Strong Determination, Poor Results....please Help (Long)
Decorating By Antylucifer Updated 18 Apr 2007 , 7:06pm by hsmomma
I know the abilities you all have didn't happen over night. It takes a lot of practice, ambition, motivation and time. It will take me years and years to come anywhere near your talents. I have spent days reading this board, have ordered and read approximately 20 magazines/books, and I'm struggling to do even the most basic things. I don't start class until June, so right now practicing is all I can do, but I need help.
I started with BC icing and won't move on until I feel comfortable with that, and my hold up is consistancy. I've searched and read all about BC and everywhere I've read, it says the consistancy must be right or your decorating will never be right. It gives examples of stiff, medium, and thin. Without actually seeing or feeling it, I don't really know how it should be.
Is there any type of food or product that could be compared to the different consistancies? Condensed soup, toothpaste, dishwashing soap, cortazone cream, squirty butter, squeezy cheese, non chunky applesauce, hershey chocolate sauce...anything come to mind that would give me that feeling of 'Oh the light bulb just went off-I get it?' Once I have that right, I can practice on sizing being consistant, something that's hard to do when the consistancy is different every time I practice.
Another question is about turning the cake onto a cooling rack. I do this 10-15 minutes after it comes out of the oven, but the bottoms always molds to the shape of the cooling racks. They get checkerboard lines across and sometimes crumbs or cake pieces fall through. I've tried putting wax paper on the racks, paper towel-then the cake just sticks to that. I can't come up with anything in searches or haven't read about it. Is that the way it's supposed to be?
My husband mentioned that maybe I should stop practicing until I take the classes because I might be picking up bad habits that will be hard to break once I learn the right way to do it. Do you think I should consider that, or should I be all right as long as I'm following directions and doing exactly what the book say?
Lasttly, are most of you artistic, or were you before you started decorating? I look at your work and can't imagine having the creative talent to do any of that. Did it come from practice, molds, charts, patterns? Did it just hit you one day?
Sorry this was long, I promise future questions won't be like this, and "Thank You" to anyone who has ANY tips for me. I really, really appreciate anything, because I'm kind of at the point of throwing in the towel-I'm not seeing myself going from here to there anytime soon.
My cakes get checkerboard lines across them too. And crumbs to fall through. Both are normal. The lines won't matter because you will cover them with icing.
I starting decorating too before I took classes. I think it just made me more eager to learn in class.
I'm not very artitistic but I get ideas from books, this site, and other places. I've discovered that the creativity will come with practice. I hope that makes sense. Sometimes, I bake a cake for practice and have absolutely no clue how I'm going to decorate it so I leave it overnight and inspiration always comes.
I, too, have learned ALOT from this board. One thing.....don't be afraid to try something new. However, I always reserve my something new for a practice cake (smile).
Good luck!
The description of icing as stiff, medium and thin, are difficult to describe but not critical to decorating. If you are using the Wilton all shortening 'decorators buttercream' stiff is generally how it comes out, a bit more liquid will soften it to medium, and a bit more will great thin. You will most likely want to divide the original batch into 3 portions before you start adding liquids.
You can practice decoration without a cake. Use an inverted cake pan and work on borders, writing, swiss dots, garlands, etc.
for most of these items, the icing needs to be stiff enough to hold it's shape without sagging, but soft enough to come out of the piping bag fairly easily.
The icing recipe you use will vary as well. The whipped cream buttercream in the recipe section USUALLY does not need to be adjusted for thick/thin for most applications. It is soft enough to pipe easily, but will hold rose petal shapes perfectly.
Welcome,
You have found a wonderful place to learn. I found this site May of last year and I love cake decorating. I work full time during the school year, so I have more time in the summer to practice. I can't wait until school is out and I can practice some more. I only bake for the fun of it. I do bake and decorate for my family or friends. I am not doing it for the money, first of all, I am not that good.
1. I get a lot of inspiration from the galleries. I love to look at the latest uploads. Also, use the search on the galleries section if you are looking for a particular type of cake. You will need to use the key word in many ways. For instance, fish, fishing, fisherman. I have found out that the search engine will only bring up what you type in.
2. People on this board are very friendly and helpful.
3.My cakes also have those lines you are talking about. That doesn't bother me as much as the cake sticking to the cooling rack does. I hate losing part of my cake to the cooling rack.
4. Knowing the right consistency of buttercream, will come with practice. When you ice/frost you cake you want a thin buttercream so it will go on smoothly and not tear your cake. You also want the buttercream to be thin when you write. Try putting some buttercream in a bag with tip #3,4, or 5 and try writing something. If your buttercream is thin, the frosting should come out smoothly and you can write more easily. If the frosting is too stiff it will be too hard to write "comfortably". You also know if you have stiff buttercream, if your hands ache after piping stars or something. The buttercream may be too thin if your star tip doesn't hold its shape.
5. I have never taken classes because the nearest class is about 1 hour away from me. I have learned from this board and lots of practice.
6. When you read something that interest you or a concept look at that persons pictures who posted. Most people would be glad to help you if you sent them a private message about a cake they made or a comment they made.
7. I am not artistic at all. I use coloring sheets or anything available to use as a guideline.
8. Magic Line pans are the best for square corners and nice straight sides.
darkchocolate
the only part of your question that I can answer is that you can spray your cooling rack with pam and you might still get the checkerboard, but it won't stick or get crumbly. The checkerboards shouldn't matter anyway because the best trick I learned a long time ago is to flip the top level of the cake upside-down anyway so you get a perfectly smooth straight surface for your frosting
Hmmm. I'll try to answer as many questions for you as I can.
Regarding the consistency of your BC: Stiff would be more like stiff mashed potatoes but without lumps. Think a little drier than some would like. Medium is what they'd be like once you add a little butter and thin won't hold it's shape on it's on. Try piping a little ball on a sheet of wax paper and see if it smooths itself out without being runny. I'm sorry I can't think of anything to compare the proper consistancies too. Just keep trying and maybe just practice on the back of a cookie sheet or something that you can scrape off and keep using so it won't go to waste.
As for turning out the baked cakes. I can tell you how I do it but there are many other ways also. I always use Wilton's Cake Release in my pans on the bottom and the sides of the pan. If I am using a really large pan, then I use the cake release on the sides of the pan and parchement paper cut to fit the bottom of the pan. When I take the baked cakes from the oven they are placed straight onto a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes (sometimes longer if I forget about them. To turn them over I use a second cooling rack on the top of the cake and hold tightly and turn the entire thing over. Then I just pull the pan off the cake. I immediately then use the first cooling rack over the cake (which is bottom up by now) and turn the cake back over so it's top is up. Make sure when you are flipping the cakes with the racks over that you have one hand on top and the other on the bottom/ I let that sit out until it's completely cool and then wrap tightly in saran wrap and either refrigerate for the next day or freeze if it will be longer before I need to ice. As for the little marks left on the cake from the cooling racks, they usually either come out once the cake has cooled and rested or they get covered up by icing. In case you haven't figured out how many racks I use, I have a small cookie cooling rack that works fine for flipping and for smaller cakes and then I have two of the largest ones that Wilton makes. I think I could even use one more but having three works well for me.
I don't think you will be harmed by practicing your baking before you start class. If you are taking Wilton classes, they don't cover the actual baking. They only cover how to prepare the cakes for decorating. Don't worry too much about your BC. Your instructor should be able to help you figure out the right consistency. If you are really wanting to practice, you could also use the ready made Wilton buttercream. I forgot to make some for one of my classes and just bought some at the store. It worked just fine. You can buy a little bucket of it for about $12.00 and use it just for practicing. It tastes okay.
I can't say I'm exactly artistic but I've done crafts all my life and can usually look at a picture and figure out how something is done. I've also learned to notice the detail in things and that helps me to have discerning eye. I can't draw to save my life but I think I have a good eye for composition and scale. But being artistic and having the correct skills are two different things. Everyone can hone their skills with lots of practice. I too really research any hobby or craft that I get into and buy and read anything I can get my hands on. You are on the right track. Just keep with it. Also take photos of every cake you make even if you think they are not good. You will be amazed at the improvement you will make. I was so proud of my first cakes and now when I look at the photos I almost cringe. But I have come a long way in just a year of doing this. One more word of advice... I found that I would make one or two cakes each week while I was taking classes and I would also practice what I'd just learned and also what would be coming up in the next class. That way, if I had problem with something I could really watch my instructor and get her help.
Sorry my response is so long but I really wanted to help you as you seem like you are very determined to do this. You won't be sorry. It is very rewarding when you get oohs and ahhhs for your work.
Best of luck to you.
sorry i have to be short- its time to pick up my kids from school.
using parchment between the cakes and rack works great. it wont stick like a paper towel.
as far as consistency, i read something about testing it with a spoon. if you stick the spoon in the icing straight up and down, andit doesnt move, it is stiff. you add a tb of liquid at a time....when it gets to a point that you can count to 10 before the spoon tilts, it is medium. add more liquid one tb at a time. if the spoon tilts right away(?-sorry i dont remember exactly) then it is thin.
aack, sorry i couldnt remember it exactly. gotta go!!!
i forgot to add- dont stop just because you havent taken any classes. i have never taken ONE class to date. most of what you see in my photos was done since around september- when i became serious about this as a hobby, all others before then were much much MUCH more simplistic, and just from having a good time. the more you play- without worrying about perfection, the more learning you will do, and you will be more and more proud of your results. i have recieved a WEALTH of information from reading books and from cc. keep pressin' on!
Whatever you do, don't give up! While this isn't something like mastering the piano, it is still considered a type of art form and requires practice. I can't even begin to tell you how many cakes, bowls of different icings (BC, RI all of them..), marzipan and now fondant sculptures have hit the trash can in my house. I found that once I just shrugged it off and decided "if it works, it works", that's when things started to come together. Icing consistancy basicly just means it's holding the shape you want, and your comfortable with it's release from the tip. (If you need two hands to sueeze it's too thick, if it's running out of the tip without any help, it's too thin etc.) I practiced piping on upside down pans, if I was using the pan I practiced directly on the counter top. I mixed batches of icing solely for piping practice, and I would practice piping until the icing broke down. Now 20 yrs later I'm just starting to learn fondant, never ends, always learning!
Don't sweat the little things, lines on the cake are normal - you don't see them after decorating anyway. Crumbs are normal, that's why we do a crumb coat with syrup or icing, it doesn't matter what your crumb coat looks like as long as it reasonably smooth, and glues the little brats down! 
Don't take out a second mortage for your equipment either (not at this point anyway) but do get quality, sometimes it's worth the $5-10 to save the frustration. An example I can think of right away is buying the 3" pans over the 2" pans, cakes just seem to bake more level in deeper pans. Whenever I spot the 4" pans I grab them, I can't remember the last time I had to trim a 'hump' off to make it level. I hate leveling 
, if you can bake them near level then do, deeper pans seem to help with this.
Remember your doing this for fun!! Deep breath, shake your shoulders out and say to yourself "okay let's just see what happens with this...", who knows maybe your mistake will be the next trend in decorating, but don't give up. Let the pressure of having it 'perfect' go, and just keep playing. Wait and take your course too, having an instructor show you sounds like it will help you to learn the basics (and then watch you go!! 
). I don't consider myself artistic or creative, that's why I love this site... looking at everyone else's creations gets me thinking! Just don't give up on it and frustrate yourself into hating it, take your course and if you still feel the same after that then maybe re-think it.
You will get better with practice. My Wilton instructor told us to take a picture of every cake we did in the beginning. When you look at them later you can see a progression and it's very inspiring. I cringe when I look at my first cakes!
Hang in there and keep working. You'll find what works for you and what doesn't. Sometimes things that aren't supposed to work do and others don't.
As for inspiration, I look at books, greeting cards, bridal magazines, coloring books - anything with pictures or art.
Good luck!
antylucifer......cheer up, woman! Don't let the cake demons get to you!
I do what Melysa does with the icing....at least I did at first and now I can just feel it or see the difference in consistencies.
Stick a spatula straight up and down in the bowl with the icing in it.
If it stays still - thick consistency
Tilts a bit after a few seconds - Medium
Falls to the side right away - thin
As for artistic stuff....get ideas from here and then make it your own. A cake is a cake. You can do what you please with it. There is no absolute right or wrong. Just have fun!
i forgot to add- dont stop just because you havent taken any classes. i have never taken ONE class to date. most of what you see in my photos was done since around september- when i became serious about this as a hobby, all others before then were much much MUCH more simplistic, and just from having a good time. the more you play- without worrying about perfection, the more learning you will do, and you will be more and more proud of your results. i have recieved a WEALTH of information from reading books and from cc. keep pressin' on!
I went to college for decorating in the early eighties, and only because it was part of the Baker's Apprentice requirements. I have never taken a Wilton course though, so... no comment on them. I absolutely agree, even though the courses I took were a while ago, I have gained more from peers, books, tutorials stumbled across online, and #1 - this site. I cannot say enough about the willingness for the members on this site to share their knowledge! The fact that I have thousands of creative minds, and lord knows how many years of experience at my finger tips ... well, it brings tears to my eyes! 
I personally pray this site and it's friendly, helpful tone never changes - this site is my never ending course!! 
Definitely don't stop practicing before your class! I've never taken any classes, just researched on CC and read lots and lots of books. All of the pictures in my gallery are things I've done since January with my best friend. I wish I could help you with the buttercream issue, but I cheated and skipped that to try some more difficult things (the topsy turvey wedding cake, lol). I'm going to possibly be having spinal surgery soon and I figured I'd practice piping during my recovery. I wouldn't say that I'm too creative or artistic. I did a lot of woodburning before I started decorating but I used patterns transferred to wood with carbon paper. LOL, tracing. Don't be afraid to try new things. As Doug always says, "You can eat your mistakes". One thing I've learned also is that almost anything is fixable as long as your cake base is still stable. In my topsy turvey wedding cake, I had to cut a 5" by 3 1/2" rectangle of fondant out because of a tear and replace it with new fondant that I glued to the cake and filled in the edges using shell colored royal icing. You can barely see the indentions where I fixed the mistake in the picture. Nobody at the wedding noticed. LOL, the bride still doesn't know. If you have questions about ANYTHING, ask on CC. Someone is bound to know the answer. I couldn't live without CC now. I've met a lot of wonderful supportive people here. Good Luck with your new addiction,
God Bless,
Kimberly
I am new too, and have only taken one of the Wilton classes. BUT...the photo you see under my name was my very very very first wedding cake. What I learned through that experience was that it really takes practice to understand what you are doing wrong. I worked on those roses on the cake forever, couldn't understand why they were cracking, and then logged onto this website for advice.
There is something about just getting your hands dirty with this that helps teach you. If you didn't practice now, then you'd lose about 6 weeks of time where you could be learning!
Of course, I am still learning, too and have a long way to go.
Books that I find helpful were: The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum, Pretty Party Cakes by Peggy Porschen, Professional Cake Decorating by Toba Garrett. Also, watching the Food Network teaches you a lot, too! Watch Sugar Rush and Ace of Cakes and the Challenges.
Hope this helps.
Dont' use cooling racks that have wires running in one direction with one connecting wire across the middle. These are usually about 1/2" or more apart and, to me, they don't support cakes or cookies very well.
Pick up some cooling racks that have square holes on them and preferrably holes that are about 3/8". I have a number of the Pampered Chef stackable racks and those holes are 3/8". I have some 16x20 cooling racks and those squares are slightly under 1/2". These help support the cake much better.
As someone mentioned above, once you flip the cake out onto the cooling rack, then put another cooling rack over it and flip it again. The cake is now sitting on it's bottom rather than it's top. That helps.
This art is like any other .... practice, practice, practice.
Even Picasso and Michealangelo started out drawing stick people!
Don't throw in the towel!!!! We all have to start somewhere! Try just
practising one or two techniques at a time so you're not overloaded with new ideas.
I am certainly not artistic - I couldn't draw to save myself! I almost always have a picture or template to copy.
Keep practising!
I haven't been to a decorating class in over 10 years, I forgot everything they taught. I just keep baking and making people eat it whether it looks good or not. I'm pretty sure my church will be sick of cake by next fall 
Just don't be afraid to experiment, and this board is the BEST place to get your education. I learned how to make roses here!!!!
Don't get frustrated! You'll get there!
our instructor will show you the different icing consistencies (or should). Once you've seen them and used them, you should just "know" what it is supposed to be like. But I will give a shot at the comparison thing...
Stiff - I guess this would be kinda like paste, if I'm rememering what paste is like correctly! 
Medium - I want to say like room temp cream cheese, but that doesn't seem exactly right, but it's the closest I can think of.
Thin - The closest I can think of is really rich mayo in a jar.
I always turn out my cakes after 10 minutes. And they get grid marks in them. Sometimes I put parchment down, but if I do that, I have to be sure to flip them "right side up" or the top of the cake will stick to the parchment. It is ok if the cake gets little grid lines, you can't tell they are there in the finished product.
Feel free to expirement on your own. For some things, there is more than one way to do it, it really just comes down to personal style. PLUS not all of us took classes. I am completely self-taught (well enough to get employed as a professional decorator, so you can teach yourself!)
Yeah, I've always been artistic. I took private painting classes in middle school. Also, I'm very crafty. I don't just do cakes, I do a lot of other baking and cooking and other craft projects such as embroidery, flower arranging, gardening, jewelery making, painting etc etc etc. But I do draw inspiration from pictures!
Welcome to the community! You'll be amazed at how quickly you progress! This time next year you'll be able to see how far you come and you will be so surprised!
You are all right about this forum, and I can't begin to express my gratitude for the encourgment you have all offered. I'm going to print each of your replies and put them in my cake binder so I can refer to them whenever necessary. I started this book when I began to decorate. I have hundreds of hints/tips, mostly from this board, instructions from crumb coating to my must buy list. I have recipes for cakes and icings, with notations whether it was liked by anyone, how easy it was to use etc. I also included my Wilton tip and instruction book in there for easy access.
Its basicly become my own cake bible. I used my 1st practice pics as "how not to", cut magazine articles and pictures out and have tried to organize it by subject. If it applied to more than one subject, I copied it and included it in both catagories.
I practice on anything, anytime I can. Ive used stryofoam packing from boxes and didn't change the shape so it teaches me to practice on different angles. I bake about 4 cakes a week on average. I figured generic cakes are .99 cents-and I use dated ingredients like eggs and dollar store frosting a few times. That saves on the cost of cake dummies, and the original garbage just goes into the garbage in another shape. I use those to do one technique over the entire cake-over and over and over.
I started a Yahoo photo album and included some non-decorated cakes, to the last one I made yesterday. I have 2 albums, one with everything for me-including practice and another to show people. If you guys are ever having a bad day and need some cheering up, pm me and I'll give you the link-you'll be laughing in no time short. The first ones I did were so ugly, they were cute.
After this thread, I've added some items to my must have list and am going to have to run out today to get them. You guys got me so interested in the board today and looking at pictures, my day has slipped by without knowing what time it is.
Again, THANK YOU for each and every reply and feel free to pm me or post in this thread with any other tips or advice you think might help-even if it's something like fold parchment paper in right corner, or silly things you guys do everyday, but us newbies would never dream of doing from lack of experience. Believe me, you guys have done wonders to boost my confidence today, and I' am even more determined to continue with this and actually be good at it.
THANK YOU!
I haven't had a chance to read all the responses to your questions ~ so I apologize if my answer is a repeat.
I think the best way is to buy the decorator icing in a can. Not the Betty Crocker or D. Hines but, the real decorator icing (Wilton makes one that usually can be found at a craft store). Play with that a little. Add some corn syrup to thin it for writing. Just whip it up in your mixer to use it for most decorations. Thats good for practice anyways. Keep practicing ~ that's what I try to do. Good Luck
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