About Golda's Kitchen

For the novice and expert alike, there is always something new to learn from attending a cooking class. Our classes are conducted in the fully-equipped demonstration kitchen of our retail store.

We strongly recommend that you register for classes early, as they may fill up quickly. If you have a particular topic of interest for a class, please let us know; we may be able to offer the class later in the season. And, check back periodically for additions to the course schedule.

• Cake Decorating Classes
• PME Professional Diploma Courses
• Course Registration Policies

Whether you prefer to bake your cakes from scratch or prepare them using a mix, you can turn every cake and dessert into something special using some simple -- and some not-so-simple -- decorating techniques. It's easy and rewarding to decorate wonderful cakes and other desserts that will delight your family and friends. Unless otherwise noted, classes are suitable for beginners with no prior experience.

Unless otherwise noted, all classes are hands-on/participatory. Multi-week classes generally require practice or additional preparation at home between classes. With some exceptions, hands-on classes are limited to 12 - 13 participants. Classes are taught by Wilton certified instructors Maria Kovacs and Vanessa Ramjohn, professional cake decorator Christine Hasler, and pastry chef Lisa Wong.

Learn the fundamentals of decorating cakes, cupcakes, and cookies in this introductory course. You begin by learning essential tips for baking cakes and preparing icing that make it easier to create beautiful cakes and decorations, and you'll receive hands-on guidance in leveling, torting, filling, smoothly icing, and combing your cakes. You'll then learn essential skills for decorating the perfect party cake: piping stars, shells, rosettes, lines, zigzags, and dots; creating drop flowers, pompom flowers, shaggy mums, simple ribbon roses, and leaves; and creating printed and script inscriptions. Icing and cookies are provided to practice simple decorating techniques during the first class. For the remaining classes, you prepare your own icing and decorate two cakes and an assortment of cupcakes, preparing you to decorate cakes for a family birthday, office shower, or party.

With rolled fondant and gum paste, there's no limit to the incredible decorations you can make for your cakes. These easy-to-shape icings allow you to create amazing hand-shaped flowers, beautiful borders, and bold accents. You'll learn how to create an artful bow, a variety of flowers -- chrysanthemum, rose, carnation, calla lily, rosebud, and daisy - leaves, and embellished borders.

This course builds on the basics and introduces you to sophisticated ways to bring your cakes and desserts to life. You'll learn to create breathtaking icing flowers including roses, rosebuds, daffodils, violets, apple blossoms, primrose, and lilies, and arrange them in a beautifully balanced cake-top bouquet or floral spray. You'll also learn to create impressive borders, a basketweave design for the sides of cakes, and be introduced to gum paste and fondant.

Learn the skills necessary to decorate and assemble a fondant-covered tiered cake, such as wedding cakes or elaborate party cakes. You'll pipe stringwork, scrolls, and simple but elegant designs. Learn to create roses and small accent flowers on wire and accent with shimmer and lustre dusts to create a floral spray. In the final class, you'll assemble and decorate a 3-tiered wedding cake.

Crooked cakes, funky cakes, whimsy cakes, or wacky cakes - whatever you like to call them, you'll learn to assemble these gravity-defying cakes in a structurally sound manner. During the first two classes, the instructor will demonstrate the many different ways of assembling wacky cakes. In the optional third class, you'll produce your own two-tiered fondant-covered crooked cake.

Learn to prepare a variety of different icings and fillings to make your cake not only look great but taste great as well. Pastry chef Lisa Wong will teach you to prepare a basic pastry cream with various fillings, lemon curd, chocolate ganache, as well as a variety of buttercream and whipped cream frostings.

Demonstration only -- not hands-on

In this project class, you'll create beautiful princess figures out of modelling paste (a 50/50 mix of fondant and gum paste).

Learn the techniques necessary for decorating beautiful cupcakes, suitable for milestone birthdays, anniversaries, and weddings. Rolled fondant will be used to cover and decorate the cupcakes. You bring the baked cupcakes and take home elegant decorated treats!

Learn the techniques necessary for decorating beautiful cookies, suitable for gift giving and holiday decorations. Egg wash glaze cookie icing, buttercream icing, run sugar icing (colour flow), candy coating, fondant, and other advanced techniques will be used to decorate the cookies. You'll learn to decorate with coloured sugars, sprinkles, glitter, dragees, and lustre dusts. You bring the baked cookies and take home decorated treats!

This class is suitable for pre-teens (accompanied by a parent or adult guardian), teenagers, and those with no prior decorating experience.

Learn the techniques necessary for decorating beautiful cupcakes, suitable for birthdays, parties, and holiday treats. Buttercream icing will be used to cover the cupcakes and you'll learn basic piping and flower making skills. You bring the baked cupcakes and take home decorated treats!

This class is suitable for pre-teens (accompanied by a parent or adult guardian), teenagers, and those with no prior decorating experience.

Develop new skills for combining different cake decorating methods, practice your cake decorating skills, and learn new techniques during this project class. Guided by the instructor, you'll carve cake layers to create a cornucopia (horn of plenty) shaped cake, covered in fondant with a basketweave design. Fill the cornucopia with fruits and vegetables modelled in marzipan and decorate with autumn leaf cookies.

Learn to create beautiful modelled fondant figures which can be used to decorate cupcakes and cakes for baby showers, children's birthdays, and other special occasions.

Learn to create an assortment of beautiful, colourful, edible gems and jewels using Isomalt and Venuance pearls (natural sugar substitutes), perfect for decorating cakes or dessert platters. The skills acquired in this class can also be applied to creating a variety of hard candies and lollipops.

If you've always wanted to work with chocolate, but didn't know where to start, this class is for you! You'll learn how to work with compound chocolate - including the different tools used and methods for melting chocolate - and how to create a variety of candies and lollipops, pipe chocolate, and paint leaves to create beautiful decorations. You'll also learn how to prepare and work with candy clay for creating baskets and roses.

Professional courses for professional people -- these courses have been designed specifically for those anticipating selling cakes to family and friends or as a commercial business. The courses address basic and advanced cake decorating techniques and creative styling, and also cover the basic business aspects of cake decoration. They are, however, suitable for anyone who wishes to expand their cake decorating skills and knowledge.

The PME Professional Diploma Courses have been developed by Knightsbridge PME of the United Kingdom, one of the world's leading manufacturers of top quality cake decorating equipment for professionals and hobbyists alike. The PME Professional Diploma Courses are conducted only by authorized PME retailers whose instructors have been trained and approved by Knightsbridge PME. Classes are taught by PME-approved instructor Maria Kovacs.

The course program consists of three modules: Sugar Flowers, Rolled Fondant, and Royal Icing & Piping. Each course requires a minimum of 25 hours of instruction; students who complete a course and have demonstrated competency in the subject are eligible to receive a PME Professional Diploma certificate. Each module is a completely separate course, and it is not essential to complete all three modules. Students who have obtained PME Professional Diplomas in each of the three modules (Sugar Flowers, Rolled Fondant, and Royal Icing & Piping) will be awarded a PME Masters Certificate.

Please note that demonstration of competency in the subject area is required for a PME Professional Diploma to be issued. Diplomas will be awarded at the discretion of the instructor, and may require the completion of additional projects beyond those completed in-class.

Royal icing and piping skills are often considered to be the traditional skills of cake decorating. With the increasing popularity and enthusiasm for rolled fondant, it is easy to assume that piping skills may no longer be important, but for the professional cake designer, they are a vital element that should be underestimated. For most cake decorators, piping skills are probably one of the most difficult to achieve and, unlike other decorative media, these techniques may require practicing and perfecting over a period of time. In this class, you'll learn both basic and advanced piping techniques, including Australian stringwork.

• Basic and advanced piping techniques
• Simple piped flowers
• Brush embroidery ideas
• Inscriptions, lettering, and numbers
• Runout/colourflow techniques and borders
• Collars and extension borders
• Piped lace techniques
• Cake balance and multi-tiered cakes
• Cake assembly, transportation, and presentation
• Portion sizing

Traditionally, flowers have been an integral part of many cake designs. Creating sugar flowers captures the imagination of many cake decorators. The different techniques, styles, colours, and varieties of flowers offer great opportunity for individual expression and creativity, and allow the sugar artist to strive for as much, or as little, botanical accuracy as they wish. These courses demonstrate and explain a wide variety of techniques, ideas, and flowers which will meet the needs of many cake decorators and which can be adapted and perfected by decorators of all skill levels.

Students who complete both Sugar Flowers I and Sugar Flowers II and have demonstrated competency in the subject are eligible to receive a PME Professional Diploma certificate (Sugar Flowers module).

In this introduction to the art of sugar flowers, you'll learn to make incredibly lifelike flowers out of gum paste. A variety of simple flowers and foliage will be taught, including roses, carnations, gerbera daisies, calla lilies, sweet peas, and fantasy flowers.

• Edible pastes and icings used to create sugar flowers
• Introduction to unwired sugar flowers
• Appliqué flowers and floral plaques
• Simple roses and blossoms
• Introduction to wired sugar flowers
• Basic flower making techniques (e.g., softening and shaping petals)
• Mexican hat techniques
• Calyx flowers and multi-petal layers
• Flower buds
• Foliage

Continue to develop your skills in creating lifelike floral arrangements out of gum paste. The creation of more complex flowers, including a variety of roses and orchids, hibiscus, petunias, and sunflowers, will be taught. Professional business approach topics will also be discussed, including using sugar flowers for business, the use of alternative flowers (silk, fresh, and commercially prepared), adding non-edible decorations to enhance floral sprays and arrangements, and sugar flower pricing.

• Introduction to flowers created using individually-wired petals
• Traditional roses and lilies
• Variety of orchids
• Guidelines for arranging sugar flowers
• Creating wired arrangements

With rolled fondant, there's no limit to the incredible decorations you can make for your cakes. This easy-to-use cake covering creates wonderful opportunities for a wide range of celebration, novelty, and wedding cakes. You'll learn how to handle, cut, and tint fondant; use it to cover a cake and board; and add effects such as ribbon garlands, rope borders, punched strips, inlays, and appliqués. You'll also create simple and more complex cake toppers and figures. The various methods of stacking and supporting multi-tiered cakes will also be demonstrated and discussed. Professional business approach topics will also be discussed, including colour balance and presentation; cake portions and fondant quantities; pricing guidelines; accepting cake orders, deposits, and payments; and advertising and promotion.

• Basic techniques
• Coating, crimping, and embossing
• Fabric effects, textured drapes, and frills
• Ribbons, bows, and sugar embroidery
• Modelling fun figures
• Textures, inlay, and appliqué
• Stacked cake design and handling
• Designing celebration cakes and colour balance