Cake Decorating Classes?????

Decorating By BACI Updated 6 Sep 2008 , 2:16am by xstitcher

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BACI Posted 2 Sep 2008 , 8:14pm
post #1 of 11

HI all... See a lot of people have taken or even teach Wilton Cake classes - could you please share a little info on the classes, supplies needed (I know they have kits but ie. - cake - buttercream - fondant etc.?) I live in North Jersey & have taken a few one day classes at a local Chef's Central - they supplied everything for the class. I remember other students there complaining about some of the Wilton requirements - so I just want to know what is expected...

Also, if anyone is from North Jersey - any info. on favorite instructors or locations... I know Michael's & The Party Box in my area both offer classes - any thoughts would be appreciated! icon_biggrin.gif

10 replies
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cylstrial Posted 2 Sep 2008 , 10:35pm
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The way it works at my Michael's is you go and buy the student kit for each course. When you pay for the class, they provide you with a list of all the other items that you need to buy. Hope this helps!

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BabyBear3 Posted 3 Sep 2008 , 12:40am
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Class 1 and 2 are relatively cheap on supplies. When you get into 3 and the fondant/gumpaste classes -- they get expensive. They class "tuition" is cheap but all the supplies will get you.

I defintely think they are good in learning some basic techniques and getting ideas. I really enjoyed them.

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xstitcher Posted 3 Sep 2008 , 4:06am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sarahdodgen

Class 1 and 2 are relatively cheap on supplies. When you get into 3 and the fondant/gumpaste classes -- they get expensive. They class "tuition" is cheap but all the supplies will get you.

I defintely think they are good in learning some basic techniques and getting ideas. I really enjoyed them.




Yes class 1 and 2 are cheap for the edible supplies but if you do not have any cake decorating supplies ie tips, spatulas, bags and so on you will need to purchase these too. If you do buy them try to use the Michaels 40% off coupons for the really big purchases (this of course includes buying the kits!). Sometimes they even have 50% off coupons as well. Michael's also honours most competitors coupons as well ie AC Moore, Hobby Lobby so if you get one of their coupons you can use them. AC Moore seems to have weekly coupons and they are available on their website!

Have fun with the classes!

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jab Posted 4 Sep 2008 , 6:11am
post #5 of 11

I took the classes at Hobby Lobby and you do have to buy the kits for each class. My teacher was real good about telling us to use what we could from home and when it came to buying things to use the 40% off coupon they offerd every other week when we needed to buy something else. I think the kits are about $20.00 and with a coupon the cost wasn't that bad. The fondant classes however were more expensive. Good luck and have fun with them.

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leahhawaii Posted 5 Sep 2008 , 12:04am
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I really enjoyed my Wilton classes, but I too was dismayed at all the supplies that you have to buy. Not that I mind having them on hand, but my instructor didnt tell me which ones were necessary and which ones were optional. Maybe I got a little too excited when I got it all home and opened it up (and therefore could not return it)... but now I am stuck with a bunch of supplies that I will probably never use again. Stuff like the parchment triangles- I bought a big box of them, but in class discovered that I much preferred the disposable bags. They list a lot of supplies that you use once for one project. Then they end up gathering dust (the stupid clown heads are another example)

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lorrieg Posted 5 Sep 2008 , 12:25am
post #7 of 11

leahhawaii, don't toss the parchment triangles. They are so nice for piping with. They are much easier to control because they can be folded small to fit in your hand. icon_biggrin.gif

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BACI Posted 5 Sep 2008 , 8:03pm
post #8 of 11

Thank you all!!! I really appreciate your feedback! I should be pretty set on most of the basic supplies - as I am a "gadget queen" & once I get a hobby or idea going - I seem to buy it all! My friends joke that if they don't have something they don't go & buy it because chances are I have it already!! I wish I only had plastic clown heads collecting dust - LOL.
Thanks for the coupon alerts - definately great advice! Hate buying stuff only to find you could have gotten it cheaper icon_cry.gif

One thing I remember the people in the one day classes at Chef's Central say was that for the Wilton classes you had to bring in everything - your own cake & buttercream etc. (it was all supplied at Chef's Central- cake, buttercream, fondant...). If this is true does anyone have an idea of how much - how often??? I don't know - I just want to be sure I know what I'm getting into as I have an active lil' one year old & don't want to take on something with too too much "homework". I expect some...as practice makes perfect! ;0)
Thanks again for all the info & tips! thumbs_up.gif

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sugarflour2 Posted 5 Sep 2008 , 8:26pm
post #9 of 11

Hi BACI,

I live in North Jersey! A.C. Moore also has Wilton Classes. Actually, one of the members in my cake decorating group teaches at the A.C. Moore in Clifton.

Depending on how much you're into taking classes, Viking Cooking School (I think it's in Bergen County) also has some cake decorating classes. Another member in the decorating group teaches there and I know a few people from the group have taken classes there and were pretty happy.

Also, The Institute of Culinary Education has several recreational cake decorating courses, most of which are taught by Toba Garrett. The course at ICE are much more expensive than Michaels, but you really learn so much. Check out their website for more info.

One last thing, you're more than welcome to take a look at this site in case you'd be interested in joining. We have decorators of all levels and everyone is so nice and willing to teach what they know (for free or little to no cost). http://cakedecorating.meetup.com/142/

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kakeladi Posted 5 Sep 2008 , 8:54pm
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........Wilton classes you had to bring in everything -cake & buttercream etc. (it was all supplied at Chef's Central- cake, If this is true does anyone have an idea of how much - how often???......

You make one or two batches of b'cream for each class. If you have any leftover (a good possibility) it can be kept in the frig for the next class. Classes are usually once a week.
Almost every week you will need to make a real cake or you can work on styro (clean off after each use for the next week) OR even a cakeboard. It is actually different working on a real cake than the other options so I highly encourage you to make the cake. You can make two 8" layers from one of my *original* WASC cake recipes, so you don't have to bake each week. Keep one in the fzr until you need it. The cake does not have to be 4" tall (until later when you make a wedding cake OR do work on the side of the cake).

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xstitcher Posted 6 Sep 2008 , 2:16am
post #11 of 11

To add to kakeladi's list:

It depends on which class you'll be taking.

For Course 1 - the 1st class we just watched the instructor but for the remaining 3 classes we needed an iced cake and 1 batch (3 cups) of buttercream.

For Course 2 - we needed bc icing for the 1st class (if memory serves) and we needed royal icing for the next 2 and for the final class we needed and iced cake plus some bc icing for the basketweave and rope border.


Please keep in mind that it has been 1/2 year since I took these classes so my memory might be off by just a little. Each course is held weekly and has 4 classes total. I found the 1st course to be the hardest because it seemed to be a lot of homework and it was also the first time I ever touched a cake in any capacity. I also had a 3 month old baby at the time, an almost 2 year old, a 4 year old and a 5 year old but I made it!

Hope this info helps you.

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