Help me learn how to decorate cakes
May 10, 2020 9:55 AM Subscribe
I'm an experienced baker, but I want to kick my styling game up a notch with a more professional look. Can you recommend some cake decorating books or online classes I can work through at home?
I'd prefer resources that mostly focus on decorating (I have the baking part down).
I'm more interested in dealing with icing stuff than fondant stuff (I made the marshmallow kind once and it was a pain to work with).
Thank you!
I'd prefer resources that mostly focus on decorating (I have the baking part down).
I'm more interested in dealing with icing stuff than fondant stuff (I made the marshmallow kind once and it was a pain to work with).
Thank you!
Wilton is the name brand of cake decorating. Their videos are pretty good and from my experience, their products are consistently excellent. The class you can take at craft stores is not really worth the money, just do online video instead.
Tip-- you can mix up instant mashed potatoes to the right consistency and use that instead of frosting when you're practicing piping. It's cheaper.
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:21 AM on May 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
Tip-- you can mix up instant mashed potatoes to the right consistency and use that instead of frosting when you're practicing piping. It's cheaper.
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:21 AM on May 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
Youtube has changed this game. Anyone can learn how to do even the fanciest stuff.
Some of my favorite channels are sugargeekshow and Cupcake Jemma. If you're on Facebook, there are several highly active cake decorating groups, just choose a couple of the most active and join them, and you'll be deluged with examples, help, instruction, inspiration, cautionary tales, and lots of helpful people from around the world.
On FB, Sugar Geeks is the group associated with the sugargeekshow site and YT channel, and it's excellent, a lot of expert level stuff. I'm also in Cake Decorating and Advice, which is more varied in terms of skill level, and is wonderfully international. It's the most un-self-consciously international venture I've ever been involved in.
If you really want a book, Toba Garrett is (from what I've been told) the standard text on cake decoration for pastry schools. I haven't been to pastry school so don't know if this is true.
posted by fingersandtoes at 11:41 AM on May 10, 2020
Some of my favorite channels are sugargeekshow and Cupcake Jemma. If you're on Facebook, there are several highly active cake decorating groups, just choose a couple of the most active and join them, and you'll be deluged with examples, help, instruction, inspiration, cautionary tales, and lots of helpful people from around the world.
On FB, Sugar Geeks is the group associated with the sugargeekshow site and YT channel, and it's excellent, a lot of expert level stuff. I'm also in Cake Decorating and Advice, which is more varied in terms of skill level, and is wonderfully international. It's the most un-self-consciously international venture I've ever been involved in.
If you really want a book, Toba Garrett is (from what I've been told) the standard text on cake decoration for pastry schools. I haven't been to pastry school so don't know if this is true.
posted by fingersandtoes at 11:41 AM on May 10, 2020
You can also reuse practice icing pretty much endlessly, though it gets kind of warm from your hands, so you may need to let it sit at room temperature a bit. Making it with Crisco is also pretty cheap.
I learned before the internet, so I’m guessing online tutorials cover this, but I’ll say it anyway. Use the Wilton paste food coloring, not the liquids from the grocery store.
posted by FencingGal at 2:02 PM on May 10, 2020
I learned before the internet, so I’m guessing online tutorials cover this, but I’ll say it anyway. Use the Wilton paste food coloring, not the liquids from the grocery store.
posted by FencingGal at 2:02 PM on May 10, 2020
if you're serious about color, the best color is Americolor gels.
Other gels are fine but Americolor is the best.
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:04 PM on May 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
Other gels are fine but Americolor is the best.
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:04 PM on May 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
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posted by euphoria066 at 10:32 AM on May 10, 2020