I am a begginer at making cakes and was curious how do I do the twisted rope look that I have seen on several cakes?

...with buttercream or fondant?

with a tool plunger type thing, good luck

I would say with buttercream. I have not tested myself with fondant yet. Is this going to be difficult??

Do you have any of wiltons yearbooks? It should be in the back of them.

I'll check one out. Any certain year? Thanks for the tip!

Any year should have it. The 2005 book is on pg. 114. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll send it to you.

You can use fondant or BC. Both look very nice. Wit fondant you just roll two long ropes and twist them together (2006 Wilton YB, page 64) With BC, it's a little more complicated. Those directions are in the Wilton 2006 Yearbook, page 115

can someone link a picture, im curious what the rope looks like. thnx

Next week in my Wilton 2 class, we learn the rope border using buttercream. In my pics, I have a topsy turvy cake that I made a fondant rope on. I took two lengths of fondant and just twirled them together.

click on the cake to get a larger view to see the rope border

http://www.wilton.com/recipes/recipesandprojects/babyshower/big_shake.cfm#

how come wilton cakes always look so perfect!? has anyone else had wonderful luck with their icing? i hate their icing. i think the cakes in their pictures are piped with something fake like soft spackle! not real.
OR, it's just me.
the pictures are a great standard to try to emulate. it's just that real life vs. wilton world though - the chasm between us is too vast! sorry for the rant!
practice, practice...
-chisl

don't forget there is always photo enhancement!!!

it's funny I always felt that what we did in class never looked like the stuff in the book ...not even the instructor .... I think photo enhancement is the trick too ..... I finally got smart and stopped trying to look like the skiny models in magazines after finding out they were enhaced by computer ... and now I'm trapped trying to make my cakes look like the ones in the magazine ... it's just never ending !!! lol

In case you don't find the directions, you can use tip 21 and pipe an "S" and then tuck the tip into the bottom curve of the "S" and make another "S"...continue tucking the tip until you've gone all the way around your cake. It is several intertwined S's...hope this makes sense .

I work in the IT Department at work and believe me you can do amazing things with photoshop. They have to have someone who work on those photos. They are to perfect.

OK. First of all, Wilton does take time to try to get that"perfect" look plus they have MANY long-time, talented decorators working on them. They have been known to spend numerous hours to get the good pictures. I always tell my students not to be discouraged if it doesn't look like the pictures as it will take practice and experience!

Second of all, to do the buttercream rope, try this:

Using a tip, like 21, make an "S" on it's side. Then continue by tucking the tip in the bottom curve of the "S", pulling down slightly, then going up over the bollom of the "S" and then hooking down; release pressure and pull away. Say to yourself "tuck in, pull down, up over and hook" until you get comfortable with it. I love this border and it can be used for so many things. And it is easier than maing it with fondant unless you want that look.

Good luck!