Making a cake from scratch can be fun, but also takes a lot of time and effort. Having a collection of cake-decorating tools will make the decorating process easier and more fun.

Tools in the kitchen for baking and decorating.
Tools to bake and decorate cakes.

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If you are a baker then, of course, you want to make sure you use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients (why should I weigh my ingredients) have a set of measuring cups for dry, measuring spoons, measuring cups for liquid, Pastry blender, Pastry Brush, and off-set spatulas.

Countertop appliances & electronics

  • Food Processor – I have Magimix
  • Hand Blender – I have Braun set
  • Immersion Blender – I use Braun
  • Stand Mixer – I use Kenwood K-Mix, Kitchen Aid is also good.
  • Or Hand Mixer – I use mine a lot.
  • Slow Cooker – I use mine once a week.
  • Waffle Maker – used usually twice a month
  • Good to have attachments
    • Ice Cream Maker – I use to have a Cuisine Art.
    • Pasta Roller – with Kenwood or Kitchen aid or manual

The cake world has a huge variety of tools and equipment to use. A few are must-haves. Others are good to have. And some that we’d love to have if we can afford them. Below I’ve listed a few of the ones I know you will want to have. Ones that will definitely not be wasting your money on.

So this is for those of you that are just starting off. What should you buy and what you absolutely cannot live without?

  • If you bake often, it would be a good idea to invest in a cake mixer. Because, often, we try to mix by hand, and then we are too tired to give it enough creaming or mixing. So, if you are making this cake go ahead and remove that K-Mix or Kitchen Aid from your kitchen cabinet.
  • You don’t have to buy an expensive stand mixer, a simple hand mixer also works great.
  • I believe in measuring ingredients by weight, which makes my kitchen scale one of the most valuable items when baking.
  • And the same goes for my measuring cups and measuring spoons. It’s always a good idea to have these handy and use them when baking rather than trying to guess measurements.
  • Also, I think one set of baking pans is a must for anyone a home baker. I often use three 6-inch round cakes, which I often split into 4 layers for a tall display.
  • Sometimes, I use three 8-inch round pans or three 7-inch cakes.
  • Additionally, I like to bake my coffee cakes in bundt pans or loaf pans.
  • For my coffee cakes, I like to use my 8 x 8 square baking pan or 9 x 3 inch round baking pan or 9 x 13 sheet cake pan.
  • Once baked, always invert your cakes on a cooling rack. This enables air circulation and prevents the steam from pooling at the bottom of the pan.
  • Lastly, every oven works differently. So the baking times are just guidelines. In the case of cakes, a skewer inserted in the center is a great indication.
  • If the cake bakes too fast or too slow compared to the time given, it might be a good idea to check if your oven needs calibration.
  • An oven thermometer is a great little gadget to help keep the oven temperature in check. All you need to do then is adjust the temperature accordingly.

Basic for cake decorating

Sugar flowers and cutters

  • If you plan to venture into sugar flowers I highly recommend buying a basic pack like this one first. See if you are interested in making sugar flowers or if you would rather outsource the job. (I have a huge bag of sugar flower tools that I have never used)
  • Some of the basic sugar flowers cutters you may like to start with are roses and blossoms
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Silicon molds

  • Silicon molds are an addiction and you can never have enough (I know!)
  • If you are new to cake decorating then I highly recommend buying things you know you will need like these texture mats, woodgrain silicone mats.
  • Marvelous molds have a hugely impressive selection and I do have personally gone crazy buying so much more than I actually use. Having said that there are a few that are tremendous time-savers such as ruffles, swags, borders, sequins,

Airbrush

  • Airbrush is an important investment. It’s not cheap so buy the best, and you will never have to buy it again.
  • I have my Dinkydoole airbrush and it’s never ever given me any issues. The other highly recommended airbrush is by Clairella.

Piping

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Gravity-defying cake

  • If you like gravity-defying cakes. There are two ways to go about it. You can go the DIY route and visit the hardware shop for all the nuts and bolts or
  • You can buy the ready-to-use cake structures available these days by Cake Frame or innovative sugar works. Here is the animal cake structure that will allow you to make any animal cake. Or you can use this 2 leg cake structure to make a standing figure cake
  • Personally, I’m a huge fan of these sugar shapers or sculpting tools from innovative sugarworks

Do you have a tool that you think you cannot live without? Do let me know in the comments below so I can add them to the list here and check them out myself.

My favorite cake-decorating books