What to Buy Bakeware The 10 Best Cake Decorating Tools of 2023 The professionals' top picks to help you create bakery-worthy designs from your home kitchen. By Alyssa Sybertz Alyssa Sybertz Alyssa Sybertz is a freelance writer and avid home cook with nearly a decade of experience writing about food, cooking, nutrition, and wellness. She is the author of The OMAD Diet: Intermittent Fasting with One Meal a Day to Burn Fat and Lose Weight, for which she developed over 100 recipes. In addition to writing about food and cooking for Southern Living, she writes about cooking for Allrecipes and Reader's Digest, pregnancy and parenting for Verywell Family, health and fitness for Peloton, and nutrition for First for Women and other outlets.Alyssa is the food editor for Closer Weekly. She also edits special interest health and nutrition magazines for Centennial Media on topics including intermittent fasting, gut health, and the keto diet. Prior to working as a freelance food and wellness writer, Alyssa was an editor at First for Women magazine, where she contributed to the nutrition, food, and fitness sections. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on November 3, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email In This Article Expand Jump to a Section Our top picks Reviews Factors to Consider FAQ Our Expertise We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more. Amazon Cakes are synonymous with celebrations. Whether you're hosting a birthday, anniversary, graduation, or any other important milestone, the party isn't complete without a beautiful dessert for your loved ones. While it’s nice to order a professionally decorated cake every now and then, there’s something special about serving one that you’ve prepared yourself with carefully piped designs and personal touches. To create a cake worthy of being your table's centerpiece, there are some tools you need beyond measuring cups and pans. We tapped expert bakers and cake artists to share their must-have tools for creating showstopping designs worthy of oohs and ahhs at the fanciest of soirees. Below, you can shop the best cake decorating tools recommended by the pros. Our Top Picks Best Decorating Kit: Taiker Cake Decorating Kit at Amazon Jump to Review Best Kit for Beginners: Kootek Cake Decorating Kits Supplies at Amazon Jump to Review Best Piping Set: Wilton 46-Piece Deluxe Cake Decorating Set at Amazon Jump to Review Best Cake Turntable: Ateco Revolving Cake Stand at Amazon Jump to Review Best Offset Spatula: Ateco Offset Spatula at Amazon Jump to Review Best Modeling Tools: Innovative Sugarworks Sugar Shapers at Amazon Jump to Review Best Bench Scraper: OXO Bench Scraper at Amazon Jump to Review Best Fondant: Satin Ice Fondant at Amazon Jump to Review Best Cake Leveler: Agbay Single Blade Cake Leveler at Agbayproducts.com Jump to Review Best Colorings: Colour Mill Food Coloring Pack at Amazon Jump to Review Best Decorating Kit Taiker Cake Decorating Kit Amazon View On Amazon Ready to dive headfirst into your journey to becoming a master at-home cake artist? With cake pans, a turntable, piping bags, a leveler, and more, this Taiker decorating kit has everything you need to take your kitchen from empty to fully stocked. In total, there are 493 pieces, including both basic baking tools and others more specific to cake decorating. At such a low price point, the tools are not as high-end as some of the others on this list, but if you are looking for an all-in-one kit to take your baking to the next level, this is the perfect place to start. Price at time of publish: $44 Best Kit for Beginners Kootek Cake Decorating Kits Supplies with Turntable Amazon View On Amazon If a 500-piece kit seems a little overwhelming, try this more approachable option that includes 71 pieces. Featuring a turntable, piping bags and tips, a coupler, spatulas, and scrapers, it covers the basics that you’ll need to bake, frost, and decorate an impressive cake but is easier to store than the option above. At $20, this kit is certainly worth the investment even if you only use the tools a few times a year. Customers say it’s great for beginners and surpassed their expectations. Price at time of publish: $26 Best Piping Set Wilton 46-Piece Deluxe Cake Decorating Set Courtesy of Bed Bath & Beyond View On Amazon View On Walmart View On Wayfair “Wilton bags are great quality and never burst,” says Rose Atwater, owner of Rose Bakes and author of Cake Decorating for Beginners, and this Wilton set is the first and last one you’ll need. It comes with 24 disposable piping bags, plus a bag cutter and a coupler (for switching between different tips on the same decorating bag). There are also 18 decorating tips that include fun shapes like stars, leaves, and petals, as well as a storage case to keep everything organized. Price at time of publish: $25 Best Cake Turntable Ateco Revolving Cake Stand Courtesy of Amazon.com. View On Amazon View On Walmart View On Office Depot A turntable makes it easy to access your cake from all sides and ensures that it looks perfect from every angle. “Around the studio, we use the Ateco brand, and it gives us a flawless spin,” says Heidi Moore Holmon, owner of De la Creme Creative Studio and author of The Art of Modern Cake (it’s Atwater’s pick as well). That’s thanks to the aluminum turntable connected to a heavy cast iron base that stays sturdy on the counter, so you don’t need to worry about the possibility of your cake tipping over or sliding as you decorate. There’s also a removable and reusable nonslip pad for an additional guarantee that your cake isn’t going anywhere as you smooth frosting and mold flowers. Price at time of publish: $65 The 23 Best Gifts for Bakers, From Beginner to Pro Best Offset Spatula Ateco Offset Spatula With Wood Handle 4.3 Amazon View On Amazon View On Walmart View On Kingarthurbaking.com Holmon favors Ateco’s offset spatulas as well, which come in three lengths to fit your hand and the cake you’re frosting. Offset spatulas are the tool of choice for bakers for getting the first layer of frosting onto your cake (also known as the crumb coat). From there, you can also use it to spread a thicker layer of frosting over the top and sides, as well as make basic designs. The Ateco spatula also earns points for its wood handle and stainless steel blade construction, which look as nice in your drawer as they do gliding across the surface of your cake. Price at time of publish: $14 Best Modeling Tools Innovative Sugarworks Sugar Shapers Amazon View On Amazon “I honestly couldn’t live without these tools,” Holmon says about this set of modeling tools from Innovative Sugarworks. “They are perfect for shaping, smoothing, texturing, and finessing both cakes and sugar models.” The set features six uniquely-shaped, color-coded, double-headed tools (a smaller and a larger head) designed to work with any and all ingredients you may be using on your cake, edible or inedible. The small grips along the tools make them comfortable to hold and ensure they won’t slip out of your hand and ruin your hard work. Price at time of publish: $37 Best Bench Scraper OXO Bench Scraper Amazon View On Amazon View On Wayfair View On Target Ever wondered how bakers manage to create cakes that look so smooth they don’t even look real? The answer is a bench scraper, like this one from OXO, which experts Holmon and Atwater count as an essential decorating tool. After covering the cake in a thick layer of frosting, you hold the bench scraper in your dominant hand against the cake and rotate your turntable until it is smooth. Bonus: The stainless steel blade can also be used to cut dough, clear off cutting boards, chop and move veggies, and more. Price at time of publish: $12 Best Fondant Satin Ice Fondant Amazon View On Amazon Once you’re ready to move beyond frosting designs, the next step is fondant, and the pros recommend this Satin Ice Fondant. “For fondant, gum paste, and modeling chocolate, this is a brand that delivers professional results consistently,” says Holmon. “We use it exclusively in the studio, and we even worked directly with the company creating the gorgeous sugar pieces on their products.” For fondant specifically, they offer 15 different colors, as well as shimmer fondants that include edible glitter and tropical fondant formulated to hold up in humid conditions. Price at time of publish: $18 Best Cake Leveler Agbay Single Blade Cake Leveler Agbay View On Agbayproducts.com “It’s high-end, but I swear by my Agbay cake leveler,” says Atwater. While less expensive levelers use a metal wire and require you to hold them in place to keep them from sliding out of alignment, this Agbay leveler features a thick, stainless steel serrated blade. It can be adjusted from just a quarter inch all the way up to six inches high, while the width can accommodate a half sheet cake and the wide feet provide stability. It also comes with a blade cleaning tool and blade guard. Invest in this once and you’ll never need another leveler again. Price at time of publish: $250 19 of the Best Baking Cookbooks, According to the Pros Best Colorings Colour Mill Oil-Based Food Coloring Primary Pack Amazon View On Amazon View On Walmart There’s nothing worse than spending hours on a showstopping cake design to then add color that throws off the whole look. Banish these worries with Colour Mill food coloring. “It’s a wonderful neutral food coloring very much in line with current trends and palettes,” Holmon says of the numerous options beyond primary colors, including pretty shades of teal, sage, and rose. “It absorbs into the medium very quickly (with hardly any mess) and has an ease of use that most new cake enthusiasts will find helpful.” Price at time of publish: $40 Factors to Consider Types of Decorating Tools The types of tools you’ll want on hand in your kitchen depends on the style of decorating you plan to do. For example, if you’re only working with frosting, an offset spatula, turntable, and piping bags will do the trick. But if you plan on (or aspire to) modeling flowers or shaping fondant, you may want some additional modeling tools that will help you do so. Kit vs. Individual Tools We love cake decorating kits, but there are pros and cons to them. On the one hand, kits are a one-stop shop to stock up on all the essentials and more. On the other, it can end up being a lot of tools to store and keep track of, especially if you won’t use them often. We recommend kits to beginners who don’t have any cake decorating supplies to begin with and to those who plan on making cakes regularly. If you only want to go all out on your cakes a few times a year, it’s probably best to invest in a handful of tools, such as a turntable and offset spatula, instead of crowding your drawers with lots of little pieces. Skill Level While your cakes will undoubtedly get better and better the more you bake and decorate, you may not need to invest in high-end tools if you’re only baking for your niece’s birthday party. For novice bakers, consider starting with the Kootek Decorating Kit. When you want to advance your skills, move on to modeling tools, scrapers, fondant, and more. Frequently Asked Questions What’s the best tool for frosting a cake? Our experts were divided on the answer to this question, so we’re recommending two tools: A turntable and an offset spatula. “A premium, smooth-gliding turntable is a must-have for cake decorating,” Holmon says. “Paired with a steady hand, each cake is coated perfectly in record time.” Taking care of that coating is the offset spatula, which is Atwater’s pick. It helps you evenly spread frosting, plus create smooth surfaces and sharp edges effortlessly. How far in advance can I decorate a cake? Depending on the cake and the recipe, cakes will stay fresh for three to five days. “The frosting seals in moisture so it stays moist and fresh-tasting,” Atwater says. Indeed, if you couldn’t make a cake days in advance, the pros would never be able to create showstopping cake designs. For clients, Holmon tries to keep baking and decorating time down to two to three days. “Not only do they enjoy a decadent slice on their event date, but any leftovers are still at their peak the next day,” she says. What are the best cake and frosting combinations? “Our favorite cake combinations are classics that never go out of style paired with an unexpected twist,” Holmon says. “For instance, a classic almond wedding cake layered with black cherry compote and buttercream. Classy and fruity and totally worth every last bite.” Atwater agrees, citing white almond sour cream cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate fudge cake with Oreo filling and chocolate ganache buttercream as her go-tos. At Food & Wine, we’re partial to Crunchy Milk Chocolate-Peanut Butter Layer Cake and Lemon Chiffon Cake with Blueberry-Coriander Buttercream. Our Expertise Alyssa Sybertz is an experienced food and cooking writer and recipe developer who covers anything and everything you may find in your kitchen for Food & Wine. For this article, she spoke with accomplished bakers and cake artists who have published books on cake decorating to help her provide expert product recommendations and decorating tips for at-home bakers. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit