Wow! That answered all of my questions, pretty much. Thank you! I am thinking of just buying the colours, like you suggested, and some of the piping gel. Still not sure about the round pan – I do have to make cakes for both my daughter and me, and it might be a time saver over my regular 8" ones. I’m going to bring my finished cake in to work, and if people want to eat it they’re welcome to it – and if not I’ll scrape off the icing and have at it.
This seems like a really good idea. The relatively small amount used for piping probably wouldn’t affect the overall taste much. I will definitely try it.
:eek: You’re a ringer! I’m taking the course at a Michael’s. I’ll be watching my mailbox for that coupon this week!
I guess I could consider myself somewhat apt. Working in the bakery, I was taught how to write on cakes and do simple piping to serve customer requests on premade cakes after the baker had gone home. Before taking the course I already owned a couple of sets of bags/tips/couplers, but I hadn’t done anything all that organized with them – just futzed around with the odd birthday cake or bunch of cupcakes.
But I have always wanted to decorate a cake that I saw in a book as a child – I think it was a Wilton book but can’t be sure. It was a relatively simple rectangular sheet cake done up as a billiard table, with licorice string lacing at the pockets and candies for balls. I’m not sure what they used for pool cues! Anyway, the players were pink elephants made of meringue or boiled frosting – they were very puffy, each leg and the bodies piped out in big blobs. The book was at a friend’s house, and I’d pore over it every chance I got. So I owe my current motivation to those long-ago pink elephants!
One more question for everyone: is the Cake Release product that Wilton sells superior to greasing and flouring? Or does greasing your pan with a pastry brush (which I thought might be a useful tip) work just as well?
About the Cake Release: Baker’s Joy, which is a spray-on mix of oil and flour works well and is bound to be less than the Wilton product. If the cake is really delicate you can line the pan with parchment paper or waxed paper.
I’m starting to think about making a pretty cake. Now I just need an occasion to make it for.
I’ll have to see about the Baker’s Joy; I don’t think I’ve ever run across a product like that. As for a cakeworthy occasion, how about hmmm… middle of July?
I’ll have to look in my Wilton books to see if there’s something like that, if there is, I could scan it and send it to you.
I agree with the Baker’s Joy as well. Never tried the Wilton release.
And as for an occasion:
Saturday July 14, 2007-
National Get Out of the Doghouse Day
Wrong Way day
Sunday July 15, 2007-
Perfect Family Day
Cow Appreciation Day
I’ve got more, you can have a holiday any day, someone has come up with it.
I took the basic Wilton class at Montgomery Ward’s yonks ago. As a kid. A baby, in fact. Um, it MUST have been before I was born. Yeah, yeah, that’s the ticket.
Anyway, We were to make a cake to bring to class each week. I think the class lasted 5 or 6 weeks, and the cakes were your basic round, I think only a single layer was required. The Wilton or other “professional” pans were a great help, since the edges weren’t rounded. You get nice, crisp edges, especially since, in my class at least, we leveled them out as best we could with a bread knife, then turned them over so we had a nice, flat surface to decorate. Each week after I got home from class, my mother would run 'round the neighborhood showing off my latest “creation.” We even took a Polaroid photo of each one and started a “Kathy’s Cakes” photo book.
The “shortening” buttercream icing is really easy to work with, and you’ll definitely want to at least start with it. You don’t want to have to fuss with consistency until you’ve got the hang of the basic techniques. The recipe my instructor gave us was slightly different, and called for some butter extract, which improved the flavor greatly. I couldn’t STAND to eat the stuff after having it all over the place for so long, but my mom sure enjoyed tasting the icing to ensure that it was “the right color.” (Moms can be like that, can’t they?)
My mom still buys me the Wilton Yearbook of Cake Decorating for Christmas each year, even though I haven’t been serious about it for years now.
This is how I know I must have been just a baby during class. I have Yearbooks from 1980 through 2007, only missing 2000. They’re STILL fun to browse through and get ideas, although it seems like they’re just selling their latest “character pans.” I’ve seen the trends go from star-fill characters, to Coloroll to fondant. Trends in cake decorating! Who would’ve thought?
Basic supplies: a set of primary Wilton paste icing colors; a couple of plastic couplers (for swapping metal tips while using the same icing cone); maybe 5-6 metal tips (star, ball, leaf, rose, etc.); parchment triangles (for make-it-yourself cones); an offset spatula; *maybe * some plastic cones, if you can be bothered to wash them. One specialty item was a sugar mold of a basket for one of the projects. I think we were asked to buy a practice board, but a sheet of waxed paper taped to a sturdy cardboard will do the same thing. It’s only when you really get into it that you’ll want to buy it all.
Labelless, I have GOT to know where you found this. I didn’t know such a thing existed. My car & my kitchen are both decorated in black and white COW.
If you like working with fondant, but don’t particularly like the taste of the Wilton pre-made stuff (I think it tastes like petroleum byproduct), go here and use the marshmallow fondant recipe. Tastes much better, and it’s cheaper to boot.
The instructor said that the reusable bags can be washed in the dishwasher (splayed open, of course). I’m okay with the parchment triangles, but will most likely buy some of the disposable bags, too.
Thank you for that link! Would this (marshmallow) fondant be good on a fruit cake? I have a great fruit cake recipe from a friend and would like to try it this year when the holiday season rolls around.
Holidays for Everyday
For those of us who have waaaay too much time on our hands.
I wouldn’t see why not. I do recommend making a small recipe of it and trying it out to see if you like it. I like the taste of marshmallow fondant, but it’s very chewy. I mostly prefer to use buttercream icing (with real butter!) and use fondant for decorative cutouts and things like that.
Oh, and here’s a tip from my teacher: if you’re using real butter buttercream, but you wish it would look whiter, try adding the teeniest bit of purple coloring to it. Sounds crazy, but works.
Today is also Bastille Day, which while belonging to another country is a genuine, non-made-up holiday. Make a French Cake 
Actually, it doesn’t sound so crazy. It would offset the yellow, sort of how old ladies used to use bluing in their hair to remove the yellowish tinge.
Also, the recipe for buttercream that I used was basically Crisco & powdered sugar, with some flavoring, and a pinch of salt to combat the sweetness. Same principle.
Thanks to everyone for your help/advice. I went to Michael’s yesterday and bought:
The 8" round 3" deep pan (it was 12.99, and I figured it might make a nice change for layer cakes)
A set of 8 colours
A small leveler (it was 4.99, worth my curiosity about it)
Some Cake Release (same thing – it was 4.99, and I’m just curious enough, and I couldn’t find Baker’s Joy at my usual supermarket)
Some piping gel (required for course)
Wilton’s Clear Vanilla (since several people listed this as worthwhile)
Some cupcake liners and a shaker package of 6 different types of nonpareils for the birthday cupcakes
Elsewhere I picked up some parchment paper and meringue powder. I was shocked by the prices on disposable piping bags – as I recall it was six dollars for 12! So I didn’t buy any. Yeesh.
Now I have to figure out when to bake two cakes when it’s been above 30C steadily for the past week with no end in sight. Bleh. But I’m one step closer to that pink elephant billiard table cake!