Hello All,

I am seriously considering attending the cake decoration course at French Culinary Institute or Institute of Culinary Education.

Any feedback on which institute is better?

Also, these courses are very very VERY expensive FCI - 21,000 USD and ICE - 14,000 USD - which pretty much means my life savings :(

Has anyone attended or have any thoughts on these courses? Any help in this matter is highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance:)

There are many other options.

Look up the community college closest to you that offers a baking arts program.  They do continuing-education courses where you pay maybe $300 and get several lessons.  You then decide if you like the style of education that college offers.

Look at the Wilton school in Chicago and the Bonnie Gordon school in Toronto for one-day courses.  Again a few hundred dollars BEFORE you commit to a longer course. Their long courses are more reasonable than you listed. The cental Wilton school has better training than your local Wilton-at-Michaels commercials masquerading as courses.

Look at your local adult-education courses.  They probably offer a basic decorating course.

You need to know that you could pay for 2 or 4 years of culinary college--what you listed for tuition is the low end of the range that offers a diploma or certificate. People usually get student loans for those diplomas.

Another option is to spend $100 on hardbacked Wilton books on ebay, and then watch Youtube videos of techniques to learn them yourself.  The books have a lot of useful information packed in--like candymaking from a Swiss chef.

AThanks bakingirene :)

I am from India. I would be travelling from here just for the course. Hence I need to think a lot more. Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of attending courses over time :(

Hi I'm an allumni of the French Culinary Institute, I took the pastry arts program. Great program for learning the basics in each section of the curriculum, goes very fast. Its best that you go in with some knowledge or experience baking. We only had 1 week and a half with Ron Ben Isreal to learn sugar flowers which is not nearly enough time to actually get the skill down. As for the cake decorating program I was considering attending as well but honestly don't expect them to teach me any more than what I can learn from here or any other cake tutorial site. Ask to see if you can sit in on a class to see if its a program that right for you. hope this helps

Here is another cake decorating school in NYC. Way less money and its really good! WWW.Sugarroom.com

AThanks a lot :). Really helpful

You really don't need to drop all that money to learn cake decorating.  There are SO many books out there that can help you with the basics, and there are also free videos on YouTube.  Many popular decorators also have videos that you can buy.  Some are a little pricey, but they are good if you need to see how something is done in person.

Now if you want to learn actual pastry, that is another thing that you can do without school, but you need to have a good idea of what your results should be if you are trying to teach yourself.  I have been to France several times so I know what certain pastries are supposed to taste and look like.  But books can help you learn the skill and technique. 

plus you can know all the techniques and have every tool

you just simply gotta practice to get this down right

I attended several weekend classes at ICE, and agree with what others have said.  If you are looking specifically for cake decorating there are much cheaper ways to learn.  The Wilton's Masters Program is a good starting point.  Also, consider DVD's and YouTube.  There are many excellent books and cake deco magazines.  It may be a little time consuming trying to find out what you are interested in and what areas you like, but it is significantly cheaper than the two schools you mentioned.

AHi everyone l live in belguime and i took a 4year course and it cost me about 200eu but even though i still go to youtube and use books to learn more if anyone is intrested in eupeen pasties feel free to ask

Dear NandiniGandotra,

The International Culinary Center created the 300-hour Cake Techniques Program with the idea of creating an all around program designed for the modern cake designer. Like its sister program, the Career Pastry Arts, it is an intense, hands on class that encompasses the essential parts to be a well rounded cake technician and baker. You will be challenged with cake and frosting preparations, buttercream and royal icing pipings, cake carving and stacking, sugar (pastillage, pulled, poured, and blown), chocolate work, advanced fondant and chocolate modeling work. Our professional instructors will guide you through all the various elements of a cake decorator's knowledge. Being in the class setting allows you a chance to get a more critical eye, as well as encouragement and motiviation from classmates.

A longer look at the cirriculum can be found here:

http://www.internationalculinarycenter.com/courses/ny/pas/chef/cake_techniques_design

I encourage to reach out to admission reps or myself with any further questions. Incidently, a good amount of international students enroll in the program.

Best of luck in your career path!

Jansen Chan

[email protected]

Jansen Chan

Director of Pastry Operatioins

___________________________________

462 Broadway, New York, NY  10013

T  646.254.7567

F  646.254.1267

WWW.INTERNATIONALCULINARYCENTER.COM

Here's the thing if you are looking to become a Cake decorator there are many online resources to learn the skills necessary to become a cake artist. Many of the well known cake designers are coming out with "how to" videos and yes you have you tube. Now if you are considering Pastry Arts then I highly recommend you do attend a Culinary School such as the French Culinary Institute! Sure you can learn from a book but Pastry is a science! and you will need the hands on experience. If you are looking for a degree program in Pastry Arts then the Culinary Institute of America is the way to go and is considered the best Culinary School in the country!  Hope this info helps :) 

http://www.cakesbydesign.cc/

http://university.pinkcakebox.com/

http://www.craftsy.com/classes/cake-decorating

http://www.caljavaonline.com/classes1.htm#ron_ben_israel

http://www.mikesamazingcakes.com/

http://www.confetticakes.com/classes.html

www.sugarroom.com

www.wilton.com

http://www.nycakeacademy.com/

http://www.mycakeschool.com/

http://www.cakesuniquelyyoursschool.com/

https://www.sugarflowercakeshop.com/events/type/classes

http://www.wildflowersbylori.com/classes.html

Agreed.  "The university of Youtube" as I call it, is where I learned most of my cake decorating skills.  I graduated from a baking and pastry program which, as mentioned above, only gave me the basics.  I could travel down Negative Nancy Lane on the whole school subject, but I will say this: yes, I made good connections, and yes some of my classes were worth the money, but only a few.  I went to school to be a pastry chef so our goals may be a bit different, but if cake decorating is what you want to do, learn from the people here, on youtube, or with online classes, etc.  Many of the people here are very willing to share their techniques and experiences.  It really is what you make of it, if you are driven you will succeed!

All in all though, not worth the money to only learn how to decorate cake. 

Instead of spending so much money, maybe you could fly out for a specialty class with one of your favorite cake decorators?

Thanks so much to all of you for taking the time out to help me out. I really appreciate the support and this has definitely helped me get a lot more clarity!!! Thanks again :)

AHi nandini m from mumbai even m planning to go out for cake course have u found any good institute