Recently in an interview, I was asked what were the best tools to get when you are starting out as a cake decorator so I thought it would be best to list my top 10! Now, I’m not saying I could live without any of my other tools, however, these are the 10 most used tools in my kitchen when I am specifically icing and decorating a cake.
Price guide –
£ – £10 or under. ££ – £10-£20.
Number 1.
What is it? A 16 inch non stick rolling pin.
Who makes it? PME.
Why do I need it? It doesn’t leave any marks on your icing like wooden rolling pins and is much easier to keep clean.
Price Guide – ££
Number 2.
What is it? Marzipan and icing spacers.
Who makes it? PME.
Why do I need it? It makes sure your icing and marzipan is evenly rolled and to a good thickness.
Price Guide – £
Number 3.
What is it? A 10” serrated cake knife.
Who makes it? PME.
Why do I need it? Super sharp and well made, this cuts through cakes like butter making it easy to level the tops of your cakes.
Price Guide – ££
Number 4.
What is it? A 10” stainless steel pallet knife.
Who makes it? Little Venice Cake Company.
Why do I need it? Great for spreading onto large surfaces andIt makes lifting up and moving your iced cakes very easy indeed.
Price Guide – £
Number 5.
What is it? A 10” cake leveller.
Who makes it? PME.
Why do I need it? I can’t cut through a cake in a straight line to save my life, so this is perfect for splitting your sponge cakes evenly.
Price Guide – £
Number 6.
What is it? A 4.5” cranked pallet knife.
Who makes it? PME.
Why do I need it? With the cranked knife, it makes spreading buttercream in and on your cakes so much easier and gives a nice, smooth finish.
Price Guide – £
Number 7.
What is it? A scriber.
Who makes it? PME.
Why do I need it? This little tool is great for marking out spaces on your cake and perfect for bursting any unwanted air bubbles in your icing.
Price Guide – £
Number 8.
What is it? A wide paintbrush.
Who makes it? PME.
Why do I need it? Fab for affixing decorations onto your cake with edible glue and use it dry to brush off any excess cornflour from your decorations.
Price Guide – £
Number 9.
What is it? Edible glue.
Who makes it? Sugar City (DPM)
Why do I need it? To fix decorations onto your cake. Also good for sticking icing to your boards. (Because naked boards should be outlawed.)
Price Guide – £
Number 10.
What is it? Side scraper.
Who makes it? Little Venice Cake Company.
Why do I need it? Perfect for achieving a smooth finish when crumb coating your cakes.
Price Guide – £
So, there we have it. My top 10 tools for cake decorating. Of course… a special mention goes to a turntable and a set of smoothers.
You can find all PME products on their website here, all LVCC products from docrafts, here and Sugar City products here.
Hope that helps and if you have an questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch either on Facebook or Twitter.
Happy baking!
Britt xo