Wilton Cake Decorating - Course 4, Class 1 & 2

Before our last course ended, our instructor told us that if we took the final course (this one), she was going to fit it into 3 classes vs. the typical 4 due to Thanksgiving falling on the same day as the last class. So tonight, we combined Class 1 and 2. It wasn't really a big deal because the first class would have only covered covering a cake with fondant, which I learned in Course 3, so we didn't need to spend an entire class on that again.

This class is Fondant and Gum Paste, so it's my first time working with gum paste. It's very similar to fondant, but it's very sticky and dries very quickly. It is used to make more delicate and intricate flowers and details, basically because you can shape it easily. So tonight we learned several techniques, including draping, handkerchief-style overlays, and ribbon garland and border. The student kit that we purchased prior to tonight included all of our cut-out tools (circle, leaf, heart, daisy), the ribbon cutter/embosser (to make wavy/zig-zagged lines), and the decorative punch set (to make different small shapes/designs). We also brought a cake pre-iced and covered in fondant, ready to decorate. You can see the different techniques we learned tonight on my cake in the pictures. I think my cake is super ugly, but I was just practicing all the styles and attempting to put them on the cake. I also tinted the cake fondant pink, which takes forever (as I think I mentioned in the posts from last course)!

Lastly, we learned how to make the carnation base. The basic method is to roll a golf tee-shaped piece of fondant and then flatten part of it, cut it out with a small circle cookie cutter, and crimp it on the foam with the veining tool. I think the carnations will be really pretty when they are all done. We are supposed to make more at home and bring them for the final cake.