Review of Wendy Kromer’s “Learning the Lambeth Method” Class

My name is Joanne Costa and I am a “Craftsy-holic”. Yes, that is right; I am addicted to Craftsy and the wonderful teachers that I can access with the click of my mouse!

I get excited every time a new class pops up and my excitement was twofold when I saw that Wendy Kromer was teaching a class. On royal icing! And the Lambeth method! Actually, those are three reasons to get excited, but I can add another one by saying she is the Martha Stewart “cake darling” featured in her book, “Martha Stewart’s Wedding Cakes”. I have that beautiful wedding cake book that showcases cake after gorgeous cake designed and implemented by Wendy Kromer. Is it any wonder why taking her class was my next Craftsy journey?

This class focuses on learning how to take royal icing to the highest height of classic elegance. Ornate, exquisite, intricate designs and yet somehow Wendy breaks it down to make it as simple as possible to do. The first of many tips she shares and secrets she reveals is how to make a perfect bowl of royal icing. Royal icing is so wonderful to work with in so many ways. But, sometimes it is hard to get the consistency right for the application. Too much water in your mixture and you might as well flood cookies, not enough water and you might as well use it to cement gingerbread houses! (And I have done both many times!) But, Wendy has a wonderful recipe she shares, with a set of visual clues to look for to ensure it is ready to pipe like a dream.

This class will appeal to advanced beginners and intermediate cake artists. Heck, even advanced artists can learn a thing or two. Even though this piping technique has been around for many, many years the techniques you will learn and perfect will serve you extremely well any time you pick up a piping bag! Wendy’s calm and soothing voice and her words of encouragement really help build confidence. She shares very valuable insight with her students and is a natural born teacher.

There are times during her piping demonstrations when I used one of Craftsy’s most useful tools, the fabulous “30-second repeat button”. All that repeating helped with cementing the techniques in my mind, especially when Wendy made a point of explaining how to hold your hand, the type of pressure and movements needed to make the piping “perfect”. Also I should mention that there are no "practice boards" included in the course materials, so the "30-second repeat button" feature is even more critical as you follow along and pipe with her during the course.

This class certainly has taken my skills to the next level and the same can happen for anyone that takes this class! Practice makes perfect, but if someone doesn’t teach you the right technique, you will keep practicing the wrong technique. Does that make sense? My brother has a saying for thinking you are doing something right when you aren’t, it’s called being “confidently wrong”.

This class is not only robust squeezing of icing out of a bag, so you will be pleasantly surprised with all the other techniques and tricks that Wendy shares. Her advice on timing, design, utilizing inexpensive cake supplies, color choices, embellishments and taking the traditional Lambeth method and translating it into modern cake design are all priceless. Anyone interested in learning these valuable lessons will not be disappointed when they sign up for this awesome Craftsy class. Some of these techniques can even be translated into buttercream and won’t that make your “buttercream only” wedding cake or special event client happy? I can see their admiring faces now!

Does Learning the Lambeth Method sound right for you? Purchase it here for 25% Off! Not ready to purchase? Then we recommend starting with one of Craftsy's free mini cake decorating classes!