Cake Pans
The beginning to any cake decorating is the cake. Whether you are making cake mix from scratch, or using a box mix, you will need cake pans to cook them in. If you are like me, then you like the deeper 3inch pans to achieve taller cakes. I own the round and square pan sets found below… and they are amazing. If you get a nice butter/flower coating in the pan before cooking, the cake will come out perfectly. The pans are a little pricey, but a great investment that will be used over and over again.
Spatulas
Doesn’t matter if you are covering your cake in fondant or icing/buttercream, you need some good spatulas. Fondant covered cakes require a crumb-coating of icing or buttercream to create a smooth surface for the fondant to adhere to. These spatulas help create a perfect frosting coating, and also work great when spreading a filling between cake layers.
You can choose between straight or angled spatulas. Some prefer the angled spatulas, but I like the straight better. I feel like I get a smoother surface with the straight spatulas... but its all user preference. I recomment you get 1 long and 1 short spatula. You won't regret having both.
Satin Ice Fondant
Satin Ice rolled fondant is the most popular fondant on the market today. It is used by many professional bakers, including Buddy from Cake Boss. Satin Ice Fondant lasts for 1 year, if kept in an air tight container. It is also Gluten free, and tastes much better than Wilton fondant.
Try it!
Gel Paste Food Color
Gel paste food colors are the BEST! They create the exact color you desire. I purchase AmericColor, but Wilton works great too. I prefer AmeriColor because the colors come in squeeze bottles, while Wilton comes in small jars.
I also use AmeriColor for my airbrush colors. They are water based, so no airbrush cleaner is needed when cleaning. Try the shimmer and glitter colors for more fun!
Rolling Pins
If you currently work, or plan on working with fondant or gum paste, there are some tools you need in your tool belt.
The first tool I recommend would be a fondant mat. Fondant will stick to your counter/table top without a mat. You can use shortning/powdered sugar/corn starch instead of a mat so the fondant does not stick; but I find that this changes the consistency of the fondant. A mat is a great investment that will same money and time.
Now, when rolling out your fondant you will need a good rolling pin. I recommend the 20 inch Wilton rolling pin, and guide rings. There are 3 different sized rings (1/16, 3/16, 1/8 inch) that you place on the end of the rolling pin to get a perfect thickness. The weight of the rolling pin makes it very easy to roll out your fondant. It is best not to use a rolling pin with handles, because the handles make it so uneven pressure is being applied to the fondant.
If you are going to roll out small pieces of fondant or gum paste for decorating, the 9 inch rolling pin is much easier to handle. This rolling pin already comes with 2 rolling guide rings (1/16, 1/8 inch. NOTE: the rings for the 9 inch rolling pin do not fit on the 20 inch rolling pin... sorry.
Working with Fondant
Once you have your fondant colored and rolled, you are ready to place it on your cake. There are only 2 tools that I suggest: a pastry wheel and a fondant smoother. The pastry wheel is used to cut off the excess fondant from the base of the cake. The fondant smoothers help adhere the fondant to the cake, and smooth out any imperfections in the fondant. If you are covering a square cake, I recommend using 2 fondant smoother to you can help create a perfect edge.
Modeling Tools
If you'll be doing any modeling with fondant or gum paste, you need the Wilton modeling tool set. This is a set of 10 gum paste tools in a hinged plastic storage case. I use these tools on every cake I make. They are a necessity when modeling characters, I created these monsters with the Wilton modeling tools!
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