Food Articles & Product Announcements
Wilton School Releases “Decorating Cakes”
Order Your Copy On-Line Today!
CHICAGO (January 10, 1999) -- The Wilton School has been teaching people how to decorate cakes for more than 70 years. As the world's leading cake decorating resource, Wilton teaches thousands of people in hundreds of cake decorating classes across the country each year. Now, Wilton has packaged its knowledge into a single source for beginning or advanced cake decorators. The result is an impressive new book in the Wilton library entitled Decorating Cakes.
Decorating Cakes is the most recent and the most extensive book in Wilton's line of cake decorating publications. It is a valuable and handy reference work for anyone interesting in cake decorating. It breaks the art of decorating down to its basic techniques - illustrating each individual skill and providing decorating ideas and cake designs for each technique. According to Wilton, Decorating Cakes fills a unique need.
"We think that Decorating Cakes is the definitive cake decorating reference book," said Nancy Siler, the director of the Wilton School. "The book provides the detailed instructions necessary to master the hobby and to produce a good-looking cake."
Decorating Cakes definitely does provide detail. In 116 pages, the book clearly explains dozens of different techniques and 30 separate design projects. Throughout the book, intricate methods are made easy by an amazing amount of step-by-step photography - the book has more than 400 photographs. All of the photography was taken from the cake decorator's point of view so the reader can easily and properly apply the techniques.
Wilton's Siler says, "The photography is one of the keys to the book. When you teach cake decorating, you can't just say ‘make a flower' or ‘pipe a border', you have to actually show it being done," she said. "That's why we were careful to clearly break down even the most basic of decorating techniques into its component parts. We start with how to fill a pastry bag with icing and take it all the way through making flowers and using rolled fondant."
Decorating Cakes is divided into five sections. The first section, "Getting Prepared," provides a thorough listing of cake decorating tools; a handy description of the different types of decorating icing; a discussion of how to choose and match colors for cake designs; a four-page primer on using pastry bags and decorating tips; and basic instructions on how to level, fill and ice a cake prior to decoration.
The second section, "Techniques and Borders," contains instructions and photographs of 44 different cake decorating techniques, from the basic star shape through elaborate garlands. Each technique is completely illustrated and explained from start to finish, with handy design tips related to the technique provided in helpful sidebars. Each two-page spread also features a sample cake design that includes the relevant techniques.
"We wanted explicit illustration and ideas in this book." explains Siler. "Decorating Cakes not only describes and demonstrates the necessary steps, it also shows how to use them to produce truly beautiful cakes."
Section three, "Flower Making," includes instructions for 31 different, spectacular decorating techniques. "Flowers are everyone's favorite cake decoration, and they look so impressive," said Siler. "Decorating Cakes gives step-by-step instructions for them, including the Wilton Rose - our unique method of making fantastic-looking roses."
Section four is all about using fondant - a dough-like icing perfect for covering cakes as well as creating ruffles, braids, borders and flowers. Twenty-two different fondant techniques are explained, including how to use special tools to cut, form, and mold icing designs.
The last section, "More To Know," discusses related decorating procedures like stenciling, painting, the use of color flow and fresh flowers. It also includes a handy cake-cutting guide and icing chart for use when planning cake projects. Icing recipes, an icing comparison chart as well as tips on storing and transporting cakes round out this chapter.
Decorating Cakes is available for $12.99 at major specialty and department stores, or wherever Wilton Products are sold.
