Onebyone

I took a cake professional decorating class decades ago. We decorated lots of styrofoam cakes. LOL I remember for my final test and certificate we had to present a decorated cake for a holiday. I choose Halloween. I baked two bunt cakes, Turned one upside down and put the other on top. I cut windows and doors. I made a pumpkin house with lots details. I won a complete set of cake decorating tools. Back then the tools were hard to find in stores. I still use the cake pan belt strips. The strips are made from the silver heat resistant fabric that are padded. They have been washed so many times and still together. The belts will keep the cake baking evenly. A leveler is used for the cake to keep it flat so the layers will not topple. I haven't decorated a cake in years but still use these two baking tools.

sewingpup

My mom made beautiful, decorated cakes. She also took classes with some of the other ladies in the neighborhood. I can't remember where those classes were held. I just remember she had a number of different types of cake pans but nothing really special, just different sized round ones, a Bundt pan, rectangles and square pans. For tools, she mostly just used the normal kitchen stuff except she did have one flexible long thin metal spatula that she used for frosting. Also, those frosting bags and tips. I mostly remember the frostings she made, not what she did with them so much. Basic butter cream, some sort of frosting that started out with cooking flour and butter together? Anyway, it was sticky, and I can't Remember what else she did with it but it tasted nummy on angel food cake served with fresh berries. And her fudge frosting was a real hit. It started out by boiling on the stove, then one of us kids would be assigned to beat it until cool. Sometimes we were sent outside in the winter with the pan of hot frosting and told to set the bottom of the pan in the snow and keep beating so it would cool faster if she was in a hurry. A favorite treat was that left over frosting spread on saltine crackers. So nummy!

indymomof5

[QUOTE=tropit;8594520]A cake leveler saw looks like a hack saw. Mine looks like this one:https://www.amazon.com/Leveler-Calia...68545840&psc=1

Thank you so much! I truly had no idea on the bands, but thought maybe on the saw. I had a different picture in mind, but I really like the one you have. Thank you again for the information. My dil does cakes, she has neither of these items, so I may be picking them up for her as a surprise.

Feather3

I used to decorate & sell cakes years ago. Everything from basic birthday cakes, sheet cakes, shaped cakes (think mickey mouse, etc.) to wedding cakes. Had to give it up years ago as my hands & back can no longer take it. My all time favorite cake I made was a strawberry wedding cake. It was 4 double layers high with 144 marzipan strawberries I made in different sizes.

The largest wedding cake I made was over 6 feet tall. That one was a nightmare delivering, even in sections.

I still have some of my decorating tools. I did sell a lot of it years ago. A lot has changed in cake decorating since I gave it up.

Onebyone

The decorating icing we used in the class was powdered sugar creamed into Crisco shortening. That is basic non butter cream frosting ingredients still used for frosting. Butter and other flavors are added. We used powder food coloring. Unless stated buttercream made with real butter, it's shortening and sugar as the main ingredients.