Wilton Cake Decorating Classes Have Come a Long Way, Baby

These aren't your mother's cake decorating classes, baby. Wilton Industries has come a long way from the days of cakes baked in molds and then covered with icing stars. While those techniques still exist and have their merit, Wilton Cake Decorating Classes have expanded to include everything from petit fours, cupcakes, cookie bouquets, fondant work, figure modeling, gum paste flowers and so much more.

I recently stopped by Wilton's flagship retail store in Darien, Ill., to observe a class on making a croquembouche. A croquembouche originally was a French wedding cake made of cream puffs "glued" together with caramel in a pyramid shape. Today, every ethnic cuisine features this dessert.

Instructor Lorena Hernandez offered tips for making this seemingly daunting confection a snap. If you follow her simple instructions, you'll be making these for all your holiday parties. I know I will.

You still have time to enroll in a holiday class or gift someone with a class in 2011! Here is the schedule of upcoming Wilton classes.

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