What’s the difference between a Pinterest win and Pinterest fail? The first thing is technique, which is something you can continue to improve upon with time and practice. But another significant factor is the decorating tools you’re using. If you want bakery perfect swirls on your cupcakes, you’re going to need the right sized piping tips. If you want the perfect shade of buttercream without ruining the consistency, then you’re going to need quality food gel colors.
The following is a list* of my favorite baking and decorating tools, food coloring, high quality ingredients, sprinkles, edible glitters, and any other items that help me create wow-worthy desserts. I’ll also keep this list up-to-date, so you can keep your decorating game strong.
Must-haves for the kitchen
Digital kitchen scale
Don’t be fooled! This tool may seem like extra work, but it’s extremely easy to use and precise. If you’ve ever wondered why your favorite cake recipe comes out differently every time you make it, you probably need to start weighing your ingredients. There can be a huge difference in the amount of flour scooped directly out of the bag vs. flour that you’ve spooned and leveled. Why risk a dry cake when you can get consistent results every time? Personal note: I’m currently considering upgrading my scale to a more sensitive model with 0.1g accuracy. I’ll keep you guys posted!
Stand mixer
If you haven’t already invested in a stand mixer for your kitchen, allow me to recommend the KitchenAid Artisan Mixer. I’ve had my Artisan mixer for 10 years now, and it’s whipped up countless cakes, cupcakes, cookies and buttercreams for me – and is still going strong! While a hand mixer may get the job done for the occasional baked treat, the stand mixer is essential for the avid home baker (and said baker’s arm). You may also want to check out their full line of mixers to see which style is best for you, your kitchen space, and your budget: https://www.kitchenaid.com/countertop-appliances/stand-mixers.html.
Stepping up your decorating
Cake combs and offset spatulas
Cake combs have been all the rage in the baking community lately, and it’s easy to see why. Looking to make Instagram-worthy cakes with smooth straight buttercream sides? Or have you ever wondered how other bakers create perfect stripes around their cakes? If so, then you need a cake comb! Whether you go with Ester Cakes or Evil Cake Genius, you’ll have a wide variety of textures and patterns to choose from. Don’t forget to watch a few instructional videos or IG reels before your first attempt. There are definitely a few tricks of the trade to help you get the hang of using these tools – this is especially true for getting clean stripes.
In addition to the cake comb, many decorators utilize the trusty offset spatula. I typically use two Wilton 9″ offset spatulas when decorating my cakes – one for spreading my fillings and crumb coat and the other for applying my outer coat before I break out the cake comb. I also use that second spatula to smooth and level the top of my cake. If you only have one, just make sure you clean it well between the crumb coat and final coat. Or if you’re feeling bougie, check out these fancy options from Wilton and Cake by Courtney.
Piping Bags
Listen, I’ve had a few friends over the years ask me if they could swing decorating cupcakes with a Ziploc bag. My answer is always the same – not well or easily. Piping bags are stiff and shaped for piping buttercream, and you can snip off the tip to mimic some basic metal piping tips, if needed. Plus, they come in different sizes and quantities to meet your decorating needs. I use both 12″ and 16″ bags:
- 12″ bags are great for piping a buttercream dam on your cakes and for filling cakes, cupcakes, and sandwich cookies. They’re also a good size for buttercream cake borders, piping swirls on the top of your cakes, and decorating a small batch of cupcakes.
- 16″ hold a hefty amount of buttercream, which is really helpful when you’re decorating a larger batch of cupcakes (less hassle of refilling the bag). Sometimes, I pipe my final buttercream coat around my cake instead of using an offset spatula, and having a larger bag helps me get all around the cake.
You’ll get a feel for what’s comfortable for you. Also, if you’re concerned about using disposable piping bags, you can now easily find reusable bags in multiple sizes (included in my link above).
Piping Tips
If you were to open my kitchen utensil drawer, you would find a massive pile of metal piping tips. Small ones for fine detail piping; standard sizes for cupcakes, borders, and cake swirls; and oversized tips for frosting cakes and cupcakes. Head over to any Michaels or JOANN Fabrics, and you can find a plethora of decorating tips – most between $0.99 and $1.99 (keep those low prices in mind when looking at tips online)!
Piping tips ensure a consistent, professional look with just a little bit of practice and some quality buttercream. They come in an insane number of styles for a variety of uses – borders, swirls, ruffles, petals, flowers, leaves, grass, basketweaving, dots, pearls, rosettes, swags, ribbons, and whatever else your imagination can come up with. Collect individual tips as needed or take a look at decorating sets to help get you started.
I would also recommend picking up a set of small couplers as well as one standard coupler. Couplers drop into your piping bag, and you can secure your piping tip on the outside of the couple with its screw-on ring. Once you’re bag is set up, you can easily swap piping tips onto the same bag of frosting. Huzzah!
* Currently, none of these recommendations are sponsored.