Senior project paper

Senior project paper

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  Cox 1 Jane Cox Mrs. Tillery AP Literature November 17th, 2011 Cake Decorating People wonder about the point of decorating cakes. The point is simply to make a cake look appealing and additionally, giving more flavor to this sugary dessert. Cake decorating is defined as “a Sugar Art that uses icing and various edible decorative elements to make cakes visually interesting” (www.yourcakedecoratingclass.com). Cake decorating can be traced back to the mid-17th century where it originated in Northern Europe. The art of decorating cakes is considered to be “one of the newer edible arts, especially when it is compared to other culinary arts” (www.recipe-for-cake.com). Since then, there have been methods created as to how to decorate cakes, such as: the Lambeth Method and the Australian Method, but one that most people prefer here in the United States is the Wilton Method. The Wilton Method, itself, has put a touch on cake decorating that is simple, yet appears to be complicated and detailed. Back in 1929, Wilton Enterprises was founded by Dewey Wilton in his one room school in Chicago, Illinois. Here is where his business blossomed into “a leading innovator in cake decorating and candy making designs, products and publications” (www.wilton.com). He started out teaching bakers how to create the delicious candies and cakes that has made Wilton as successful as they are today. Later on in Wilton’s stardom, they found financial problems while trying to meet their consumer’s needs. Dewey Wilton then made the executive decision to create
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  Cox 2 publications, booksand how-to phamplets, that would guide those who wanted to learn how to decorate cakes, without the help of the classes, to sell for more income, which later led to the desire of their fans demanding for Wilton to come out with their own line of products. Of course, Wilton wanted to please their buyers, so they eventually put out a line of their own to aid every day people in the making of Wilton’s famous cakes. When the business started to grow dramatically, “ Vince Naccarato was announced President of Wilton Enterprises in March 1977 and moved the business to its present location in Woodridge, Illinois” (www.wilton.com). His wise decisions took Wilton off even more. He joined in with companies, such as, Copco and Rowoco to create their good quality products. They even created a television series on cake decorating to display cake decorating ideas and techniques and made partnerships with many other companies to enhance their merchandise. To this day, Wilton still carries out their classes that started from the very beginning in a single room. In the end, Wilton has risen to the top and become one of the leaders in cake decorating and it’s merchandise. Although there are many different methods to consider while decorating a cake, Wilton’s Method is probably the easiest. The Wilton Method “mainly uses butter cream. The Wilton Method quickly became one of the most popular types of cake decorating techniques because it allows beginners to move through different levels of expertise and design” (www.cakedecoratingart.com). While other methods focus on using fondant and royal piping icing to intricately design each cake to perfection, Wilton keeps it to the simple of plain, old icing. Wilton’s method draws out a complete outline on how to go about the steps of creating the perfect cake. Wilton shows people that the high dollar and complicated decorating styles are not needed to create an elegant cake. The Method
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  Cox 3 revolves aroundhow to ice the cake. Some say that “frosting a cake can be a fun job, until you get along with it and understand that it is not at all times as simple as it appear” (ezinearticles.com). Thanks to the Wilton Method, icing is no long a hassle. The process starts out simply by applying a crumb layer to keep crumbs from showing through onto the exterior of the cake’s design. After that layer dries for fifteen to twenty minutes, there should be another layer of icing added on top of that layer to cover up the crumb layer. Allowing that layer to dry, once the icing has slightly hardened on the outside, their secret to smoothing out the icing it to use a paper towel and gently rubbing it to give a smooth surface to make it appear as fondant. Sounds a little crazy, but in order for it to work, the icing must be slightly hardened, or else the paper towel will stick to the cake, and it can pull off the icing. In conclusion, this method makes what appears to be complicated, quite easy. The Wilton Method of cake decorating is a unique art that is fun and interesting for people of all different backgrounds. The Wilton Method teaches you how to make a plain cake into a beautiful work of delicious art. Cake decorating involves incorporating many artistic talents and skills. In the Wilton classes, they teach several various techniques. Here is a list of some of the different techniques you can learn: Icing drop flowers, rosettes, shells, pompom flowers, leaves, shaggy mums, ribbon rose (www.squidoo.com). These can be applied to cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and many other dessert pastries. There is a vast list of of techniques available to learn through Wilton. “For 35 years, Wilton has offered fun cake decorating classes” (www.michaels.com). Through Michael’s you can take three of The Wilton Cake Decorating Courses to learn how to create the very cakes that can be seen in magazines and in bakeries. The courses they offer are decorating basics, flowers & cake design, and gum paste & fondant. In the decorating basics course they teach, step by step, the
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  Cox 4 process ofthe Wilton Method to bake a great cake. Also in this course, they teach how to make and color icing and the best way to ice a cake. Most importantly, they give you the knowledge of the basic fundamentals of cake decorating . In the flower and cake design section they teach the art of making various flowers, such as the famous Wilton Rose. They also teach the art of arranging a beautiful and balanced cake top design. The gum paste and fondant course teaches people how to work with and use these easy-to-shape icings. Students also learn the Wilton Technique to making various flowers such as a calla lily or carnation. In addition to that, they also learn how to make several designs and fun cakes. Wilton has several techniques that are wonderful, fun and easy to learn. Each of their techniques are used in many bakeries and schools, which has helped them get their name out in the world. From the beginning, Wilton’s goal has not been to teach people how to decorate cakes, but how to explore and be creative in the way that they go about in doing so. As mentioned “the curriculum at the Wilton School of Cake Decorating and Confectionary Art focuses on teaching students the kind of technical mastery and innovative designs that allow them to go on and create their own unique designs” (www.cakedecoratingart.com). Wilton equips their learners with the knowledge of the basics and the how-to’s, but once thing that they can not teach them is how to use their imagination to come up with their own designs to awe people. The way they teach is hand-on, so their students work with the teachers to grasp the concept. Originally, Wilton’s “classes were advertised to enterprising chefs, caterers and other gourmands with an interest in baking and cake decorating” (www.cakedecoratingart.com). Today, these classes are offered to all those who have interest in them. The classes are typically held in Michael’s arts and craft stores, where they offer three different courses consisting
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  Cox 5 of fourclasses each. Wilton is not all about hiding their secrets; they like sharing their ideas to help this art to grow. Most importantly, Wilton is really good about updating their designs. Wilton’s courses “offer new and updated techniques that are perfect for both beginners and advanced students” (www.michaels.com). The changes are clearly made in their books over time. Wilton pays attention to the change in times and he change of what designs are commonly found in designs, to know how to make their updates. “To keep up with the times, the method also incorporates English and Australian approaches, and recent pulled sugar and gum paste techniques” (www.cakedecoratingclasses.org). As time has progressed, the Australian and English Methods have grown, especially with the creation of wedding cakes, but Wilton is still the most common way found to decorate cakes. Wilton has opened it’s arms to accept the times, the changes, and their competing methods to help them grow as a company. Overall, while Wilton makes sure to keep their style traditional, they also embrace the modern way of decorating as well. All in all, Wilton has by far made it’s mark on the art of cake decorating. “Today, Wilton Enterprises offers the industry´s most comprehensive and innovative selection of baking, cake decorating, candy making, cookie making, wedding, baby, party, seasonal, kitchen and hydration products," all which have made them the successful company that they are today (www.wilton.com). Wilton has what is needed to fit any occasion, no matter how big or small. Seeing them grow from a classroom to a large company over the years shows their true success. Their classes, their products, and their method itself has changed cake decorating for the rest of the world, while still sticking to the traditional
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  Cox 6 styles thatbrought up the art itself and incorporating it into modern day design. Wilton’s success has effected the success of cake decorating and will continue for years to come.
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  Cox 7 Works Cited “Cake Decorating Made Easy.” Squidoo. LLC, 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.squidoo.com/‌busymoms_cake_decorations>. David, Maggie. “Cake Decorating .” Your Cake Decorating Class. N.p., 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.yourcakedecoratingclass.com/>. G, Sid. “The Cake Decorating WIlton Method.” Ezine Articles . Worldwide, 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://ezinearticles.com/‌?The-Cake-Decorating-Wilton- Method&id=1579377>. “Is Cake Decoration an Art? Exploring this Confectionary Tradition.” cakedecoratingart.com. Copyright , 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.cakedecoratingart.com/‌articles/‌is-cake-decoration-an-art-exploring- this-confectionary-tradition/>. “Learning to Decorate Cakes the Wilton Method Way.” cakedecoratingart.com. Copyright, 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.cakedecoratingart.com/‌articles/‌learning-to-decorate-cakes-the- wilton-method-way/>. Michaels. “Wilton Cake Decorating.” Michaels. Michaels , 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.michaels.com/‌wilton_cake_decorating/‌wilton_cake_decorating,defa ult,pg.html>. “A Short History of Cake Decorating.” cakedecoratingart.com. Copyright, 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.cakedecoratingart.com/‌articles/‌a-short-history-of- cake-decorating/>.
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  Cox 8 Wilton. “CorporateOverview.” Wilton . Wilton Industries, 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.wilton.com/‌about/‌corporate.cfm>. “Wilton Cake Decorating Classes .” Cake Decorating Classes. Copyright, 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.cakedecoratingclasses.org/‌cake-decorating- classes/‌wilton-cake-decorating-classes/>. Wilton Industries. “History of Wilton.” Wilton . Wilton Industries , 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.wilton.com/‌about/‌history.cfm>.