Icing Problems

Decorating By countrykittie Updated 11 Feb 2007 , 1:22am by cakenutz

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countrykittie Posted 10 Feb 2007 , 7:36pm
post #1 of 7

Last Wednesday was my first Wilton cake decorating class...I thought I would see how 'talented' I was. So, I took a cake to work and iced it really well...so I tried my first attempt at some roses going by the instructor and by the pictures in the booklet. Well, I guess my icing wasn't stiff enough as my roses were alittle droopy. icon_sad.gif Could it have been that the area I was working in was quite warm and the icing lost it's stiffness? I followed the recipe exactly so I don't know what happened to my roses.

Then last night, I thought I would try something new. My sisters birthday is today but the family is having a birthday party for her in a couple of weeks so I wanted to try out a chocolate cake recipe from scratch. The cake itself was ok, but when I made the icing from the Wilton booklet, it came out too dry. It would barely stick to the cake when I was putting it on, and then later, when making a shell border, my hands got aching so bad because it was too stiff. tapedshut.gif So, I added some water to it, but it still seemed to dry. icon_redface.gif

What am I doing wrong with the Wilton recipe in the Course 1 booklet?

Sorry this post is so long but any advice would be appreciated.

6 replies
Michelle104 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Michelle104 Posted 10 Feb 2007 , 7:46pm
post #2 of 7

I experienced the same thing in my first class! icon_cry.gif If you just keep adding about 1 tsp of water then mix, then if it's still too stiff do it again until you get the right consistency. A good rule of thumb is when it is stiff you should be able to pinch off a little and roll it into a ball w/o it sticking to your hand, med is the same except it may stick a little, then thin is when you cannot do that at all. When you are making your roses make sure that it isn't to warm in the room or that YOU are not too warm as your body heat with soften the icing in the bag from your hands. That happened to me in class as well and talk about the droopiest flopping roses you've ever seen!!!! icon_surprised.gificon_confused.gificon_cry.gificon_redface.gifthumbsdown.gif Good luck!! icon_lol.gif

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JenniferL Posted 10 Feb 2007 , 8:03pm
post #3 of 7

Learning the right icing consistency takes a lot of trial and error. The error part is frustrating, but it also rewarding when you finally have one of the Aha! moments! I live in a warm climate so our instructor told us to keep our icing in the fridge until right before we left for class. The classroom that we worked was pretty warm also so I kept my icing in a cooler on the 30 minute drive to class. That helped a lot.

When making the icing for spreading on a cake, I keep adding water or milk until I can easily spread in on the side of my bowl with the spatula. You won't get as many crumbs in your icing if you keep it on the thin side.

Keep practicing and you'll figure out what works the best for you! thumbs_up.gif

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sharonjean Posted 10 Feb 2007 , 10:34pm
post #4 of 7

Icing consistency is one of the most difficult to master.The other was the rose for me in my first class.....oh and writing on a cake was an other.
That was over 15 years ago.
Don't get discouraged it takes time and alot of practice. You are alot braver than I was. I didn't even try to decorate a cake until the one we brought in for the last class.
You'll do just fine.

Sharon

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countrykittie Posted 11 Feb 2007 , 1:13am
post #5 of 7

Thanks everyone for the votes of confidence. icon_smile.gif

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cindy6250 Posted 11 Feb 2007 , 1:22am
post #6 of 7

Countrykittie,

Welcome to Cake Central. I agree that icing consistancy is one of the hardest things to figure out when you first get started. I wanted to suggest a great chocolate icing recipe, it is called Chocolate Syrup Frosting:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2033-92-Chocolate-Syrup-Frosting.html

It is so creamy and yummy. Super easy to pipe. If it seems a little too thin, just add a little extra powdered sugar.

Good luck with your classes and post your photos!!

Cindy

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cakenutz Posted 11 Feb 2007 , 1:22am
post #7 of 7

I had trouble my first class but realized I'd used a 2 pound bag of p sugared instead of a pound talk about stiff LOL icon_lol.gif

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