Anyone here know anything about cake decorating?

[gatorsmom]

I need to learn the basics in the next 6 weeks. What is the best type of frosting to use? Can I buy it premade? Easiest kind of cake to decorate? Are there some simple tricks I should know about? Toward the middle of May, I will be teaching 15 girls (and their moms will no doubt want to try this too), about cake decorating, I thought I’d make about 50+ cupcakes, giving each girl 2-3, and let the girls practice mixing in color to their frosting and then applying it to their cupcakes. They wouldn’t be expecting more than the basics but I’d like to teach them a few fun tricks.

Any thoughts and suggestions? What would be the most basic thing to teach them? Where can I get cheap tools for this? Thanks in advance!

[NCGrandma]

No personal experience, but my now-16 y.o. DGD1 completely taught herself to do cake decorating by watching YouTube videos several years ago. She has made some fabulous cakes for her little sister's birthdays (my favorite was a unicorn cake with amazing decorations, and under the frosting there were maybe 6 multi-colored layers of cake). Neither of her parents do any cake decorating although they are good bakers. She just decided it would be fun to learn and YouTube apparently had more than enough how-to videos.


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[klwa]

I'd check out the Wilton cake decorating channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGs...o5azzAnShBe2CA They have lots of how tos.

[elephantmeg]

when my troop was younger there was a wilton kit you could buy, I don't think they have it anymore but they still have some lesson plans

this kit is about the same price but without the patch and has a coupler (I'd still get disposable bags though!). If you can I'd get everyone their own kit
https://www.amazon.com/Piping-Decora...7877787&sr=8-5


http://classpromo.wilton.com/girlscouts

scroll down until you see icing fundamentals.


my girls also really like working with fondant-it's basically edible playdough-you can cut it out, mold it, etc. I have a couple of molds
https://www.wilton.com/succulent-can...2115-3834.html
your best place for stuff like the molds is some place with a coupon (michaels or hobby lobby)


We've done variations of this several times. I just buy all sorts of random stuff and they put it together. Food color, lots of little bowls, spoons. Lots and lots of paper towels and wet wipes. Sprinkles, fondant, etc. I just buy canned white icing and white fondant and let people color it themselves.

[KrisM]

I took a Wilton class at JoAnn's 16 years ago to do kid birthday cakes. What I mainly learned is that if you have the tools, it's pretty easy.

I also did a Girl Scout meeting and used 6" cakes for each girl. The cakes were small, but gave more surface area to work with than a cupcake does. They were young, so I mixed the colors and had them in bags already. If you want them to mix up colors, you'll need a few pastry bags per girl or have them work in small groups to have them share colors. Get some tips and couplers. The couplers allow you to change the tip you are using so the color can be used with different tips.

I would just watch some videos on the basics and be ready to show them how to do flowers, swirls, etc to decorate. Or learn a few specific cupcake decorations and teach them those? DD did a class at the library and came home with 3 cupcakes that were very cute. One was yellow frosting and black emoji face. One was a beach with a cocktail umbrella. Not sure what the 3rd was.

[SnuggleBuggles]

YouTube has tons of good content.
If you want to wow them, try and pull off a tsunami cake. (google it)


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[georgiegirl]

Definitely YouTube videos. Plus you need to purchase the correct supplies, decorating tips and bags.

DD has experimented with cake decorating, and some of her work is pretty good. Her friends also do the same. I like the fondant idea if you don’t want girls fighting over decorating bags. Here’s a pic of the cake DD’s friends made for her birthday. It’s a cookie cake decorated with fondant (the grass is regular frosting with a grass tip)




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[PunkyBoo]

I suck at stuff like this, (I am creative but impatient), but I love watching Kids Baking Championship. The number one thing I learned by watching it is you need to do a crumb coat then chill the cake before decorating. I agree with PP that the cupcakes may be too small to really get a feel for decorating. A 4-6" cake for each would be much better and easier to manage with smaller hands.

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[SnuggleBuggles]

I suck at stuff like this, (I am creative but impatient), but I love watching Kids Baking Championship. The number one thing I learned by watching it is you need to do a crumb coat then chill the cake before decorating. I agree with PP that the cupcakes may be too small to really get a feel for decorating. A 4-6" cake for each would be much better and easier to manage with smaller hands.

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cake vs cupcake would be better.

[gatorsmom]

You guys are great! I just watched the Wilton channel and checked out the Wilton lesson plans you ladies linked to and now I have a plan! I’ll definitely buy the girls their own small kits and do that soon so my daughter and I practice before we show others. I didn’t even consider that they could practice with the butter cream frosting on cardboard before doing their cupcakes or cakes (you have a point that cupcakes might be too hard) or maybe cookies like georgiegirl’s daughter’s creation. Practicing on cardboard will make this much easier as they can wipe away their mistakes. I definitely love the idea of working with fondant too. I’ll teach them the basics and let them do the more elaborate stuff on their own.

This is so helpful. Thank you again for these great ideas!