BASIC CAKE DECORATING
Questions? email me at: got2makeart@live.com
****Bring practice icing & supplies to the first night of class****
Make your Practice Icing, Do not use canned icing
Cream:
1 cup solid vegetable shortening (Crisco)
½ tsp light corn syrup (if you have some)
Add a little at a time:
4 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
1-2 tblsp water
Start with one tablespoon of water-add additional water 1/8 teaspoon at a time mixing thoroughly
and checking consistency after each addition as needed. Your icing should form a peak when you
lift the beater up. Mix on slow to medium speed until creamy – don’t overbeat as that will add air
bubbles into the icing. DO NOT REFRIGERATE.
Decorating icing should be a little firmer than what you would use to frost the cake.
During weeks 1-4 we use practice icing, re-use it each week then throw it away after week 4 (so
don’t waste your expensive extract etc. on it.) Do NOT use canned pre-made frostings from the
grocery store.
Supplies:
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Star Tip # 18 or 21 preferred (use whatever size might be in your kit if that’s what you
bought)
2 Featherweight decorating bags (8” or 10”)
2 Couplers (1 for each bag)
Practice Board (OR plastic placemat/covered cardboard/cookie sheet)
Spatulas - Angled or straight
Ziploc Bags/storage containers for storing icing
Plastic grocery bags for dirty tips, decorator bags, wet cloths, etc. to wash at home
Washcloth or Package of Fantastik/409 Wet Wipe Cloths to clean counters and tables
Paper Towels –a handful each week (Bounty is best)
Flower Nail
Paste Colors (for final cake)
Spoons
Toothpicks (for paste color)
Storage Box to keep supplies in for class
Optional: Apron, Hairclip, Drink, Gum or mints (to prevent you from eating icing)
You can buy Individual tips OR you can purchase one of the Wilton Decorating Kits
(Use a JoAnn’s/Michael’s 40% coupon to save on the kits)
If it they aren’t in the kit you choose you may need to buy a basket & drop flower tip separately. Check tip
numbers that are included in your kit first.
(* indicates preferred tip but any tip in a category will work for the class)
- Star # (13-21) *18 or 21
- Round # (1-12) *2 & *12
- Rose
- Leaf
# (102-*104)
# (66-*69)
Optional Tips: 234 (grass) 352 (easier to make leaf than #69)
- Basket
# (46-*48)
- Drop flower #106-225 (any)
Week 5 (last class) - Decorating a personal cake.
 2 cake layers, a sheet cake or any cake shape you prefer
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Large knife for leveling cake tops
Cardboard Cake rounds/rectangles
Enough icing to frost the cake AND additional containers of icing in the colors you need for
decorating and making flowers etc.
Lazy Susan or turntable for easier decorating
Cake server/storage container/box to bring cake to and from class.
Camera if you want to take some pictures…..just in case your cake doesn’t make it home?
You can pre-ice the cake at home if you’d like and bring it in on a plate or cakeboard ready
to be decorated in class.
Here are some icing recipes if you don’t have a favorite family icing recipe.
Wilton Buttercream Icing
Blend:
½ cup solid vegetable shortening
½ cup butter or margarine
1 tsp clear vanilla extract
Add a little at a time:
4 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
2 tblsp milk
Mix on Medium speed until creamy
Substitute all vegetable shortening and ½ tsp
Wilton No-color butter Flavor for pure white
icing and stiffer consistency
Add 2-4 tblsp Karo light corn syrup per recipe
to thin for icing the cake. Mix fresh batch
without corn syrup to use as decorating icing.
Cake Cottage Decorator Buttercream Icing
Blend:
1 ½ Cups Crisco shortening
2 tsp Clear Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Butter Extract
1 tsp Butter-van powder flavoring
(from Cake Cottage)
Mix in:
2 lbs powdered sugar
scant ½ cup water
Add:
2 tblsp marshmallow crème
Chocolate Buttercream
Add ¾ cup cocoa powder and an additional 12 tblsp milk. Mix until well blended. For
darker chocolate add an additional ¼ cup of
cocoa and additional tblsp of milk.
For mocha, substitute freshly brewed and
cooled coffee for the milk
Coloring Icing:
The Wilton icing colors are very concentrated and can be easily combined to make other colors. To
use the colors, use a toothpick to grab some color and swirl into your icing. Mix and check color.
Add more color to make it darker. Use a different toothpick each time so you don’t
contaminate the color jar with bits of icing.
1. To use the entire batch of icing to frost the cake, after mixing ingredients together, add an
additional liquid ¼ tsp at a time until the icing is creamy enough to spread on the cake.
2. Leftover icing may be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or frozen for 2 months.
3. For a better tasting icing, substitute 1/2 of the shortening with butter. Substitute milk for the
water.