Wilton instructor Casey Puehler decorates a cupcake during a class. Wilton has returned to offering classes, something that’s “part of our DNA,” said Declan O’Leary, president of the Naperville-based cookware company. (Photo by Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)

Far more comfortable with a bag of Ruffles than the ruffles of cupcake-decorating, the bar was set low as I walked into the Wilton Sweet Studio in Naperville.

Participating in Wilton’s “Frost & Flourish: Cupcake Decorating Basics” would not have been my first choice for how to spend a Thursday night. It might not even make the Top 100 list, but to get a better understanding of Wilton’s expansion into baking and decorating classes, I agreed to do it.

I had no illusions of the TLC cable network calling me at the end of the night and asking me to star in “Cake Boss 2,” but I thought, “Grab a spatula, cover some cupcakes, toss some sprinkles on top and Voila! Be home in time for a West Coast NBA game.”

When I struggled to get my apron on (who can tie things behind their back anyway?), I was ready to head to a local watering hole and watch an East Coast NBA game.

However, once situated, I was able to do the basics as we got started: getting my buttercream into the bag, getting the right nozzle on the bag and even somewhat executing the first couple of decorating techniques. I was “splooshing” with the best of them (or at least I thought I was).

Our instructor, Casey Puehler, could not have been nicer, walking around with encouraging words as she gave instruction and assistance. She even said I was “getting it,” when I really wasn’t.

When we moved on to making flowers, I was way out over my skis and struggled to make even one petal.

Chronicle Media staff writer Kevin Beese and his wife, Patti, show cupcakes they decorated during a Wilton class.

I looked around, saw my wife’s work and my other classmates’ creations and flashed back to third grade at St. Jude the Apostle Grade School in South Holland where my classmates made incredible creations with ink and a straw and I just made a mess. I don’t think my parents even talked to me when I got a “Needs Improvement” check mark for art on my report card. They saw the handwriting (and art) on the wall.

Puehler nicely noted that any mistakes I made “were edible.”

Asked if I have a future in cake decorating, Puehler quickly responded, “I think you have a future in taking more classes.”

Always a baker, Puehler learned cake decorating during COVID.

“I was locked up and decorated cakes constantly, practicing with my piping tips,” she said.

Moving on from her work in youth development, the Elk Grove Village resident worked at a bakery as a cake decorator before landing the Wilton position.

“I love teaching decorating. Cupcakes, cakes, cookies, I love it because people come in here thinking they can’t do it and then they leave so shocked with what they’ve been able to create.

“I just love seeing people create things because it is a unique skill. You’re using multiple areas of your brain. So, it’s my favorite thing.”

Puehler had experience with Wilton long before walking into the Naperville business’ corporate offices.

Puehler makes a flower on a cupcake. (Photo by Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)

“Wilton’s been my favorite brand for my whole life,” she said. “My grandma has all of this stuff. “People collect all of the different shapes of pans. I had a ton of those growing up so I’m very familiar with Wilton. I’ve always been a big fan of their products.”

For Wilton, offering classes goes back to the company’s roots.

The company started in 1929 in Chicago and for 40 years, the founder, Dewey McKinley Wilton, only offered a baking and cake-decorating school.

“It was really grounded in education,” said Declan O’Leary, president of Wilton Brands. “Then his son joined the business in the late ’60s. They started to do a bit of mail order and started selling the products and equipment.”

O’Leary said the company is passionate about the education component and excited to bring back in-person classes.

Class members make their creations during Wilton’s “Frost & Flourish: Cupcake Decorating Basics.” (Photo by Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)

“It helps to define what Wilton stands for. It’s part of our DNA,” O’Leary said. “We wanted to make sure we brought those classes back and the principal of education, of learning how to bake, learning how to decorate, the mindfulness that goes with that.”

Wilton’s relaunch of classes started in August with the creation of the Sweet Studio, located in the company’s Naperville corporate offices. It had been separate from the corporate offices when Wilton was placed in Darien.

“It was really important for us to bring our consumers into our head office for all of our teams to participate and connect and see who the people are who sort of live and breathe our product, our brand every day,” O’Leary said.

He noted that 90 percent of individuals who have taken Wilton classes since the relaunch are beginning decorators and bakers.

“It is really exciting for us to bring new bakers and decorators in and teach them the skills,” O’Leary said. “There’s a whole new generation that we want to make sure we are connecting with into the future.

“One of the challenges of convenience foods is people are baking and decorating less, people are cooking less at home. We’re big advocates of making sure we control that.”

He said the majority of students are coming from the Chicago area, as well as Indiana and Michigan.

The creations of the Chronicle’s Beese

“People are using Naperville as a destination, without wanting to go into Chicago,” O’Leary said. “They have a great opportunity on a Friday or Saturday to get together with their mother or their sister or some friends, come to Naperville, do a course, use Naperville as their base, go shopping through the weekend,” he said. “It’s been really interesting for us to see that opportunity and how it’s manifested itself.

“People are traveling from Indiana, from Iowa, from up into Wisconsin, and they’re coming and staying in Naperville, which is really exciting for the opportunity in the local area.”

Wilton’s offering of courses caters to entry-level bakers and decorators, although there are offerings for master’s level work as well.

“As you increase your skills, we’re building those courses in,” O’Leary said. “That ultimately leads to a master’s capability. Our master’s courses are really preparing highly skilled home bakers and decorators to potentially set up their own businesses.”

He said half of the students in Wilton’s last master’s class – a two-week time commitment — were individuals looking to start their own home-based baking and decorating businesses.

O’Leary said he is happy to help bring Wilton back to its roots with the baking and cooking classes.

“The reason Wilton is known is because of the expertise and education,” he said. “We wanted to make sure it was at the heart of what we’re doing.”

See Wilton class offerings at https://wilton.com/wilton-sweet-studio/classes/.

kbeese@chronicleillinois.com