Hello there!
I was wondering, for someone with no experience, what's the ideal "starter route" for cake decorating? I work at a Costco bakery, and this is my last step to know all aspects there! Now, I am a guy. My strongest point isn't finesse, however I do have patience and will accept a challenge!
I hear I should search for local classes? Are those worth it? Or is this something you just keep practicing at home a ton? My co-worker decorators said they'd happily train me. But I can only do it on company time. That would be a long process. I just want to make sure I practice the most efficient way.
Thanks for any help!
I work at a Costco bakery, and this is my last step to know all aspects there!
My co-worker decorators said they'd happily train me. But I can only do it on company time. That would be a long process. I just want to make sure I practice the most efficient way.
Awesome! What a great opportunity to learn without spending money because you can be trained while on the clock at work! THAT is the most efficient way, in a real world environment with professionals right by your side. The process isn't that long to learn the basics... you'll quickly learn with the amount of orders they have to complete much faster than you would by practicing here and there at home. Take advantage of all aspects available for you to learn while on the job. Good luck and have fun!
While working at Costco and learning there is great, I'm sure you'll probably be limited in what types of design you can do...so learn all you can there...but practice and take classes that teach other techniques. I imagine at Costco, the emphasis will be less on design and more on speed with specific design guides to follow. Hey...speed is good. And piping skills are extremely important.
But if you are interested in going further, then you'll need to expand your skills. In addition to formal classes, you can always search the myriad of tutorials on every cake decorating aspect known to man on YouTube. And the tons of tutorials here on CC. It's all great fun! Good luck!
My favorite youtube demo videos are those by seriouscakes and tonedna1. They both show lots of different decorating aspects and are good quality. Another way to practice is to just take some icing, practice on the bottom and sides of a cake pan, scrape it off and re-use it. You can just take the same batch and use over and over and over. When I was going to be doing a wedding cake, I practiced 15-20 minutes every day on scrolls and other techniques I needed. It really made a difference after just a week or so with the daily practice. And for some inspiration from a male, full time steelworker, just check out his amazing cakes. He hasn't been decorating that long either. http://www.andeatittoo.net/
But definitely have your co-workers teach you also. There are lots of ways to bake and decorate and having different techniques will let you try different things and figure out what works best for you as you progress. Happy decorating. Denette
Thanks everyone for the replies!
I do mainly bake/mix, stock, wrap products, then close one day a week. So my manager is trying to find a way to get me in the decorating station, heh. He wants me to learn this, so that when a full-time position pops up, I'd "over qualify for it"! The Costco comment is true, it's more about a fast-paced stick to design guides rather than spend a tremendous time of detail. We don't have fancy wedding cakes or anything like that.
I like that idea of Wilton classes, and they look affordable too! And thanks for the sites suggestions. I'll be browsing youtube for tutorials. And this site of course. My main focus is to decorate efficiently for Costco, then as a hobby, decorate at home! What would be cooler than making friends/family cool cakes???
Thanks again everyone!
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