Hey CCers! As some of you know I am teaching cake decorating at my local college as a community learning program. I have been having a BLAST and am now on my 24th week of teaching. I was faced with 2 questions tonight that I don't have answers for and was hoping you all would help me.

1. I had a student with "Wilton class" buttercream. It was thin, and colored purple. It completely had separated both in the bag and on the cake. The Wilton gel color had puddled at the bottom of the cake, and it was separated in the bag. Any ideas? Humidity is an issue this week but I have never seen this before.


2. I am right handed and we have 2 leftys in the class--Victorian roses for lefties you use tip 103, but they don't want to fold back on themselves like they do with a right handed tip 97. How can I teach this better?

Thanks for the help! And ladies(from class) I hope we get some answers here to help you

1) -- too much coloring added to get a deep tint???

2) i'm a right -- so no clue

I have to agree on the coloring. The icing was probably a little soft to beging with, then with the humidity and way too much paste color, that can happen. My best suggestion would be to remind them on dark colors add paste a little at a time and let it rest and darken. As far as the left hander, unfortunately the victorian roses just don't come out the same. I have had several lefties in classes over the years, and that is just one that doesn't transfer well. However, a lot of lefties are good with both hands and that may be one they want to try with the 97 using their right hand, otherwise the 103 is pretty much just making a smaller regular rose.
-Lori

Can't help you with #1, but I'm a lefty and I'm pretty sure that when I was in Course 2 & did those Victorian roses I used the same tip the rightys used & it worked fine. (and still used my left hand) I don't remember the tip #, but it was the tip that came with the Course 2 kit. I'll double check when I go downstairs.

-Lisa

I've taught little rugrats (K-1) for 30+ years, including cookie decorating every Xmas, and of course, handwriting, scissor cutting, etc., and my lefties learn best if I sit across from them and put my right hand over their left hand and then just make my normal movements. The lefty now sees and FEELS the hand movement from the reverse, which usually makes it correct for them. This has worked with simple piping on our cookies and gingerbread houses, (although we eat more icing than goes on) and also works in teaching crochet and knitting, etc. Hope this helps...I'm brand new to CC. Already addicted. Spent 3 hour online last night and 2 today..I'm hooked. mockton

#1- Sounds like a combo of the icing is too thin & maybe to much color added.

#2- Have them sit across form you or if there isn't room for that. MAybe you can go to where they are & stand in front of them Good Luck.

As to question number 1, We deal with that all summer long in CA, whenever the humidity get above 80, especially as I have evaporitive coolers not airconditioning. When the color starts to puddle, put a little finely sifted pwdered sugar right into the puddle in the bag or bowl and work with your fingers to soak up the extra moisture. As others have noted , it's really excess liquid, so you really have to watch your colorings in high humidity. Keeping a shallow pan of crushed ice with a towel draped over it to lay my icing bags on when not using them also helps keep the temperatures more manageable when the outdoors climbs to triple digit. I can also cool my hands down by just laying them on the ice bed. Decorating cakes in the heat is a pain in the patooty, no doubt about it! mockton

There is now a left hand tip 97 available to make the victorian rose with. Tell you left hand students to get that tip and the edges of their roses will be curled like the rest of the class.

Thank you everyone! I had no idea they made a left handed tip 97!

I swear everytime I log on here I learn at least 2-3 new things.

As to the left hand question. When I was teaching, after my first class had some lefties, I taught myself how to decorate left handed, that way I could switch hit when I needed to. I am right handed. It has come in handy as when my right hand gets too tired I can change hands. It definitely took some work but it was helpful in showing lefties how to do certain techniques.

I've had my icing separate on me several times, sometimes without any color at all in it. I assume it comes from too much liquid, because I never have that problem, even in high humidity, if I don't add liquid. I've even had it happen adding corn syrup. It's rather odd to see.. heh

If I only add a very tiny amount, to get it just good enough to be spreadable, it usually isn't that much of an issue. Also, I don't use crisco at all, I double the amount of butter.. (weird, I know) but people like it better for some reason.. *shrug* So, maybe that is the cause, also.. Still, as I said, this only happens to me if I add to much liquid.. If I omit the liquid completely, with the exception of flavoring, it never separates.


Sorry for rambling on.. I don't explain things well, and was really trying to explain what I meant.. haha

Hope this helps some..


Holly