DD and I tried to learn the technique by using large marshmallow heads instead of the clowns. They were even creepier! You can't win them all.

Even making the one flower we did last night was enough for my DD and I got get hooked. Tonight we are going to make some more flowers. I bought the Wilton gum paste kit with all the cutters in it. So we are going to pull out the book and have some fun and see what we get. The next thing after that will be trying to apply a dusting to the flowers. I bought some cheap Crayola chalk to experiment with before we move onto the cake dusts available. I'm hoping in either July or August to take the Gum paste and Fondant course. I am thoroughly enjoying taking these classes.

I agree with most of what Texas Sugar said especially the part about you can't please everyone. I am disappointed that they eliminated the clowns because that's where I taught color striping. And although I don't do stringwork on my cakes, I hate to see it go because it is becoming a lost art. I am sorry that they chose to go to 3 courses instead of 4 because my students want more classes not less.

Linda, I hope you enjoy the rest of the review in the Flowers and CD and I hope that when you do take the Gum Paste and Fondant you enjoy it as well.

I can honestly say if it wasn't for the Wilton courses, I probably wouldn't have gotten to cakes as much as I did.

Nana, I've heard they are coming out with a Tiered Project Class. My guess is it will be atleast a two day project class. Maybe it is a sign they are going back to some project classes that really teach beyond the regular courses.

My students love more as well. I've got a mother, daughter and grandmother that have taken the 4 courses, candy class, cookie blossom class and will be taking the cupcake class with me. I love to see when people want to learn everything they can.

I just want to be able to TAKE the classes!

I have been trying to take either the flowers course or the Fondant course and absolutely no luck. There are a lot of stores to choose from where I am and not one of them is doing the fonant class and the only flower class I could get into was cancelled.

I learned so much when I took them all (back to back) 3 years ago and really would like to brush up and learn something new. It's a bit frustrating.

I have made quite a few color flow items since class, I love the technique.