Essential Tools For DIY Cakes
Before you commit to going for your DIY cake dream, let’s look at the essential tools you’ll need. Remember to budget for all of the tools & equipment you’ll need to buy. It adds up quickly!
- A working oven. (D’uh!)
- An oven thermometer. Why? Many, many ovens are not calibrated which means that temperature inside the oven is quite often different from what’s on the dial (or digital read out). Cakes require proper temp settings otherwise you’ll get a burnt outside and runny inside.
- A mixer. I prefer stand mixers (KitchenAid rocks) because they can handle heavier and more abundant batters than hand held mixers.
- A rubber or silicon scraper to get all of the batter out of the mixing bowl.
- Mixing bowls.
- Whisk.
- Wire cooling racks. You’ll need to let your cakes cool before frosting and decorating. A wire rack allows full air circulation under and around the cake.
- Measuring cups for wet and dry ingredients.
- Measuring spoons for wet and dry ingredients.
- A long, serrated knife or cake leveler tool to level the cake.
- An offset spatula for frosting.
- Cake pans.
- Parchment paper to line cake pans.
- Pastry bag and tips for decorating.
- Rolling pin (for fondant, gumpaste, or marzipan).
- Fondant smoothing tool and/or brayer (if working with fondant).
- Non-stick mat (fondant).
- Cutters, molds (for fondant).
- Timer.
- Bamboo skewers or toothpicks to poke cake to check for doneness.
- Oven mitts.
- Refrigerator space to store the cake(s).
- Plastic wrap and/or aluminum foil.
- Cardboard cake boards.
- A box or way to transport the cake from kitchen to venue.
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You can just use ziploc bags as pastry bags. No sense in buying them when you probably already have them in the house.
You can just use ziploc bags as pastry bags. No sense in buying them when you probably already have them in the house.
You can get many of these items at a restaurant supply store for less than at a craft store or the grocery store, especially the cardboard circles, parchment paper, pastry bags (I got a box of 200 disposables for $25), cake boxes, cake pans, etc. I also try to hit the craft stores when they have “30% off all Wilton supplies” days. As far as coloring goes, Americolor is much easier to use than Wilton colors, you can find it online or at some local pastry supply shops.
And yes, yes, yes to the oven thermometer! Even new ovens can have their thermometers mounted on the edge of the oven which does not give an accurate read to the center of the oven.
You can get many of these items at a restaurant supply store for less than at a craft store or the grocery store, especially the cardboard circles, parchment paper, pastry bags (I got a box of 200 disposables for $25), cake boxes, cake pans, etc. I also try to hit the craft stores when they have “30% off all Wilton supplies” days. As far as coloring goes, Americolor is much easier to use than Wilton colors, you can find it online or at some local pastry supply shops.
And yes, yes, yes to the oven thermometer! Even new ovens can have their thermometers mounted on the edge of the oven which does not give an accurate read to the center of the oven.
Cake toppers are decoration, not baking tools. Please don't use my blog comments to spam. Thanks.
Cake toppers are decoration, not baking tools. Please don't use my blog comments to spam. Thanks.
I love the DIY cake…wedding cakes are sooo expensive! Is this becoming a trend? Is it actually manageable to bake your own wedding cake, because I'm no chef! Anyway, I noticed this list is missing one thing…cake toppers! <URL REMOVED AS SPAM>
I love the DIY cake…wedding cakes are sooo expensive! Is this becoming a trend? Is it actually manageable to bake your own wedding cake, because I'm no chef! Anyway, I noticed this list is missing one thing…cake toppers! <URL REMOVED AS SPAM>