Wilton Method Fondant & Gumpaste Graduation

I've successfully completed my Wilton Method Fondant and Gumpaste course. I took the course at ICCA Section 14 PJ. My instructor was Azalia Zainal. 

The course content is mainly on flower making using gumpaste - also known as flowerpaste. The flowers taught in the course : rose, calla lily, chrysanthemum, carnation and daisy. All pretty simple, straightforward and basic.

If you are wondering which cake is mine...... it's the bright red one topped with daisies.... and it's actually a dummy cake (styrofoam). Was too lazy to bake a real one!

Busy with Baking

Been busy experimenting with various recipes. So, here are some pics of the cakes that came out of the oven! Evan's birthday is coming up - and I'll be baking his birthday cake and cupcakes (still undecided on the flavour!)

Lemony cupcakes with Princess edible image.

 

Cinnamon cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream

Carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

 Modelled some sugar figurines : teddy bear & bride (too short!) & roses

Wilton Method Better Baking Series 1 Graduation

After completing 4 days of baking classes within a month, I received my certificate from Mr. Michael Heng of ICCA.

Group photo - taken after the final class.

 

For the final class, we baked Genoise - which is a type of sponge cake. Then layered it with ganache and frosted with fresh cream. Pic above shows my sifu demonstrating how to remove the cake from the cake tin, which must be done immediately after baking otherwise the cake will collapse.

Genoise cake

Next, we watched the demo on baking the lemon chiffon cake.

End result : lemon chiffon cake with lemon curd topping

All in all, a very interesting and informative hands-on class suitable for beginners or for those who want to improve on their baking. There's actually a second series with another 8 cakes but I won't be attending that.

Wilton's Better Baking Series 1

This is the International Center of Cake Artistry's baking room. I've signed up for a 4-week course in Better Baking (Series 1) by Wilton. I've always wanted to learn how to bake and this course is superb for beginners - like me.

The fees are RM600 but starting from July, it's RM750. Well, that explains why this June class is super full! Over 20 students! Anyway, the instructor is Michael Heng and he is assisted by Kelvin and Amanda.They are very helpful and give lots of personalized attention to you.

For each class we learn how to bake 2 different cakes and prepare 2 different frostings/icings - no plain looking cakes here! The first lesson : Butter Cake with Buttercream frosting and Chocolate Fudge Cake.

The instructor will give a demo first before we bake on our own (fully hands-on). Everyone works in pairs on stainless steel kitchen tables.

I like the Kitchenaid mixer - very quiet and steady. Too bad I already bought my Kenwood mixer..... but I don't quite mind another stand mixer around in the kitchen if I bake very very often.... otherwise how to justify the RM2000++ for the Kitchenaid? By the way, my Kenwood basic mixer was below RM1000.

Lots of butter cakes! Mine is the one on the right lower corner, nearest to the camera. Learnt a new method and technique of baking butter cakes - my butter cakes will never be the same again!

This very first class lasted over 7 hours with an hour's break for lunch. This was because we were still new to the environment and have yet to familiarise ourselves. The instructor said it's typical of the first class.

Anyway, this is the butter cake with buttercream frosting. Very very delicious.  Hopefully will be able to duplicate the results at home. Didn't take pics of the chocolate fudge cake - cos was already too tired! Looking forward to the other classes coming up : Red Velvet, Carrot Cake, Butter Pound Cake, Chiffon Cake etc etc etc.

Wilton Method Flowers & Cake Design Graduation

After 4 classes, I've finally graduated! Received my certificate in the Wilton Method of Cake Decorating - Flowers & Cake Design. The course syllabus includes the piping techniques for various flowers eg. apple blossom, violet, the Wilton Rose, daffodils and stargazer lilies. We were also taught how to make Royal Icing from scratch and simple cake design. Another piping technique which I forgot to mention was basketweave. Used it for the final graduation cake above - looks rather bare! Should decorate with more roses...here's an upclose pic. As for the colors, they didn't match so well - should not have put in the pink roses.

Looking forward to my next class : Gumpaste & Fondant. Should be real challenging. Oh and the kids were sooooo impressed with my cake.... and both of them enjoyed gobbling up the icing roses!

Wilton Method Cake Decorating Course Flowers & Cake Design

Started my second course at the ICCA which is Flowers and Cake Design.  The course pre-requisite is the Basic Cake Decorating Course (which I had completed). Received a 5% discount for this course (normal price : RM650) as part of an on-going promotion for the launch of the new Wilton Method syllabus which began in April 2011.

This course will mainly concentrate on flowers : The Wilton Rose, Pansies, Daffodils, Stargazer Lilies etc and how to do the basket weave pattern. It will also cover some basics on cake design. 

My WMI for this course is Mrs Summer Lee a.k.a. Ooi Lay Pheng who has over 13 years of experience in the Wilton Method, having lived in the USA for about 10 years. 

My homework for the first lesson : making gumpaste button flowers and gumpaste pansy.

Baking & Cake Decorating Classes

Compiled a list of places that offer cake decorating classes:

1) International Center of Cake Artistry (ICCA)

2) At 19 Culinary Studio

3) The Cooking House

4) Cake Connection

5) Malaysian Institute of Baking (MIB) 

6) Academy of Pastry Arts

7) Sugarcraft Baking & Culinary Academy

8) Food Institute of Malaysia (FIM)

9) Grace Home Cakes

10) Big Boys Oven

11) The French Culinary School in Asia

12) Chef Nicholas Pillai  

13) Lea Oven

14) IreneBakeLove 

15) Apple Kitchen

16) Sugarflours

17) PG Cakecraft

18) City Bakers

19) Baking & Deco Classes

20) Che' Pah Cute Cakes

21) de Sweet Bite

22) Baking Project

23) Pastry Pro 

24) My Sugar Class  

25) Heavenly Cake Creations

26) Dalissa Sweet Treats

27) Nurainie's Cupcake Project  

28) Azza Culinary Academy

29) Silverspoon International College

30) Sugarcraft Baking & Culinary Academy

31) Nathalie's Gourmet Studio

32) Famous Chef  

33) My Sugar Class 

34) The Young Chef's Academy 

35) Ecole de Pattiserie

36) Butter & Olive Baking Academy 

If you are going to pursue a career in baking/cake decorating, then go for certificate or diploma courses. There are full time courses and also part-time courses. There are even scholarships to apply for. 

The ICCA conducts Wilton Method Cake Decorating Courses (which I am currently attending) and I find that the syllabus provides absolute beginners with a solid foundation. The courses are systematic, concise and usually conducted during the weekends - great for the hobbyist or for those who are already working. Wilton is an internationally known company and a market leader in cake decorating products having been in the business for over 80 years.

Anyway, for those who are interested, there are a few cake decorating competitions on this year 2011:

1) 5th 1Malaysian Cake Competition

2) Kuali Cake Decorating Challenge

3) 2nd ICCA Wedding Cake Competition

Wilton Method Basic Cake Decorating Course .... Graduation!

Ta-daaaaaa! My graduation cake for the Wilton Method Basic Cake Decorating Course!  Looks ultra messy especially the cake board - I used aluminium foil which made it look so crinkled. 

Did not bake my own cake - just bought off the shelf at Baker's Cottage cos I'm lazy to bake 2 layer cakes.... plus I don't fancy eating cake decorated with frosting from Wilton class (we practice our piping techniques again and again with the same frosting). It's actually one 6" marble cake and one 6" butter cake on top of each other - so that the cake will look tall and make it much nicer. 

Now that I've graduated with a Certificate in Wilton Method Basic Cake Decorating, it's time to move on to the next course : Flowers & Design.... and it's starting on Mother's Day!

Wilton Method Basic Cake Decorating Course .... part 2

Attended the second lesson of the Wilton Method Basic Cake Decorating Course. Baked my 8" cake and frosted it. This lesson, we revised the method for preparing buttercream frosting and also the techniques for frosting a cake. The three keys to successful cake decorating : icing consistency, bag position and pressure.

Vivian, the instructor showed us how to do a pattern transfer using piping gel. Learnt a few more piping techniques using tip #12 and #18.

Ta-daaaaa my decorated cupcake cake! The cupcake pattern is shown on the left of the cake. For the next class, students are required bring 6 unfrosted cupcakes.

Was free the other day, so decided to try baking some cupcakes using a new recipe that I found on joyofbaking.com.

Tried my hand at frosting them using the 1M tip in my student kit. Not sure whether it's the correct way cos my instructor has not taught us how to use the tip yet but looks good enough to me! The cupcakes were not very sweet but eaten with the sweet frosting, tastes just nice! Will attempt to bake some mini cupcakes for Easter Sunday Lunch in church. Off to buy a mini muffin cake pan and some baking cups!

Wilton Method Cake Decorating Basic Course

Venue : Rosa 1 Room, The International Center of Cake Artistry (ICCA) main branch : Dataran Sunway.

Date: 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th April 2011

Time : 10:30am-12:30pm

Fees : RM500

Wilton Method Instructor : Vivian Tan

Cake decorating! Actually wanted to enroll for the Better Baking Course since I am a beginner but the course is only on Sundays.... and it will clash with Easter. So, decided to try cake decorating first. Received a student kit and lesson plan at my first class. The student kit includes piping bags, decorating tips, couplers, spatula, practice board etc. Total of 8 students in the class inclusive of one guy!

Very informative and practical class by WMI : Vivian Tan (see pic above) - who has been with ICCA since its inception.

Watched her demo on how to prepare buttercream frosting and how to tort & frost a cake. Gasp! Homework! Have to bake an 8" cake, frost it and bring it to class next week! Stress levels are soaring high!

Good thing that ICCA stocks baking goods and ingredients in its store on the ground floor.... so I had no problems looking for the meringue powder, butter flavour, icing sugar etc to prepare buttercream frosting.

Piping technique shown on the practice board using Star Tip #18.

Practiced piping stars on Digestive cookies during the class.

At home, Evan & Marissa got to play with my piping bag filled with pink buttercream frosting. They decorated a few cookies and walloped some of them! Looking forward to the next class!