Wilton Certified!

I've been dabbling with all things baking related for quite some time. I've had some successes and some big time fails! If you just search cake on my blog you'll find several examples of cupcakes, cake balls, and even a few cookies. It's fun, it's creative, and you don't have to worry about storing your art because someone eats it!

So we had a cake decorating instructor at the store for a little while and the classes were very successful! But she left. And we haven't had anyone Wilton certified since then. So I applied, and got accepted, and now am authorized to teach Wilton cake decorating classes. Crazy, right? 

So I poured through training videos so I would be able to teach their curriculum. The section on royal icing flowers was really fun! I piped the flowers with white icing because I didn't want to mess with so many colors if they were a disaster. 

But they turned out ok! And then I wished they were colored... So I hand-painted them with icing colors. (food coloring)

Now I want to hand-paint a cake! This was so fun and relaxing. I was really surprised!

I tried to use my favorite buttercream frosting for piping pretty flowers, but it was a disaster. The pure buttercream gets too melted when you try to pipe fancy stuff. 

So I tried the shortening version, but I used the butter flavored shortening. I did a taste test today and everyone at worked liked it.  I know the difference, but I guess it passed the taste test. 

 The shortening just really holds up against piping for a long time and holds its shape better than pure butter frosting. I tried the technique where you have two colors in one bag to make the flowers above.

The funny thing about the frosting is I had a super hard time keeping the CAT out of it! He normally won't come near the baking, but there was something about the frosting that he couldn't resist!

I think he licked the bowl at some point because I caught him doing that thing that animals do if you feed them peanut butter! The cupcakes themselves were safe by that time! Don't worry!

So anyway, I got my Wilton Instructor box in the mail the other day, so now I just need to read through the instructor books and start scheduling classes! One more skill in the crafty toolbox.

PS. Mary Allen - if you still read my blog, you should get certified too!