7 Essential Tools For Cake Decorating Beginners
Are you just starting out with cake decorating and wondering which tools are the best ones to buy when you are new to it? I will share my 7 Essential Tools for Cake Decorating Beginners that I use every time I decorate a cake.
It can be overwhelming when just starting out learning a new skill or interest. There are SO MANY cake decorating tools to choose from in the shops.
You don’t want to waste your money on buying tools that you won’t use, and that will sit in the drawer collecting dust! Learn which of my 7 tools are the go-to decorating tools. This will stop the overwhelm and save you money while you are learning your new skill.
What will you learn
I am going to provide the list of my 7 Essential Tools to get you started with cake decorating, and I will give you a brief description of the tool/equipment and a picture of what it looks like so you know what to look for in the shop.
My 7 Essential Cake Decorating Tools
- Piping bag & Nozzles/ Tips
- Turntable
- Angled/offset Spatula/ Palette knife
- Bench Scraper
- Serrated knife
- Fondant Smoother
- Couplers
What do these tools look like, & How do you use these tools?
Piping Bags & Tips
Why It’s Essential:
Piping bags and tips are your best friends when it comes to decorating cakes and cupcakes. They allow you to create a variety of designs, from intricate borders and swirls to roses and lettering.
How It Works:
Start with a set of basic tips (round, star, petal) and a reusable or disposable piping bag. Attach your selected tip to the bag using a coupler (we’ll explain this in more detail later), fill it with frosting, and you’re ready to go!
Pro Tip:
The key to smooth piping is consistency. Practice applying even pressure to your piping bag, and remember to stop squeezing before lifting off the tip to avoid messy designs.
Piping Nozzle
Piping nozzles are cake decorating tools used in adding designs and decoration on iced caked. They are referred to as so many things which include: piping tips, icing tips, frosting tips, cake decorating nozzles and piping nozzles. Piping nozzles are made of either metal or plastic.
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Turntable
Why It’s Essential:
A turntable makes decorating your cake so much easier. It allows you to rotate the cake as you apply frosting and decorations, ensuring smooth and even coverage all around.
How It Works:
Simply place your cake on the turntable and gently spin it while applying frosting with an offset spatula (see tool #3). This helps you get a clean, smooth finish without having to awkwardly move around the cake.
Pro Tip:
For extra stability, place a damp paper towel or a non-slip mat underneath the cake board to keep it in place while decorating.
Angled – Offset Spatula/Palette knife
Why It’s Essential:
An angled-offset spatula is perfect for spreading frosting evenly across the surface of your cake. The angled design makes it easy to frost cakes without accidentally dipping your hand into the icing.
How It Works:
Use the offset spatula to spread the frosting across the top and sides of the cake, keeping it as even as possible. This tool also helps with lifting delicate cake decorations onto the cake.
Pro Tip:
For a smooth finish, dip your spatula in hot water, dry it off, and then glide it over the frosting.
Cake Leveler or Serrated Knife
Why It’s Essential:
A cake leveller or serrated knife ensures that your cake layers are flat and even, which is important for stacking and decorating. Uneven layers can make your cake look lopsided and cause the frosting to shift.
How It Works:
Gently slice through the dome of the cake to create a flat surface. If you’re stacking multiple layers, use the leveller to ensure they all sit perfectly on top of each other.
Pro Tip:
Chill your cake in the fridge for 30 minutes before levelling it for a cleaner cut.
Bench scraper
Why It’s Essential:
Want those sharp, professional-looking edges on your cakes? A bench scraper is a tool for the job. It helps you smooth the sides of your cake for a polished finish.
How It Works:
Hold the bench scraper vertically against the side of the cake and rotate your turntable. The scraper will smooth out the frosting and help you achieve straight, clean edges.
Pro Tip:
Use a taller bench scraper for tiered cakes to make sure you cover the full height in one go.
Fondant Smoother
Why It’s Essential:
A fondant smoother is a must-have if you work with fondant. It helps you press and smooth fondant onto the cake, eliminating air bubbles and giving it a flawless surface.
How It Works:
Once you’ve draped the fondant over the cake, use the smoother to press it down, working gently outwards from the centre to remove any air bubbles and smooth the surface.
Pro Tip:
Always dust your surface with cornstarch before rolling out fondant to prevent sticking.
Couplers
Why It’s Essential:
Couplers allow you to switch between different piping tips without changing your piping bag. This makes decorating quicker and easier, especially if you want to use multiple designs on the same cake.
How It Works:
Insert the base of the coupler inside the piping bag, place the tip you want to use on the outside, and screw the ring over it to secure it in place. When you want to switch tips, simply unscrew the ring, swap the tip, and you’re good to go!
Pro Tip:
Having a set of couplers on hand allows you to experiment with different piping styles quickly.
SUMMARY
To recap, You now know that there are 7 items that will help you start your cake decorating journey without the need to buy every tool in the shop. You have learned what the tools look like and what the tools are used for.
The 7 Essential Tools for cake decorating are:
- Piping bag & Nozzles/tips
- Turntable
- Palette knife
- Bench Scraper
- Serrated knife
- Fondant Smoother
- Couplers
Would you like to download a copy?
Conclusion
Having all these tools will mean you can decorate so many different designed cakes. It will be a matter of you knowing who to apply certain techniques to your cake decorating, which is all the matter of learning and practising the techniques.
I do have a guide that can help with learning how to use the piping bag and a few piping skills. If you are interested you can read about it here.
