Wilton school of cake decorating question please

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Debbie) wrote in message news:...

I think the Wilton school is overrated, because of its name. I had seen and met graduates from Wilton but when I talk to some to them, they say that its not worth the money. There are other trade schools elsewhere that can provide similar curriculum but maybe not in the same name' as master class' that can be considered a hype. How can it be a master class when there are even some beginners who enroll in such course but in the end perfrom the decorating job still like a beginner? It is not the teacher or the school that counts but the caliber of the leaner who undertake such course.. In the same reasoning it makes no difference in your driving skills if you drive a mercedes Benz of just a Korean made car. I have seen bakers who did not enroll in such fancy course but learned it by training practice from a skilled coworker and there works were impressive. The essence of skill lies in the person trying to acquire it plus the zeal he or she exert in learning such craft.. If your motive is just to embelish your resume with such popular baking school name and have the money as well to splurge on such course then do so.; But if you are keen to improve your cake decorating skill think first of the time that it is beyond the 10 day class but even takes several months and even years to aquire substantial competency in such sugar craft. Another of your question is the use of styropor cakes practicing your decorating skill, that is a sensible way and in fact many cake decorating schools worldwide use the same 'template 'for practicing. In fact you could do that at home ( and practice you skills on that)as well than trying to bake a cake and use it as the medium. It will be a pretty costly training which can be messy as the real cake is delicate to practice is your just less skilled person. But in many cake decorating school the finale of such decoration course is usually done in a real cake and the instructor may even ask you to bring a cake just to work on your newly acquired decoration skills..

Some teachers may ask you to bake the cake in the class cool it down properly and stabilize the cake surface and then use it. for decoration. Roy

There are much cheaper Wilton classes at local craft stores. I know someone who has taken all three for about $450. They are very good at what they do. They were good BEFORE they went to the classes. Look at it this way, if you know 10% of what there is to know about cake decorating, and this class doubles your knowledge, how much do you know?

20%. If you know 30% of what there is to know about cake decorat> Has anybody attended the Wilton Cake decorating school in Illinois? I

I would also suggest joining a cake decorating club. Larger cities often have them. You can call around to cake and candy supply stores for information. There is also an international cake decorating club, ICES. You can get information from their website:

The club that I belonged to had monthly meetings with demonstrations and a yearly cake show and completion. Most years, a group of members would go to the ICES convention. You can meet a wide range of bakers with various levels of skill. Befriending a professional baker might land you a job, or at least an apprenticeship, in a bakery where you would lean cake decorating skills from a master at little or no cost.

In addition to the club, you might consider subscribing to a cake decorating magazine.

I read all the replys and was planning on adding mine referring to ICES but "Vox" got here first. I agree wholeheartedly that you should check out other souces of classes than just Wilton. There are many great teachers all over the US as well as the rest of the world that hold classes. If you check the

site it gives you all sorts of links for classes, groups,etc. And, I would also agree, practice helps more than you can believe in perfecting your skills.

If you or anyone else would like to email me about different teachers and courses I would be glad to give you MHO