10 Must have Cake Decorating Tools in the Kitchen
A comprehensive list of the most essential kitchen tools you need to start cake decorating at home.
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Cake decorating requires you to have few tools to start.
Here is a quick list of all the basic cake decorating tools you will need for baking at home.
- Piping Bags
Piping Bags are the first tool required to start cake decorating.
There are two types of piping bags which you can use for getting a professional finish on your cakes:
- Disposable Piping Bags – These are usually transparent and come in all sizes, Small, Large and Extra Large. Once done using, you need to dispose them in the trash.
- Silicone Piping Bags – These are reusable piping bags which you can wash and reuse again.
You also get a tube like piping bags with a push mechanism. These can be avoidable as they make piping difficult. The most common mistake of beginners is they choose these kind of plastic piping tubes which do not get them a proper finish.
2. Nozzles
Nozzles are the second most important tool for piping those beautiful designs on your finished cake.
Always go for stainless steel nozzles. Avoid the plastic ones.
Also, Stainless Steel nozzles are easier to clean when you immerse them in hot water after using.
3. Food Colors
There are three types of food colors that are commonly used in the food industry:
a. Gel-based Food Colors
Always Always Always use gel food colors with your icing: be it whipped cream, buttercream or white ganache. Gel Colors do not let the icing separate like water-based colors do.
b. Water-based Food Colors
These are good to use in cooking and not baking as they are water based and will not blend well with the icing cream which is fat-based.
c. Powder-based Food Colors
These can be used in cooking or best avoided as they mostly contain additives and never give the desired color unless you add them in large quantities.
4. Cake Boards/Drums
Cake Boards are the base on which you will place your cake layers. These are made of cardboard and covered with a sheet of aluminium foil. These are available in different shapes so you can choose them according to the shape of your cake. These are best for small-sized cakes.
Cake Drums on the other hand are much thicker than cake boards and are used for heavy cakes with more servings which are made to serve a large group of people. These are made of thick layers of cardboard or using thin sheets of plywood.
5. Sprinkles
These are the heart and soul of any pretty cake! Sprinkles are little sugar balls which come in all colors and shapes.
They may leak color on whipped cream icing.
6. Silicone Brush/ Spray Bottle
You can use this for soaking your cake layers in simple sugar syrup before layering them with icing.
Also read: 10 Must-have Beginner Bakers Tools in the Kitchen
7. Spatulas
These are very important to give a finish to your cakes after you have applied the icing all over the cake layers. These give a smooth finish to the icing if used properly and give your cakes a beautiful look. You can use small spatulas for short cakes and long spatulas for taller cakes.
8. Scrapers/Cake Combs
You can use these for getting a patterned look on your cake after you have given a finish on the cake using spatula.
9. Turntable
This is always a good asset to have while decorating cakes. Avoid the cheap plastic ones as they are not durable and do not solve their purpose. They are very finicky to use and may break easily if not handled with care.
Always go for a heavy-duty turntable if you wish to decorate cakes for a long time.
10. Hand Mixer
This tool is required if you are using Whipped Cream or Buttercream to decorate your cakes. This tool becomes necessary as beating of cream or butter by hand is not ideal also to mention, very energy and time consuming.
I have recently written a detailed post on how to choose a hand mixer for baking and you should definitely give that a read before you choose your machine.
Finally, I would like to mention an additional tool that is not an essential but is very helpful while decorating and that is:
The Coupler
A coupler is very useful if you want to use the same piping bag with another nozzle. You can fix it on the piping bag with the nozzle in such a way that the nozzle becomes changeable.
This tool is very useful if you want to pipe different nozzle designs with the same color icing. In absence of this you will need to change the piping bag.
It is generally available on Amazon as a part of a cake decorating tool combo as in the image below. You can also shop for it in your local cake supply store where you will get it for a cheaper price.
These are the basic cake decorating tools you will need in your kitchen if you are just starting out with cake decorating!
I hope this post helps you to get your cake decorating essentials and your cake decorating experience is pleasant. Tell me in comments if you would like to add any tool to this list.
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