I went to my first class last night and was soooo disappointed.

I decided not to take course 3 and skip to 4 as I wanted to learn about fondant, but not interested in tier cakes right now.

The lesson lasted about 20 minutes last night. We sat there and watched the instructor cover her cake board and a cake dummy. She read from the book. I learned nothing. We asked her what her cake experience was. She has course 1-3 and that's it. I asked her how often she makes cakes. A year ago she said she made lots right after she took her courses - but then was 'caked out' for a while.

I packed up all of my cake supplies to take to class and spent what seemed like a fortune on supplies and didn't use them at all I know I will use them in the coming weeks - but it was such a let down.

Is this the way a typical Lesson 1 for Fondant/Gum Paste should go?

I also left with 2 questions unanswered - a little CC help would be greatly appreciated.

1. How thick should I roll my fondant to cover a cake base. Instructor guessed 1/4 inch - but the book doesn't say.

2. How think should I roll the fondant to cover the cake? The instructor told me not too thick and not too thin.

Thanks in advance for your help !

I have also taken the F+GP class. I was ok. the firs class is set up kinda badly (we also didn't do very much). All of the supplies come in handy later in the course and you really learn the basics whick you can build on with time.

Also I have take all 4 Wilton courses and the teacher often are Strickly wilton, and that's fine for some.

To cover your board or cake you want the fondant about 1/8 of an inch. Too thin and it will tear and to thick, it's hard to work with also you waste ingredients and you get a mouth full of fondant. YUCK!

Hi,
Well I'm sorry that you had such an experiance. I have never, ever taken a Wilton class, and do my best to stear clear of them.
I have heard things on different classes from them, but maybe someone else can help you. I think tht there are good teachers and not so good ones. It sounds like you got the latter!

To cover my boards, I roll it thinner, but I'm curious what others do. To roll it to cover a cake I had a person tell me to get a nickel- it should be about that thick.
For me and covering cakes, it has been mainly trial and errors- with MANY errors on rolling it too thin/thick and having to get new fondant. Have you tried making MMF? I would suggest you learn!! It's easy, tastes better, and will save you a ton of $$ while you learn and beyond!!

I was also disappointed in the content of the Fondant/Gum paste class. It just seemed like a watered-down rehash of course 3. But our instructor made it worthwhile. She gave us detail demos on different gum paste flowers, and she brought in her portfolio and explained each cake. She kept us laughing with stories of what can go wrong in the cake decorating business.

Oh, now I am worried! I start the fondant class on Monday! I have only taken course 1 & 2 and have never worked with fondant. I hope I will learn a lot and then even more stuff here!!

Wilton could have set up the first lesson differently but I guess they had thier reasons for doing it as is.

The instructor should have talked about handling and coloring fondant. YOU should have done a fondant covered cake board, after she did one. We (the instructors) are suppose to demo covering a cake with fondant.

In my class I go ahead and show the borders and cut outs from Lesson 4 and we make the fondant favor box. This is because I found that covering the cake board did not take the 45 mins Wilton thought it would and it gives my students more time in Lesson 4 to work on their cakes.

When rolling your fondant out, you want to go about an 1/8th of an inch or about the thickness of a nickle. You can go a little thicker or thinner, with practice and trail and error.

It sounds like you have a newer WMI that doesn't have alot of experience. I would let the store/manager know your experience with the class. You can also pass that information on to Wilton as well. You pay for four 2 hour lessons and you should get that.

Is there another store in the area that offers the Wilton classes? If so I'd consider going to it and seeing if you like that instructor better.

Unfortunetly there are some bad or inexperinced instructors out there. And that is sad because it does give all of us a bad name. People associate the classes with their instructors. If the instructor sucked then they usually didn't like the classes as a whole.

I decided I'm going to give the class another week to see how it goes. The instructor is very new and has not taken the class herself before. She obviously didn't go above and beyond to learn anything other that what class 1-3 taught her. She doesn't seem to know any tips or tricks. She hadn't even considered that some cake fillings need to refrigerated and didn't know how fondant does in the fridge.

I guess she needs a CC education

I took the corse a while ago. I was lucky because my instructor was very good showing you different things than what was in the book. She left it up to use to do which cake we wanted and was eager to show us different flowers. It is a very basic corse but you wll pick up some new ideas.

mpitrelli who was your instructor?

Her name was bobbi. I know she lurks her once and a while

she was my instructor too. She is very nice and funny. I wish I still lived there in Fl. so I could visit with her. Ask her about her first wilton instructor meeting in Orlando.

As a WMI also, I wish I didn't hear this as often as I do. All I can say to any of you considering a Wilton class is don't be afraid to ask to meet the instructor before you sign up. If they aren't in the store, look at the class schedule that is going on right now and pop in close to the end of class, that way you can see a little of their teaching style and after class you are welcome to ask questions. Not to mention you could stop a student and ask them how they feel about the instructor. It's really all about personality, some instructors are better about dealing with all different types of people and ability and some aren't (and some really shouldn't be teaching). Back when I started, Wilton actually made you send in photos of your work and specifically the techniques you were going to teach, now they are teaching in so many places that they need warm bodies and all you have to do is take Courses 1,2 &3 and BOOM, you're a teacher! Someone else mentioned letting your store manager know that your class was not all it was supposed to be, I can't agree more! Also call Wilton (there is a number in your book I think) and let them know about this instructors performance, it's the only way she will know she needs to improve! -Lori

I finished my class last week. All in all I think I was most disappointed with Wilton. The course just didn't have much to it and that combined with a newbie instructor left me still disappointed. The instructor did improve over the 4 weeks so that was good - but I really found a lack of tricks and tips since this was my first time with fondant and gum paste.

All in all I was pleased with my finale cake. I decided to make a variation of the daisy cake from the course book.

Your final cake turned out beautiful! So sorry you didn't get much out of the class. I do agree that it could use a few more tips to fill in, but it sounds like your instructor is still learning. You would definately get more out of the first 3 classes, they have a lot more info. in them! Course 3 has a lot more fondant things in it and more about the basics of covering the cakes, etc. You can of course also get tons of info. right here!
Good luck and keep practicing! -Lori

I already knew ho do most of the things they showed in the class but I had a really good instructor that gave us a lot of helpful hints and answered any questions. She went to culinary school and trained in a shop and now owns her own cake shop. It was nice having a instuctor that had a lot of experience to share.

I took the Course 4 and I thought it could have concentrated on making more flowers. As it turned out it did give me the courage to start making gum paste flowers on my own. I thought they were a lot harder to do. I love my instructor. She is available anytime I need her.

I will say day 1 of gumpaste and fondant felt like a review of stuff covered in class 3. I didn't know what the purpose in that was. Also for the first cake we covered so many different techniques you didn't leave with a completed cake as in past classes. I could see maybe that this would bother some people, but i had to remind myself that course 3 wasn't a prereq so that would be the small review. Secondly i still felt i learned the basics about gumpaste. There is no way they could teach me everything i have learned since, but they classes definetly helped me realize i could do anything if i tried it.

I'm glad I read this thread....I was planning to sign up for the next Fondant/Gumpaste class which starts in about 2 weeks. So do you guys recommend taking the class? If not, how else can I go about learning how to make them?

I would have to agree that it all depends on your instructor. I had only taken Wilton 1 before I took Gumpaste/Fondant. My instructor was great and I had no problems, even thought I hadn't ever even touched fondant. We started working, covering our boards the first night. Yes, the instructor talked through a lot of stuff, but it's kind of hard to really get into a lot the first night anyway.

I also would recommend trying to meet the instructor by slipping in at the end of another class. If you're not the daring and experimental type, take the class. It'll help you break the ice, so to speak. If you have a good teacher, you'll learn a bunch of tricks.

I have to agree. I didn't think course #4 was informatve enough. We could have learned more and marbleing a cake board was too easy. I expect mre from Wilton. I want to learn more!

At the beginning of this year, I took the first three courses one after the other. My instructor was very helpful and informative. It also helped that I was the only one taking all three classes.

However, when I signed up for course 4, I too was a bit disappointed after the first day. I wasn't disappointed with my instructor, I was more disappointed after looking at the book and realizing that course 4 looked like a repeat of what you learned in course 3, with a few new tricks. I still have all my stuff from the class and may take course 4 someday, but for now CC is a great resource for different tricks and practicing all that I have learned does make a difference.

I suggest if you don't want to go through Wilton for classes, maybe if you call around local bakeries or baking supply stores and they may direct you to an independent instructor.

hope this helps...

Wilton's new Fondant & Gumpaste class is NOT and was NOT intended to be a Course 4. There were alot of us Wilton Method Instructors that were under that impression, but we soon found out that the intention of Wilton was to have a new class that a newbie could handle. Granted those of you who took the other 3 4 week courses are wanting more, and the F&G class doesn't get very advanced, but.....there are new tools introduced and if your instructor is savvy enough, she/he will not only cover what is in the F&G course book, but add a few tips and tricks.

The first F&G class I taught was with a group of students just coming off of Course 3. I knew that they were going to bored to tears with Lesson 1. So, I came up with a few things to show them. I taught them how to make a calla lily, how to make a rice paper image and how to make a baby modeled from fondant. They were thrilled with these few extras and I always share tips and tricks I've learned along the way.

I am just finishing up a Course 1 and I have a student who is well into her 60s. She signed up to take this class with her sister for something to do. She has decorated cakes for about 40 years for family and friends. After just 3 lessons, she paid me the ultimate in compliments...she said she has learned many things. And this is just from Course 1!! I don't think I'm the best, but having almost 30 years experience at cake decorating does help when teaching others.

Don't stear away from the Wilton classes. Try to research who the instructor is if you feel you need to. But keep an open mind and remember that each experience is more experience and EVERYONE can learn something new from someone else's experiences.

I'll just re-emphasize what maisy posted.

The Fondant and Gum Paste Course is NOT Course 4. The only prerequisite for taking it is Course 1 or a good working knowledge of baking and icing a cake.

If fact, one of the head trainers said that Wilton plans on eliminating the numbers from the Courses at some point in the future to (hopefully) eliminate this type of confusion.

It's important to remember that each student's skill level varies. I just finished teaching the Fondant and Gum Paste course and had two students taking it after taking 1, 2 and 3. Both of these students are very good, quite talented. I thought that each might be a bit bored during the first night of the Fondant class since they worked with fondant in Course 3. But neither had ever covered a round cake with fondant and loved the little tips and tricks I gave them for improving their chance of success.

As other instructors have already posted, I also supplement the class with bonus stuff: the calla lilly, a ribbon rose, stuff like that. The class does depend on the instructor.

And my Wilton supervisor still insists on getting photos of cakes as part of her approval process for instructing. Two of my former students became instructors this summer and both mentioned having to send photos before she approved them.

I find the Wilton Courses are pretty good at introducing the beginner/novice baker to various decorating concepts and techniques. They sure aren't the end-all/be-all, however.