Wilton Flowers & Cake Design - Week 4

For the final Wilton Flowers & Cake Design class we basically just spent the time assembling our final cakes. I prepped all of my flowers in advance so it only took about 20 minutes to put it all together.

I wasn't exactly sure what to do with everything but here's what I came up with.

Wilton Flowers & Cake Design: 4th of July Style...

The next, and last, course would be Gum Paste & Fondant but I think I'll be waiting at least a month before taking that.

Wilton Flowers & Cake Design - Week 4 prep

I left you with this teaser photo earlier this week. These are the flowers I made as preparation for my final cake in the Wilton Flowers and Cake Design course. I just finished filling and frosting my final cake and I thought I'd share some more photos of my decorations before putting it all together tonight.

I started out making some red roses.

Then I decided to make blue apple blossoms. I don't think blue apple blossoms really exist in real life, but they look cute and went with my theme...

Out of all the flowers we learned, I picked this one because of the contrast in size.

Finally, I made some lilies. This time I finished them following the instructions in the course book since we didn't get to that in class. 

I'm still not exactly sure how I'll put these all together on my cake, but I think it's a good contrast of sizes and textures.

Time to get ready for class!

Wilton Flowers & Cake Design - Weeks 2 & 3

I've procrastinated when it comes to writing about weeks two and three of Flowers & Cake Design (FCD). We haven't followed the course book so it's a little difficult to write about.

My instructor decided to have us learn the majority of the flowers for the whole course during week two using buttercream rather than royal icing which the book instructs. I actually didn't take any photos because, since it was buttercream, we just wiped them back into the tub of icing we brought.

We also learned the basket weave during the second week - I believe it's normally taught during week four.

During week three we learned the Wilton rose and the lily.

The instructor didn't have us add the flower center and the stamens, though I have practiced them at home since for my final cake.

I really love the roses...

They are so much easier than the ribbon rose we learned in Decorating Basics. I've been practicing these since last week's class as well for the final cake.

I actually like working with the royal icing better than buttercream. My instructor said that buttercream was easier since it doesn't dry out as quickly so it would be easier to work with. However, I find that royal icing makes smoother lines and prettier decorations.

This Wednesday will be the final class for FCD. The last class will essentially just be used for assembling our final cake. Royal icing decorations have to be made in advance of placing on the cake - they harden almost as hard as a sugar cube.

Yesterday I went ahead and made all of the flowers for my final cake. I decided to do a 4th of July theme. I'll just leave this photo as a teaser. I'm looking forward to putting everything together on Wednesday!

Wilton Flowers & Cake Design - Week 1

This past week I started the Wilton Flowers and Cake Design course. I’m taking this class at the Apple Valley (Minnesota) Michael’s. I took Decorating Basics at JoAnn Fabrics but I decided to switch to Michael’s for this class for several reasons, mainly because the location is a little more convenient for me. I know each location is different, but one nice thing about taking the class at this particular Michael’s is that they supply the class book for free. It’s only $5, but a nice bonus none the less.

For the first class we were instructed to bring some neon ready-made fondant and some ready-made gum paste. We learned a little about the different materials. We learned that gum paste dries harder than fondant so it’s better for flowers or objects that need more structure. Fondant won’t try completely solid as it is meant to be able to cut through. I'd never worked with, or tasted, fondant before so it was all useful info to me.

The instructor also went into methods for choosing colors for cakes. Using a color wheel, he talked about at least four different ways to select color combinations from the wheel that will/can work for cakes. 

After that we got to try making two different kinds of flowers. First was the button flower which was made using a mold. The flower comes out in three parts.

These were a complete pain in the butt to get out of the mold. They look pretty cute when they are done... if you don't completely maim them while trying to remove from the mold.

Once they are dry, you stack them together.

Next we tried violets. 

These were fun but a little challenging. The hardest part is ruffling the edges of the flower petals. Takes just the right touch and I think I'll need a little practice on these in order to not tear or stretch out the petals too much.

That's pretty much all we got to on week 1. Next week we'll be learning some buttercream, and possibly royal icing, techniques and flowers.