So I've been contemplating for a couple of months now on what to write as a proper and informative blog entry. Many of you have asked me to post tutorials or tips, so I finally decided on the contents of my first informational blog entry should be on the essential of cake decorating. But before the baking of cakes, and the different techniques of covering cakes, I believe having the right tools will make or break your final product. Not to mention the time and frustrations saved by having the right tools. Just like any professional chef, us as cake decorators should all have a sharp knife or two in our repertoire. I know there are many sites out there with similar posts on tools you need to begin cake decorating, and by all means I'm not saying mine is the only way to go, but through trial and error and close to two years of experience in decorating cakes, these are what works best for me. And with these tools (and lots of practice) I am able to create clean and (almost) professional looking works. So I hope this post will help those that are thinking about trying their hands on cake decorating and for those that are no stranger to this topic, somehow find something new and useful out of it. From time to time, I will add and re-post other tools and new gadgets which I find useful along with the sources where they can be purchased... enjoy!
My Go-to tools for all my cake decorating:
1. Right angle side smoother - Flour Confections
2. A good size fondant smoother (I use this and the prior together
to create the sharper edges on my cakes... I also bought the
sharp edger... which didn't work for me. Maybe that can be the
topic of another post... not so useful tools that you shouldn't
waste your money on... LOL)
3. Bench scraper (a must-have tool to get a perfectly smooth iced
cakes. Butter-cream ganache alike)
4. Thin cake board (0.08" thick is what I prefer, its a must have for
transporting cakes and creating multi-tiers cakes. And I use it
as a guide for my bench scraper to create that smooth sides for
my fondant to lay on)
5. 1/2" cake drums (I always cover my cake drums in color
coordinating vinyl and finish the edges with ribbons. It just
gives the final product a finished and professional look. To me
nothing is worst then having a beautifully made cake sitting on a
generic, tin-foiled cake drum! Remember, every little detail counts
so make the effort!)
6. Large size silicon mat (This one I think its a must. The one shown
here is a 30"x30". And I wish they come bigger! I had such a
hard time transferring the larger size rolled fondant, I tried
rolling it onto my rolling pin but only ended up with elephant skin
and fold marks on my fondant, or fondant will become too dry due
to the amount of powder sugar I used. With the silicon mat, I can
roll out the fondant without using any powder sugar at all so its
never dried out. And it make covering a cake, especially larger
cakes sooooo much easily since you can just lift up the entire mat
along with the rolled fondant still adhere to it and place it over your
cake, the gently peel the mat away and Voila!)- Creative Cutters
7. Angled spatulas (essential for spreading icing on cakes and also to
get under an iced cake more easy lifting)
8. X-acto knife ( I wish I knew about this sooner. I'm sure most of us
began cake decorating with the Wilton starter kit. With it is
the plastic gum paste sculpting tools... I have to admit, I still use it
til now, but I'm slowly replacing them with the metal gum-paste
tools. I don't know about you but have you noticed the
impressions and blemishes that plastic tools have from the molding
process? It always leaves unwanted marks on my gumpaste work
which its a big no no when you're doing facial features on figures
and those delicate flower work... Back to the X-acto knife. I bought
mine at my local cake decorating supplier so it's food-grade. Make
sure all the tools you use and decorations that goes on your cakes
are food grade. Like I said, I've tried using the cutters from the
kits but they will never provide the ease of use and precision you'll
get from the X-acto knife. When you ponder about how some cake
decorators are able to get those amazing details and clean cuts?
This is how my friend...
9. Fine point decorating needle ( This is great for getting rid of those
unwanted air bubbles in your fondant covered cakes and picking off
those unwanted, pesky lint that are sometimes found. And it's
also great for making fine, detail markings as needed)
10. Rubber spatulas (have more then one! They are great for mixing
and scrapping mixing bowls clean. I got these *set of two from
Ikea and they were only $5 CAD!!! I especially love the thick and
sturdy handle on these) - Ikea
11. Pizza cutter (and a good one! Great for going around the the
cake to cut off excess fondant after covering. Then I finish off the
cut edges with a butter knife)
12. Small trimming scissors ( Great for making cutting for imitating
fur or hair)
13. Cotton swabs ( Great for cleaning up those boo boos on your
painted works)
14. Tweezers ( for picking up and applying small pieces of gum paste
decorations especially if you have sausage fingers... jk)
15. Water pen ( you don't have to have one, a paint brush with a
bowl of water works just fine. But have you ever spilled water or
gum paste solutions all over your work area? Yeah... that's
what I thought. Not to mention the endless dipping motion... I
never tried filling it with a gum-paste glue but I find water works
just fine as an adhesive so I stopped using gum-paste solutions
all together)
16. Pointed tip chop stick ( I use this instead of the similar tool from
the starter kit. Just make sure it doesn't have a seam so you will
get clean work from it. I use it most on doing laugh lines and
wrinkles on the facial features in figure modeling. And yes, my
chop stick is a light saber... don't judge me...)
Above its just some of the tools I use, but they are all used on a regular basis and I can't go without them! There are a few that didn't make it into the picture but its just as important, such as good rolling pins (I like plastic and have a large and a small one on hand), a butter knife, a long ruler and a cake turn table... I will for sure add to this list from time to time when I find more of those amazing finds. So happy caking and hope that helped even if it's only a tiny bit!
-Sharon
1. Right angle side smoother - Flour Confections
2. A good size fondant smoother (I use this and the prior together
to create the sharper edges on my cakes... I also bought the
sharp edger... which didn't work for me. Maybe that can be the
topic of another post... not so useful tools that you shouldn't
waste your money on... LOL)
3. Bench scraper (a must-have tool to get a perfectly smooth iced
cakes. Butter-cream ganache alike)
4. Thin cake board (0.08" thick is what I prefer, its a must have for
transporting cakes and creating multi-tiers cakes. And I use it
as a guide for my bench scraper to create that smooth sides for
my fondant to lay on)
5. 1/2" cake drums (I always cover my cake drums in color
coordinating vinyl and finish the edges with ribbons. It just
gives the final product a finished and professional look. To me
nothing is worst then having a beautifully made cake sitting on a
generic, tin-foiled cake drum! Remember, every little detail counts
so make the effort!)
6. Large size silicon mat (This one I think its a must. The one shown
here is a 30"x30". And I wish they come bigger! I had such a
hard time transferring the larger size rolled fondant, I tried
rolling it onto my rolling pin but only ended up with elephant skin
and fold marks on my fondant, or fondant will become too dry due
to the amount of powder sugar I used. With the silicon mat, I can
roll out the fondant without using any powder sugar at all so its
never dried out. And it make covering a cake, especially larger
cakes sooooo much easily since you can just lift up the entire mat
along with the rolled fondant still adhere to it and place it over your
cake, the gently peel the mat away and Voila!)- Creative Cutters
7. Angled spatulas (essential for spreading icing on cakes and also to
get under an iced cake more easy lifting)
8. X-acto knife ( I wish I knew about this sooner. I'm sure most of us
began cake decorating with the Wilton starter kit. With it is
the plastic gum paste sculpting tools... I have to admit, I still use it
til now, but I'm slowly replacing them with the metal gum-paste
tools. I don't know about you but have you noticed the
impressions and blemishes that plastic tools have from the molding
process? It always leaves unwanted marks on my gumpaste work
which its a big no no when you're doing facial features on figures
and those delicate flower work... Back to the X-acto knife. I bought
mine at my local cake decorating supplier so it's food-grade. Make
sure all the tools you use and decorations that goes on your cakes
are food grade. Like I said, I've tried using the cutters from the
kits but they will never provide the ease of use and precision you'll
get from the X-acto knife. When you ponder about how some cake
decorators are able to get those amazing details and clean cuts?
This is how my friend...
9. Fine point decorating needle ( This is great for getting rid of those
unwanted air bubbles in your fondant covered cakes and picking off
those unwanted, pesky lint that are sometimes found. And it's
also great for making fine, detail markings as needed)
10. Rubber spatulas (have more then one! They are great for mixing
and scrapping mixing bowls clean. I got these *set of two from
Ikea and they were only $5 CAD!!! I especially love the thick and
sturdy handle on these) - Ikea
11. Pizza cutter (and a good one! Great for going around the the
cake to cut off excess fondant after covering. Then I finish off the
cut edges with a butter knife)
12. Small trimming scissors ( Great for making cutting for imitating
fur or hair)
13. Cotton swabs ( Great for cleaning up those boo boos on your
painted works)
14. Tweezers ( for picking up and applying small pieces of gum paste
decorations especially if you have sausage fingers... jk)
15. Water pen ( you don't have to have one, a paint brush with a
bowl of water works just fine. But have you ever spilled water or
gum paste solutions all over your work area? Yeah... that's
what I thought. Not to mention the endless dipping motion... I
never tried filling it with a gum-paste glue but I find water works
just fine as an adhesive so I stopped using gum-paste solutions
all together)
16. Pointed tip chop stick ( I use this instead of the similar tool from
the starter kit. Just make sure it doesn't have a seam so you will
get clean work from it. I use it most on doing laugh lines and
wrinkles on the facial features in figure modeling. And yes, my
chop stick is a light saber... don't judge me...)
Above its just some of the tools I use, but they are all used on a regular basis and I can't go without them! There are a few that didn't make it into the picture but its just as important, such as good rolling pins (I like plastic and have a large and a small one on hand), a butter knife, a long ruler and a cake turn table... I will for sure add to this list from time to time when I find more of those amazing finds. So happy caking and hope that helped even if it's only a tiny bit!
-Sharon
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