AI signed up for wilton course 1. Then I got the information sheet and it says I need to buy the wilton buttercream kit, and I need to bring 6 in iced cupcakes.
I already make my own homemade buttercream and I can already ice a cupcake... Is this course for extreme beginners? If you take a look at my photos I definitely need to keep practicing and learning but will I be hearing everythin I already know in this class? I am taking two 3 hour classes. And I don't want to buy a wilton buttercream making kit because I already make my own?! Any suggestions, should I go anyways ?
AI took the first two courses a long time ago (2007). I knew how to bake a cake and make frostings, but I was going there to learn decorating techniques. I just made a boxed cake and their yucky buttercream for each class to save myself time. When the course was over, I went back to making scratch cakes and my much yummier frostings, but I applied some of their decorating methods.
I'm assuming you're going there to learn their decorating methods too, considering that they're decorators courses. Do what's easiest for you. I still think it's easier to just whip up boxed cake mix and their buttercream. As for the kit, I don't know how much decorating arsenal you already have. Nonetheless, you'll need it for the class. It'll be good to be on the same page as everyone anyway.
The info in their classes actually isn't bad at all. It's good for decorating novices. I'll be taking it again in the near future. My goal is to do all 4 classes as I did only the first two in 2007.
Check at your store / class location to see what is included in the Wilton Buttercream kit - they usually sell all the tips, practice boards, instruction book, etc, that you will use in your class in a kit. Chances are you may already have many of the items. You are asked to bring cupcakes so you can practice different techniques on each one - easier than on a cake to start. Suggest you contact your class instructor and see what she may recommend, you can probably wait and buy what you need when the class starts. The first class may just be an overview for you, but it sets the pace and techniques for further Wilton classes. I took all 4 classes and they were a good base to start with.
.......Is this course for extreme beginners?........
I'd definitely say yes it is. I taught Wilton some 10-15 yrs ago. It has changed lots since I stopped but the reason they ask that you use their recipe is so the teacher does not have to deal with 10 different consistencies/types of icing. It is important for the teacher to be able to help students by knowing what the icing is suppose to be like/how it is suppose to behave. If may different recipes are being used you can see how it would slow the class when someone has a problem and the instructor has to stop teaching to help that one out. Now Xs that by 10 or more students.
Swishykitty said: The first class may just be an overview for you, but it sets the pace and techniques for further Wilton classes......
exactly. As she said, you may check w/the instructor who could clarify some of the information y ou are asking about.
Quit as a Wilton instructor 3 months ago...
Buy the instruction book. It shows you what "tools" you need each day. The practice board is the only thing most people don't have, but you can buy the "deluxe" one and use it, if you like.
Icing is a problem because students doctor it, and it melts too quickly for them to use. You are practicing techniques, so warm hands and slow learners make that a mess. That is the really reason I hated it. If you start with stiff consistency, and know what that is, you will be fine.
Cupcakes are optional, really. As an instructor, I often "decorated" on the top of a jar of sprinkles. The cupcakes are for "ooh...ahhh" so you can take a product home with you. Every student likes to take something "I made" home. If you don't care, don't do it.
Some instructors suck, some are great...just like life. Some people don't actually know the steps. I "taught" my 28 year old niece to "dip and level"..... she had no idea! So a beginner review sometimes helps.
Those 3 hour classes were just beginning in July, when I quit, and I heard some instructors complain about time management and getting it done. By now, I am sure they got the bugs out....
You can make your own buttercream if it works well for piping.
It's definitely a class for extreme beginners, or should I say with extreme beginners in it.
Our instructor was spending time adding powdered sugar to people's buttercream. We had a few who tried to make the buttercream with margarine from a tub…the instructor had to explain why real butter is necessary.
I had fun taking the class but I learned more on Youtube.
................instructor was spending time adding powdered sugar to people's buttercream.................
This is EXACTLY (one of the reasons) it is best to use the recipe provided - at least for the 1st few sessions!
Spending time adding sugar or otherwise helping students figure out why their icing isn't working takes way too much time away from actually teaching.
How much harm can it really be to use what is *known* to work properly so *everyone* can learn as the class is designed?
ASee this is the thing though my course is only TWO classes. And my buttercream is used for the rosette cake, 1 m swirl on cupcakes. At room temperature they are great. No sweating or nothing.. I don't like Wilton's recipe lol. Wouldn't it be best to learn decorating with my own buttercream? I for want to use a recipe I don't like, I understand it's a wilton course but .. Maybe I already am too advanced for this course :/ But not sure if you need course 1 for the rest. When I ice a cupcake and hold it upside it stays the same. It's not too soft and it's not rock hard. It lightly crusts. I don't wanna learn techniques with their recipe and come home and it not work with mine. But I guess if mine is a good consistency it should be near the same as theirs.
ATheir buttercream is nasty and I do believe that's a fact lol. However, I'd treat this class like I would any other class. If an instructor requires X book or Y calculator, then come prepared with those items. I agree with kakeladi. Imagine if everyone brought their own buttercream. What a hassle. Learn their techniques then apply them with your own frostings at home. And yes, if your buttercream is a good recipe then it'll work with wilton techniques.
AI never actually ate the frosting anyway. In fact we used a practice frosting (it wasn't even called buttercream back then). It was crisco water and powdered sugar. We learned to pipe on a laminated sheet of paper with a template of borders and such then moved on to flowers. But that was almost 40 years ago. Things have changed a lot since the.
So I went to the class a few days ago, and didn't return.. we spent 2 hrs practicing with only 3 different wilton tips. I already knew how to use them,
then the last hour we had was to ice 6 cupcakes.. like seriously!? I was bored and sat for 45 mins waiting for class to end
we also used laminated paper to pipe on, it was actually annoying because I already knew how to do the same thing, on a cake, cupcakes, etc. I wasn't being stuck up acting like I knew everything.
but.. I did teach the teacher a few things!
she asked me how I do my rosette swirl, and she was asking us about icing whitener and I told her to try tinting her yellow buttercream with a bit of purple. she had never heard of it before
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