I am just starting out decorating cakes, but I have to say I have fallen in love with this site (expecially looking at everyones' masterpieces). I am getting ready to enroll in the Wilton Course 1, but haven't been able to find out alot about the class. What has everyone learned from it? Thanks in advance.

I start class 1 on tuesday. I can't even sleep cuz I already want to do a wedding cake...lol..This site is so addicting it's unbelievable. I have so many questions I don't even know where to begin....So if you veterans out there can tell us what class1 is about we would be thankful~~~~Melissa Chaney~~~~

Hi!

Have fun in the Wilton class. I learned through Wilton classes and taught Wilton method for more than two years. It's an excellent way to get your feet wet in cake decorating. Your teachers will be well trained and there are lots of resources Wilton makes available.

In Course 1, you will learn all the basics. How to bake a cake and make icing in different consistencies, make roses, simple borders, leaves, torting and filling, sweet pea flowers, vines, writing... Ask for your course book ahead of time or go to the craft store and page through one to see the projects you will learn to do.

There will be a cake for you to complete every class night except the first night, which is when your teacher will demo making icing and icing the cake smooth, plus show you what your new tools are for.

Your Wilton teacher is obligated to stick to the course book or a current or previous Wilton yearbook for classroom instruction, so there is a whole lot more to the cake world than your teacher will be able to tell you. That being said, once you've been through the Wilton courses, there is very little that you can't branch out on your own to learn. With the basics firmly under your belt, you can learn from books, taking specialty classes, and from reading this site.

Be sure to ask your teacher about project classes like gumpaste, cookie blossoms, and candy classes. Not all teachers choose to offer these additional classes, so see what he/she offers. They're inexpensive ways to see what you like and what you want to learn more about.

Have a ball!!
Deanna

I start my Wilton Class I on Monday night!! Can't tell you how excited I am!!! I already can bake cakes and make frostings and ice the cake, etc. but I know there's lots of little tips and things I'll learn firsthand, in-person that I don't know. Like flowers...I can't do even sweet peas to save my life by using written instructions or pictures. Don't know why. But there's a lot I've figured out on my own already, like working with fondant, MMF, BCT and other stuff I've learned from CC! I'm just really hyper-excited about having a live person show me how to do things, even if I already have my way of doing them....lol.

Thanks so much, Deanna, for all that info! That's great!

You will LOVE the classes................such a great way to learn the basics. I hope you all have as wonderful an instructor as I did. Have fun!

It does make a difference getting to see someone do something. The Wilton course books are very well written, but still, seeing it is easier than reading and trying on your own. I forgot to mention there's a class during C1 about figure piping. I think that was my favorite class way back when, when I took my classes. Even though I'm a professional decorator in a bakery, I can still do certain things better than the decorators who didn't take classes, because I got the step-by-step instruction from the Wilton classes. Most of the fondant work falls to me, as well as flowers besides the roses. Course 2 is my favorite course of all - both to have taken it and to teach it - and I've used that knowledge so often.

One really nice thing about taking a class (no matter what kind of class) is getting to look around the room and see what other people are doing. No one has the exact same ideas about anything, and even though you're all learning the same things, everyone interprets it differently and you can pick up ideas you might not have thought of before.

Deanna

thanks deanna. I am excited to get started and was plesantly surprised to find out the courses aren't expensive. My husband is even going with me! He is very artistic and I am just as excited to see what he can come up with as I am about the classes.

Good luck in your classes I'm sure you will have fun.

I have a seperate question, do you have to complete course I before you go onto course II? I ask because I would like to take some classes but I think I can learn more from course II. I already know the basics so I want to learn more detailed stuff.

Melony~ I had been "decorating" for many years before I took Wilton Course I.....personally, I think it's important even if you have learned the basic skills.............there's just alot of value in hearing "their way"......and Course II assumes you've had course I. I wouldn't skip it if it were me. I think Wilton requires it anyway...not 100% sure. Because of course I....I changed some of my methods.

You can take Course 2 without taking Course 1, but I don't recommend it. There is so much information in Course 1, and your teacher will assume everyone is on the same page, so to speak, once you get to C2. She won't have time to fill you in on anything that you might not be aware of once she gets rolling on C2. Even if you've been decorating for a long time, C1 is still a good thing just to get another way to do things.

Deanna

Well that makes sense. Thanks to everyone.

I loved when i took course one. I did it over the summer in one week where they did it everyday. It was so much fun! My only advice, is that if you take the class in one week like i did, make all of your cakes in advance(at once) [for course I thats a two layer cake each class so 8 cakes]. Then just freeze them, i found it easier to level them once they were frozen then thawed for about 30 minutes. It's a great class though, i can't wait until i have the time to take course II.
Have fun and Good Luck!!
Lia