Alright, horrible I know. Everything went wrong from the very start and I was anxious to do this, I thought it would be easy.

I didn't let the cake cool after I took it out of the oven, flipped it right away, half broke in pieces, the second cake it over baked and it shrunk.
My biggest problem was getting an even layer of frosting around the cake. Now my question is, Will the wide tip be better to use to get an even layer? and is there a coupler for that one? Someone said to me to use a paper towel and put it on top of the icing and gently with my palms smooth it, but would'nt the icing stick to the towel? Another question is what is the difference between the plastic bags and the cloth bags? Is the cloth bag used over and over? I know i need to take a class, and I registered for it already but I think its going to get canceled, not enough people. My problem is that I'm making my sons cake in 2 weeks I need all the help I can.

I know it is tough waiting for your class. Been there done that. But first take a deep breath to calm down. Second you still have about a week or so for you to practice. I didn't see a picture with this thread.Is it the one in your photos?? I couldn't see much of the detail on it. What is your cake size going to be?? Personally I don't like the icer tip. Just me probably. Yes the icicng will stick to your towel if you try to smooth it right away. It needs to crust over abit before you do it. I prefer the plastic ones easier for clean up. Just my opinion.

Okay I will see if I can answer all of your questions without forgetting one... first I like cloth bags better, you can reuse them and the plastic ones tend to have blow outs, but really it is up to you and what you like best. The wide tip will help, you will still have to smooth it with a spatula. The tip number is 789. After you have iced and smoothed your cake and let it set for 5 - 10 minutes (really until the icing crusts over) you can take a paper towel or wax paper and with the palm of your hand gently smooth it. There is a coupler for tip 789 but you could just get a large decorating bag and cut it to fit the tip and place the tip by itself inside and you it that way. Hope I have anysered all of you questions. Good luck

your cake really is not bad. we all start somewhere!

the plastic icing bags are disposable, but honestly i give them a good soak in hot soapy water, scrub them out and dry them, and re use a few times.

the icing on your cake should crust up a little (are you using a scratch recipe or store bought?) for maybe 5-10 minutes before you do the paper towel method. try to use viva brand, there are no patterns and it will be smoother. if it sticks, let it set up longer but not too long or it will not smooth out. i dont know if this works with store bought icing, i make my own.

1 cup butter (or half butter,half veg.shortening)
3.5 cups of sifted powdered sugar
2 tb milk
1 tsp vanilla,
1/2 tsp salt
1 tb meringue powder (helps the icing set up better) optional


disolve salt in the milk. blend butter until smooth, add milk and salt and vanilla. mix in on low speed small amounts of sugar until fully incorporated. mix on low speed for 7 minutes. this is stiff consistency but i like to thin it with milk one tb at a time to a medium consistency for icing the cake.

disolve

Congratulations on your first cake - I was too scared to try to make one before my first class. I use the wide tip all the time to help ice my cakes. There is a large coupler to go with it, however, I just drop the tip in a decorating bag without the coupler and it works fine.

Also, if you are using a crusting buttercream (the Wilton class buttercream crusts) then you should wait about 15-20 minutes after you ice your cake to smooth with a paper towel (Viva is a good brand) or to use the Melvira method with a foam roller. If your icing has crusted, it will not stick to the paper towel or roller. If you are using a non-crusting icing, the paper towel or foam roller method will not work.

The plastic bags are supposed to be disposable, and the vinyl bags are meant to be washed and reused. I use the vinyl bags a lot because I can get a better grip on them than the plastic bags.

Hope this helps! Good luck on your son's cake!

Kim

i personally like the disposable plastic bags the best..just my likes...and i do like the icing tip because i tend to get heavy handed with the icing and that helps me to stay in control. as far as smoothing the icing...may i suggest that you use a foam paint roller...i have found that for me it works wonders!!! i havent used anything else since i tried this...both methods work great but i find that the paint roller seems to be the better of the two..specially if you are heavy handed like i am or if you have hot hands.

best of luck to you...you will do just fine. and if it help any...there are a lot of us out here who have never taken a decorating class so you CAN do this.

Ok, first you cake is great for your first one. Second you learn from your mistakes, so now you know how long to bake the cake, and how to cool it down before flipping. Consider that good lessons to know!

As far as icing the cake, I think most of us are still "learning" My advice would be this. Use more icing then you think you'll need. I think the biggest people mistake made is trying to "stretch" the icing over the cake.

You can use the wide tip, and it does come with coupler, just use a bag just for that tip. The cloth bags are used over and over, and so are the wilton plasticy ones. The disposable are the ones that are clear plastic. They way you know is if it comes in a single pack, it's to be re-used, 50 or more, and it's disposable.

The paper towel method someone mentioned to you, is referred to as the Viva Method on this site, so you can search that, and find plenty of help. It only works with a certain type of buttercream though, so you have to make sure you are using that kind (crusting buttercream) before you attempt. If you can't do that, this may help you... http://www.wilton.com/cake/cakeprep/icing/index.cfm

Cake decorating is an art, and not as easy as most think. With practice, you'll be fine. Don't give up on yourself, and remember it's your first cake. Be patient, and you'll do fine. Hope that helped!

Do you mean the icer tip? Big tip, smooth on one side, serrated on the other? If so, I don't think there's a coupler. You have to get a 16-inch cloth bag and cut a hole at the end for the tip. But it's great for getting a lot of frosting on the cake without stirring up crumbs. A turntable is a big help too. Wilton sells a small plastic one for less than $10 if you're not ready to invest in the big dog yet. Look for the tutorial on faux fondant/the paper towel method. Here's the link:

http://www.cakecentral.com/article10-How-To-Create-Faux-Fondant-The-Paper-Towel-Method----Viva.html

The paper towel thing is cool. You have to use Viva paper towels because they have no pattern. You ice the cake in buttercream, smooth as you can. Let it sit 15-20 minutes until the icing crusts, meaning it's no longer wet to the touch. Then you lay the towel on the cake and gently smooth the icing with your fingers. If you're cake is crusted, it shouldn't stick. There's another method out there called the Melvira method where you use a small foam paint roller. Do a forum search and you'll find lots on that. I also have good luck with dipping my spatula in hot, hot water and smoothing the icing with that. Works well on lighter colors, dark colors can bleed.

More experienced decorators, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the only difference is the plastic ones are disposable. It seems to me like it's a personal preference, what feels better in your hand or maybe decorators with warmer hands like the cloth because they keep the icing from getting too soft? And yep, the cloth ones can be washed with hot soapy water and used over and over.

HI, I see all of your questions have been answered, so just wanted to say WELCOME to CC!!

Oh, and just my 2 cents... I like disposable bags over anything else, I use NO coupler for my icer tip with a 16" bag (my only re-usable one) and I like Melvira's method better than the VIVA method for smoothing icing! HTH.

thank you so much for all your advise. I guess we will see how my next cake turns out. If it looks crapy, ah well were still going to eat it,

I'm new also but you will get tons of help here

YES!, that is one advantage to cake decorating, you can eat your mistakes. I want to say that it took a great amount of courage to show your failure. I am chicken enough to only show my successes, but believe me there have been those dogs that I couldn't wait to get rid of and the number on the scales are there to prove it. Keep practicing, you'll get it; keep on CC, and don't try to learn it all on the first cake.

If you are using the Wilton icer tip, use the #16 featherweight bag with no coupler. The #16 featherweight bag is the only one large enough to accomodate that tip, and that applies ONLY to the Wilton icer tip (other brands make icer tips which are slightly larger than Wilton's and it's most difficult to find a bag for them.) Good luck! Oh and I used to teach Wilton, your first cake is very nice. You have the basics, you just need to be tightened up a bit. Keep with it!

firsttimer, check out the 'worst cake thread'...
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-18850.html

I dont let my cakes cool before taking them out of the pan. I just make sure that I have a cooling rack over the cake tightly before flipping. Good luck, and welcome to the exciting world of cake decorating. Good luck in class also. When I took my classes, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.lol

Just another tip about bags, If your hands get real hot it will melt the icing faster in the disposable bags. I think the disposable bags are a lot easier when it comes time to clean up though. (My mom uses a disposable bag and then just sticks it into the feather weight bag so her icing doesn't melt as fast) The icing tip will leave A LOT of icing on your cake so you might want to buy 2 and bend one down. But it does make it a lot easier than having to do a crumb coat. Then another coat on top.

I prefer the disposable bags. When I was taking cake classes, it was very convenient to use them and of course with buttercream icing you can put your mistakes right back into the bag and use the icing over. But I would only recommend doing this during practice I haven't yet used the cake icer tip--I'm a little intimidated by this and my instructor for Course 1 didn't demonstrate it. Hang in there and keep trying, you'll be more confident in no time.