Anyone in here decorate cakes?

[lovetoscrap]

Very pretty Cinderella! I have wanted to try to tackle learning fondant but haven't yet. I bought some this time for this cake and was going to finally do it, but chickened out!

 

[tikilyn]

I've taken all three wilton courses. I really want to take the gum paste flower couse. Maybe later this summer when I have time.

This cake was my final wilton course. I made it for our family christmas party

[/IMG]

The second cake was my brothers wedding cake. He had a very small wedding!

[/IMG]



The last two I made for my husband and his classmates. They had a party to celebrate there 1 year aniversery with the border patrol.

Sorry I removed the last picture because it has names on it.
Also I have a picture of a cake I made (that I cannot post on the dis) if anyone wants a linky to it. I made it out of a barbie cake pan!

 

[laurie31]

Thanks, lovetoscrap

Fondant is fun! Don't be afraid to play with it


And tikilyn, those are beautiful!! I especially love the Christmas one!

 

[tikilyn]

Thanks, lovetoscrap

Fondant is fun! Don't be afraid to play with it


And tikilyn, those are beautiful!! I especially love the Christmas one!

Thanks. I liked foundant when I was taking the class but ummm yeah it didn't work out at home. Heres an example of my disaster cake.

[/IMG]

 

[manning]

Wait until you find out the main ingredient for frosting is....Crisco. Followed by sugar.

 

[Feralpeg]

For those of you who are considering making cakes to sell out of your home, be sure to check the regulations with your local health department. In Florida, it is against the law to make any type of food product to sell out of your home unless your home has been approved by the health department. In most cases, that means you cannot have any pets.

 

[crazee4mickey]

I started decorating when I first bought a Wilton cake decorating book and then practiced with the lessons in the back!

I know how to do all of the shaped cakes, the flowers, the trims, nothing is too hard with practice!

I did it for approx. 10 years and sold at least 40-50 cakes a month out of my home (I was also asked to decorate for the bakery in town for 2 years). I know longer do any cakes as it was seriously getting to be way too much...the money was great though!

ETA: I started decorating cakes only for my children's birthdays, I had no intention of selling them but I could never say no to anyone and disappoint them when they asked. Needless to say, a cake such as the Madagascar cake I would only charge $20 for and it would take 3 hours to do, the wedding cake I sold for $80---so I wasn't in it for the money but it was a nice "extra"!

Here are some, actually, a lot ) of pics, they aren't really great because they are at least 2-3 years old!

 

[BelleBoo&AmisMum]

I do it for fun, I've done the three Wilton classes and I'm supposed to be taking the gum paste class currently but my instructor has been sick.

I did this one over the weekend for our friends little guy, he wanted a mario cake but they couldn't find any decorations, they found the suckers from the Nintendo store and I did the rest with gum paste, my fingers are still red!

 

[TinkerbellMama]

I'm thinking about taking a beginners cake decorating class and wondering if anyone else has done this. Did you learn any helpful tips? Do you decorate cakes very often, for yourself or friends? Or do you do it to make money?

I took the Wilton course and it was really great! I learned a lot. I didn't do it for professional reasons; I did it because we have elaborate birthday parties and parties for other events, and my cakes always looked like crapola. I am happy to report that this is no longer the case!

 

[TinkerbellMama]

Wait until you find out the main ingredient for frosting is....Crisco. Followed by sugar.

I use Earth Balance sticks and organic sugar in mine. Expensive, and yeah it's still sugar...but it works like a charm! Just in case anyone else is interested in alternatives.

 

[Mamu]

I took this class many, many years ago when my children were small. Made all their cakes, plus their wedding cakes too. Also lots of family cakes too. You talk about overkill, I see cake, or hear cake and run.

Funny how something you enjoyed now gives you nightmares. Talk about trans-fat, 1-piece is a killer. Also as others have said the everything sticky clean-up after-a-while is another nightmare. If I'm going to make that much mess and have to do that much clean-up at least let it be something I enjoy eating.

 

[castleview]

Might I say how impressed I am with all of your work ladies! I've been done the character cakes and really enjoyed it...but toward the end of each project, I can be darn sick of it. One of these days, I'll take the class to learn something else besides piping stars!!!

 

[stargrazer]

ooo ooo ooo

This is great!

my DD10 wanted to take the class also but they said no one under 13...grrr....can't wait until tonight to get started. My cake skills are naught right now but hopefully that will change.

I am craving some mad cake skillz.

 

[scarlett873]

Just FYI...the main ingredient in icing is not always shortening...just depends on the recipe you use!

I took the three Wilton courses and fell in love. I am now seeking a culinary arts degree with my focus on baking and pastry arts. I love it!! I've got ideas as to what I want to do in my future...I'm just not quite there yet.

Here's a link to some of the cakes that I have done!

 

[MosMom]

Very nice Brandie. I think my favorite is the candle cake. That is a beautiful cake!

 

[scarlett873]

Very nice Brandie. I think my favorite is the candle cake. That is a beautiful cake!

Thank you!

 

[MrsPete]

I've been doing cakes for years, and, if I do say so myself, I do beautiful work.

I only SELL wedding cakes; there's little or no money in smaller cakes and they take almost as much time. Wedding cakes require a good bit more organization, but once you're good at it, they go together fast and they require no color changes in your icing, no plastic pieces, etc. Wedding cakes aren't really complicated; they're just big.

My advice:

Invest in 4" deep professional Wilton pans; they're expensive, but the difference in the height of the cake is impressive. You'll find that your cakes come together much faster if you're not putting together two 2" cakes, and you'll eliminate the problem of the "bulge" in the middle.

Never touch a cake mix -- even if you add sour cream or whatever else, it still tastes like a cake mix, and much of my business comes from the TASTE of my cakes. We so rarely today have a real, honest-to-goodness, from-scrach cake that it's a real treat. ONLY White Lily flour and Crisco shortening, but sugar is sugar is sugar and store brand butter is just as good as name-brand (but never use margarine, and especially never use that spread stuff). I make my own homemade vanilla extract.

Learn to make your own homemade fondant (if you're into that). You'll be impressed by both the low cost and the quality of the homemade stuff, but it MUST "sit" for 24 hours before you use it -- if you try to use it right away, it'll fall apart. I make fondant in marathon sessions, then store it in a double ziplock; it lasts forever . . . well, almost.


By the way, I'm another cake decorator who no longer likes icing! It's not just that decorator icing is mostly Crisco -- it's the taste, the smell . . . no thanks. But I do like the cake inside!

 

[Brier Rose]

Hey..have any of you tried using Marshmallow Fondant?

I know most people HATE the taste of fondant, but this is acutally pretty good!

I had to do a cake a couple of weeks ago for a friends 13th birthday party, and the look of the cake required fondant.

I found the marshmallow version recipe on the Wilton site, and everyone loved it, and we didn't have to fool with picking it off the cake.

Soo fun to work with too! I much prefer it to working with buttercream.

Her nickname is KK, and the party had a black and white theme with hot pink accent color.

Here's a picture...

[/IMG]

 

[stargrazer]

I am so glad I asked this question!!!

Scarlett, I LOVE mad hatter cakes, I can't wait to get started on tiers.

I think that's why I would love to do wedding cakes, the tiers are soooo cool.

Brier Rose, that is EXACTLY the type cake my DD wanted, except in cerulean blue and lime green - do you know that no one would touch it for under $150???

Ms. Pete, so glad to see your tips!

Keep em coming, the tips the pics and the convo have me SOOO excited!

 

[MosMom]

Do you all ever watch Ace of Cakes on Food Network? It is one of my favorite shows. Their cakes are always so amazing.