Wilton Cake Decorating Course

Course 1: Discover Cake Decorating

Wilton cake decorating course 1 covers the basic techniques of cake decoration which includes preparation of butter cream icing, basic cake borders, butter cream rose, figure piping, different leaves and vines.

Butter Cream Icing

The following amounts of ingredients is considered as a full recipe.

• Confectioner's sugar 1 lb (approximately 4 cups)
  
• Solid white vegetable shortening 1 cup
  
• Meringue Pdr 1 Tbsp
  
• Vanilla essence 1 Tsp
  
• Milk or Water 2 Tbsp
  
• Salt (a pinch)

Meringue powder is a mixture of dried, powdered egg white, cornstarch and gums. It is used to stabilize butter cream icing.

Vegetable Shortening is a flavourless semi-solid fat made from hydrogenated vegetable oil, used in food preparation, especially in baked goods.

Directions:

Cream shortening, essence and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. Blend an additional minute or until creamy. There are three types of icing consistencies depending on the need:

• Stiff consistency is used for decorations such as flower with upright petals like roses and sweet peas.
  
• Medium consistency creates stems, figure piping, borders and flowers with petals that lie flat. Add 1 Tsp water to each cup of stiff consistency icing. (One additional Tbsp of water when using the full recipe). Mix until well blended.
  
• Thin consistency is for writing, making stems, leaves, vines and icing a cake. Add 2 Tsp of water for each cup of stiff consistency icing (2 Tbsp of additional liquid for the full recipe). Mix until well blended.

Course 2: Flowers and Borders

Wilton second course offers more shell borders, basket weaving and different flowers using butter cream and royal icing.

Royal Icing:

Meringue pdr 3 Tbsp

Confectioner's sugar 1 lb(4 cups)

Luke warm water 5 to 6 Tbsp

Place sugar and meringue powder in a bowl. Mix at low speed. Add water and mix it for 7 to 10 min at low ; medium speed until icing loses its sheen. To prevent drying, cover the bowl with a damp cloth while working with icing. this royal icing can be store in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks.

Course 4: Fondant and Gum Paste

This course covers advanced techniques in decorating cakes with fondant and various types of gum paste flowers and borders.

The snap from this post is my final entry to the Let's Celebrate event.