Are You Ready To Teach A Cake Decorating Class?
Decorating By FatFace Updated 4 Jun 2009 , 3:54pm by 2chae
What do you think about a customer asking if you could teach a cake decorating class to a mom's group for one night? Would you do this? I know personally I feel uncomfortable with the thought of teaching right now since I have only been doing this for 7 years and I think a cake decorating class should be more than one night. Any thoughts?
A friend of mine taught a mom's group at our church some basics during a one-time session. She baked and iced a small oval cake before the evening (from the Wilton course 2) for everyone and taught the ladies how to imprint a design with a cookie cutter and then fill in with stars. She also taught one or two borders to finish it off. It gave the ladies a small taste of decorating and they really seemed to enjoy it. I would think that after 7 years you would be more than qualified to do something like that!
I guess when I think about teaching a class I am not thinking about a " basic presentation" I am thinking more along the lines of a classroom setting where everyone has their own tools. I mean I know some of these moms and most of them know how to bake and ice a cake.
Maybe I didn't clarify - everyone did have two bags of icing with tips so they all decorated their own cakes. I think that there's a lot of techniques that can be taught in one evening with just two or three basic tips.
Maybe someone else can step in here. My friend did it for our church and I think she would have been lucky to even have her basic costs covered! Maybe someone else will have a better idea of what you could charge.
you should think of it as a one off special, rather than trying to teach them how to do cakes, which is a wide topic!
unless it becomes a regular thing, you dont want to invest in equipment for class (although maybe you have extras your self anyway, or other cake friends do?), so it makes it harder.
but id think kid friendly things, they all love teddy bears, stars, maybe piped writing, dinosaurs, a princess/ motor sport theme, and theres all the piping ideas too.
price? a fair bit if you provide the icing, less if its bring your own. you shouldnt go by what 'people' would be willing to pay, but for me, £5-£10 an hour? which i think is like $7- $16, dont know what the exchange rate is up too these days! altough if you are a really good teacher, then id pay more!
xx
You should charge $1000 an hour. That's my standard fee for stuff I don't really feel like doing.
I think a cake decorating class should be more than one night.
Well this is the difference between a cake decorating "class" and a cake decorating "course." I have taught single-session CLASSES... a specific technique or design, and that is all that was covered in that session. I provided a list of materials/tools required (some I provided) and it was done in a few hours (I didn't run the class--it was given through another institution and I was paid to teach it, so I couldn't really tell you what a good price to charge would be).
Mombabytiger, I think you said what I have been thinking. I was hoping that someone would give me a good reason for teaching the class. Right now I am just too busy, this is wedding season and I don't think I will have the time but just in case I have time in the future I just wanted to know how I would go about teaching. Thanks everyone
We took chocolate classes at $35 for a two-hour session.
Think of it from this perspective: If, as a newbie, you'd charge $10/hour to pay yourself for your labor, then after 7 years, making $17.50/hour would not be unjustified. You've got talent. You've got style. And, who knows, you may get future referrals or those same people wanting to take additional classes from you which would be additional monies coming in.
Paul & Peter
I was just thinking along these same lines. This woman wants me to teach her some basic fondant, but I told her I'm by no means a professional. i have a shop and she has seen my work, but I've only been at it since Feb. She just does bc and wants to learn fondant, but doesn't really know where to start. I guess for me I would just go over and use it as an excuse to have "me" time.
But having been doing it seven years, I think you would be okay to do a class. Either charge by the hour or by the class...$15/hour or $35 a class. And I would put a minimum on the class to make sure you make it worth your while..like class will only be held if 10 people sign up. Something like that!
It really depends on who you are teaching too.. I been teaching for around 8 years.
Teaching to moms that want to learn to decorate is not that difficult.. You start with the basics wich will be icing and how to ice a cake. How to prepare a bag and how to pipe a few things.
The amount of hours you spent teaching is important. 2 hours will fly fast.
Then you can tell them to bring a cake. But if you offer lets say some materials like, the icing, spatulas and other stuff, you can charge a fee for materials.
Another way to do it is in a 2 day course. One day you can explain how to do your icing, bake a cake, prepare a bag of icing, and other small stuff. Then the next day you can tell them to bring the materials you already taught, icing, and cake so they can decorate a simple cake.
ORRRRRRRRRRRRR...there is always ..CUPCAKES!...
Now..if you are going for people that already know about cake decorating, you should have already an idea of what they would like to learn so they dont feel theay are waisting their time..
Edna 
I'd say go for it. I teach lambeth classes and it's the most fun I've ever had while working.
I don't teach baking, filling and frosting though, I have them decorating dummies. This way they can bring them home and use for reference.
But, as with cakes, make sure you charge enough.
I think flowers are always a classic, and not too hard to teach. Even simple buttercream roses and drop flowers as well as writing on a cake. I just work at walmart but i'm always having people wanting to know how to make a rose.
I know personally I feel uncomfortable with the thought of teaching right now since I have only been doing this for 7 years and I think a cake decorating class should be more than one night.
If you have any interest at all in doing this, I'd say, "Go for it!!" Seven years under your belt means you have more than enough qualification to teach. I taught a beginning Spanish class, and I'm in no way fluent myself -- but I was teaching the basics, just as you'd be teaching very simple techniques.
As for one night not being enough, the women will just be there to get their feet wet, to see if they have any interest or talent for cake decorating. Then, they might want to do a real course elsewhere.
For me they are the easiest thing to do... no offense meant to anyone else, sry.
I take extra classes from a local chef that has her own cake supply business. I am taking a class this Sunday on gum paste flowers. The class is 3 hours and it costs $45. She emails you a materials list and she also has a minimum and maximum number for the class. Her classes are very popular and she usually has a waiting list for them. I have also taken basic fondant, FBCT and topsy turvy, and shoe box with shoe topsy turvy classes from her. The people interested in her classes are people that have had some decorating experience. But when she had the FBCT she also did a basic buttercream class. She charges based on how long the class is and what is taught. I have learned a lot from her beyond the Wilton classes I took. She only offers classes every few months and I look forward to taking them.
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