Yummy Arts Community - Review

I came across Yummy Arts community when I was looking for some information about cake decorating. My husband’s birthday was fast approaching and because I’m not a cake decorating expert I was looking for some ideas online and all that to make his birthday cake really miraculous.

So how would you normally go about finding relevant information? You could start with books but search engines seem a far simpler option nowadays. I found a myriad of fantastic websites with pretty much every aspect of cake making and decorating but frustratingly I had to consult several websites, aggregate information and then try to make something out of that. Painfully time consuming, if you ask me.

Well, Yummy Arts was an exception to be honest but it is a subscription-based platform so I wasn’t convinced at first. After all I only needed a few tips for my husband’s cake. Though, curiosity prevailed and I had to find out what was hiding behind the virtual walls of a website that even shares the name with my website.

Of course, as a diligent web user I checked whether this is not just another internet spam but to my surprise I only ever found really good comments and positive reviews. It isn’t cheap but I took a little risk and started with a monthly subscription (you know, just in case).

OK, so what is Yummy Arts all about? I think a brief summary of key benefits offers a good start before going into more detail. I find particularly attractive that:

the community mostly comprises professional cake decorators who know what they are doing and are really willing to help, unlike many free forums that exist out there;

you can literally learn in your kitchen and repeatedly watch fantastic video lessons without paying extra and work at your own pace anytime - day or night. You can even organize cake decorating sessions for your friends and neighbors if you want;

there is an almost unparalleled one-to-one e-mail support from a great team of dedicated full-time staff who will answer any queries you may have. I made a little test with a few questions and wow, I received answers in a matter of minutes;

subscription can be easily cancelled by sending an e-mail (cancellations are still so difficult at many other websites);

yummy arts offers one of the best internet forums ever with extremely supportive and helpful members who will always answer all your questions, regardless of how difficult these may be (I’ve made a few friendships on the forum within the first month).

What are potential disadvantages of becoming a Yummy Arts member (if we can call them that):

you have to provide all the ingredients and tools yourself. Unlike cake decorating classes where everything is provided Yummy Arts Community exists in the virtual world and there is not much anyone can do about this;

the website is subscription-based so you have pay either monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual subscription;

some videos in the library are charged separately from the subscription. Members do get special discounts though. This was quite annoying at the beginning, but when you realize how many free videos are awaiting you in the library you forgive them for this - soon realizing recording videos and maintaining the website isn’t cheap.

Let’s go into more detail now. What is Yummy Arts?

It is a website or better said it is to my knowledge one of the best, most active and loyal web communities about cake and cookie decorating that there are. They are aware of you paying the subscription so the services they offer are exceptional. All the information is introduced through articles, step-by-step videos and one of the best one-to-one e-mail support services in existence. If you are more of a visual type then this is definitely the right place for you. For me it is much easier learning new techniques with step-by-step videos than reading instructions from the cookbook and their same-day (often same-hour) responses to my queries are yet to be matched by any other website I have encountered so far (apart from SiteSell of course).

Here are the main parts of the web site:

Videos

Step-by-step videos which are available to all members are a great source of information. All members get free step-by-step “how to” videos added to their library every month. They also get a full length tip-of-the-week video on various cake, cookie and candy techniques. All the videos are keeping you up-to-date but they also inspire and motivate so you simply have no chance to give up. If you have a problem with a particular technique and can't find the video you need, then the Yummy Arts team will be happy to help. They are keen to expand their portfolio and welcome requests for new videos. Unfortunately some videos in the library incur additional charges so you can only access these after purchase. You do get a special discount as a member though.

Articles

The website offers dozens of articles about cookie and cake decoration. There are also articles about cake decorating ideas, cake recipes, how to make a perfect buttercream, articles about common cake decorating mistakes, articles about cupcakes and many more. I believe Yummy Arts are trying to give something to everyone. Some people prefer articles others prefer videos and so on.

Photo Gallery

A great way to boost your imagination is to visit Yummy Arts photo gallery. You can see the cake photos from other members and at the same time you can share your own photos with other cake decorators. You can also make comments to all photos in the gallery and rate them with the star chart. This is where the real community building begins and I cannot express enough gratitude to this community. It is full of dedicated, positive people who thoroughly enjoy their work and helping fellow community members.

Forum

Now, if the photo gallery is where community building begins then Yummy Arts Forum is definitely the pinnacle of the community and my favorite place on the website. Almost 3000 enthusiastic members make this forum a really exciting and an ever active place. With more than 11,000 topics and more than 160,000 posts it is also a very busy place. Everyone on the forum is extremely helpful and encouraging, and so willing to share. It is actually quite amazing how helpful and supportive this community is. I always get the same day reply to every question and you can sense from these replies that members really do wish to help. The forum covers a wide range of topics from candy, cookie and cake decorating to interesting websites and blogs link sharing but you can also advertise your own website this way. You can buy, sell or trade things. You can ask for and give advice about sugar craft in general. You can even post your personal worries, family news, health issues, weight loss etc. Sharing information about classes and shows in your local area is also popular but this is only useful if you live and work in the USA. But overall, it’s enjoying chat with enthusiastic cake decorators, sugar craft experts and novices alike that makes this forum particularly attractive.

Library

The library is the heart and soul of the website and as far as I am concerned the second most visited space after forum. It even looks like a library with bookshelves and titles. There are tons of “step-by-step” videos awaiting you and every week a new free video is added to your library. There are videos about cake and cookie decoration, about specialty cakes, cupcakes, candy, seasonal cakes, seasonal cookies, gumpaste and fondant, sugar craft, wedding cakes, cooking books and many, many more. However, as I said earlier, some of these videos require a separate purchase.

Cake Decorating Search Engine

As far as I know no other website in this category has a cake decorating search engine created on the basis of tons of real people’s queries and comments. There is no need to browse around the site and spend precious time searching for information. Yummy search gives the answer to all your questions and even resembles the greatest search engine of all times. But, if there is no relevant answer or information, there is a form where you can always ask one of Yummy Arts experts for help. From my own experience they are extremely helpful and willing to help, and so far they have always replied on the same day. Simple and effective, exactly what good search engines should be.

Tools

TOOLS is another section of the website that I use a lot. In effect, this section is a logical sequence of short videos introducing TIPS, TECHNICQUES and TOOLS for cake and cookie fdecorating. For example:

- how to use parchment bag

- how to make a perfect writing on cakes

- how to use molds

- how to prepare cake fondant

- how to prepare marshmallow

- how to smoothing the cake

- how to use lettering cutter

and many more (currently it contains 65 videos). Do I need to say more?

Yummy Arts Recipes

This is a collection of cookie and cake recipes submitted by members of the web site. Some of the recipes are in written form; some of them are presented as step-by-step videos and supported by some additional information. The beauty of this section is that it is an ever growing pool of an unbelievable array of recipes. You can leave comments, get to know the authors and again, it’s a fantastic community-driven resource.

Yummy Arts Store

Look, this isn’t the kind of shop you might be expecting but Yummy Arts are not even trying to pretend they are here to compete against other online baking stores although they do sell some basic baking supplies. This store is just in case you wish to buy DVDs, Video Books or more videos. In fact, this is the place where you can order the World's First Cake and Cookie Decorating Video Books and the World's First Candy Making Video Books. In addition you can order “how to make” videos for cakes, cookies, candy and more. There are also video sets about decorating techniques but many of these video sets are available for members of Yummy Arts in the library for free. The prices for Video Books range from $20 - $60, and for video sets from $9 and upwards.

As I said earlier Yummy Arts Store also sell baking supplies like Christmas cookie cutters, Easter cookie cutters, Fairytale cookie cutters, Fondant cutters and so on, there is a big collection of DVDs, and of course they have package offers. Members enjoy an additional discount of $5 or in some cases even up to 50%. Gift certificates on the other hand may be used as a great present in case you’re not really sure what your baking enthusiastic spouse needs.

What about membership?

Well, there are four different options to choose from so there is no need to be scared about spending too much if you’re not sure about subscribing for a whole year. However, bear in mind that 12 monthly subscriptions of $19.95 will cost you $239.40 annually so make sure you consider the benefits of long-term subscriptions instead:

Membership rates:

- 1 month subscription $19.95

- Quarterly subscription $59.85

- Semi-annual subscription $99.75 (order 6 months for the price of 5)

- Annual subscription $179.55 (order 12 months for the price of 9)

And like I said before you can always cancel your membership if you are not happy with what you get but you need to request cancellation at least 48 hours in advance of your subscription renewal date.