25 Favorite Baking Tools for Beginner Bakers

This is a complete guide of my favorite baking tools to help you become a successful baker. I get asked a lot about what tools do I use to make fun and creative cakes at home. Without these tools, it would be difficult to make these cakes.

To be a successful baker, it starts with the proper tools. These baking tools are ones I use every time I bake and decorate cakes. This list is separated into different categories of essential must-haves, intermediate tools, and advanced skill. This will help you choose what tools you need first and what you can build up to buy at another time.

If you are brand new to baking and cake decorating, and you’re not sure what to buy first. I always suggest an offset spatula, bench scraper, and spinning turntable. (Note: you can buy this $16 Wilton turntable, but I’ve noticed it doesn’t do well with bigger/heavier cakes. It’s good to use if you don’t want to spend a lot of money right away). These three are a must-have to make your first cake easily.

Think of these tools as investments into your baking career or hobby. Many of these tools you just have to buy once, and you’ll have them forever. It’s definitely worth the investment to get high-quality tools. I have also set up this tool guide, so you don’t have to buy everything right now, I always suggest building up your tools slowly over time. Even now I buy new tools as I need them! I added links to the exact products I use to give you a head start. I hope this gives you confidence and helps you with your baking journey!

Let’s Get Started!

Essential Must-Have Tools

These essential must-have tools are perfect for beginner bakers. The following tools will help you create simple buttercream cakes that are beautiful and delicious!

1. Offset Spatulas – an offset spatula is a tool that is used every time I make a cake. It helps to spread frosting between cake layers and frosting around the cake for the crumb coat! I also use it for specific decorating techniques like this rustic look or this dragon scale design.
2. Bench Scraper or Cake Smoother – This tool is one of the best tools you’ll ever need for cake decorating. Using this bench scraper around the sides of the cake to get it perfectly smooth. It also helps with getting those sharp edges on your cakes! They come in many sizes, but for starters, I use the 6 inch one, it certainly gets the job done! 
3. Turntable – I have had this Arteco turntable for many years, and it still works like new! It can hold heavy cakes and can spin correctly. 
4. Kitchen-Aid Electric Hand Mixer or 5 qt. Stand Mixer – Making cakes without a mixer is pretty tricky, I use this mixer for every type of recipe from cake batters, frostings, fillings, bread dough, and cookie doughs. It is the most utilized tool in my kitchen. 
5. Cake Pans – Sizes I use the most are 6-inch, 8-inch, or 9-inch – It’s always worth investing in some good cake pans. They can last you for years and are totally worth it. I typically get ones that are 2 inches tall, so I can get taller cake layers. Also make sure you get straight edged cake pans, this way you have perfectly straight cake layers.  
6. Baking Pans – for cake decorating or baking in general investing in good baking trays and pans is critical. These baking pans can be used for baking cookies and sheet cakes, or merely making chocolate decorations, etc. 
7. Cake Leveler & Serrated Knives – When filling and stacking cake layers the key is making the cake layer flat and level so your cake won’t end up lopsided. If you’re not comfortable yet cutting with a serrated knife, you can use this cake leveler to make even layers with cake. For tips and tricks with stacking, filling and frosting your cake see this tutorial, it’s perfect for beginners!
8. Good Quality Rubber Spatulas, Measuring Cups & Spoons – Rubber spatulas are used for mixing cake batters or frostings, they are super easy to clean and are flexible to bend to whatever shape bowl or pan you are using. Measuring cups and measuring spoons are basically used in every baking recipe. It’s always good to have a great set of those. 
9. Baking Scales & Ice Cream Scoopers –  Some bakers prefer to weigh out the ingredients on baking scales because its a more accurate way of baking. They are also helpful for making sure all the cake batter is evenly distributed to the cake pans for even cake layers. This brings me to ice cream scoopers, these are awesome for portioning cookie doughs, scooping batter into cupcake liners or distributing batter to cake pans. And of course, you can always use it for ice cream! 
10. Cake Circles or Cake Boards – I typically use 8-inch or 10-inch, cake circles to decorate the cakes on. Cake boards are light but strong enough to support cakes. I like decorating on cake boards so I can quickly put the cake in the fridge to chill or place into a box for cake delivery. Just make sure you use greaseproof or foil covered cake boards, so the frosting doesn’t stain the boards. These cake boards come in many sizes, get a cake circle or cake round that is at least 2 inches bigger than the cake itself, so you have plenty of room to work and decorate. 
11. Piping Bags & Basic Piping Tips – Piping bags are used to fill and decorate cakes. They’re high quality and never tear or burst, even with stiff buttercream or ganache. I use both the 12-inch and 18-inch sizes and get them in rolls of 100 on Amazon. There are a wide variety of piping tips that can create many different designs and shapes when decorating a cake. This is perfect for beginner bakers.
12. Squeeze Bottles – These come in handy when making the chocolate drips on the sides of cakes. They can also be used to drizzle fillings, ganache, or simple syrup to soak into cakes to keep them nice and moist. 

See how to use these tools to make this Foolproof Funfetti Birthday Cake!

It’s easy to feel intimidated and less confident in the kitchen when you are just starting to bake. If you’re looking for an easy way to avoid common baking mistakes then you should check out my FREE checklist. This will give you the best start to feeling more confident in the kitchen.

Intermediate Baking Tools

These baking tools are perfect for intermediate bakers. The following tools will help you create fun buttercream and fondant cakes that are impressive and delicious!

1. Silicone Mats – I love silicone mats. They are a great way to prevent cookies and cakes from sticking to the pans but can also be used to roll out fondant on to cakes or make fondant/chocolate decorations. You can quickly go from baking on it to freezing it. 
2. Rolling Pins – This large rolling pin is great for rolling out fondant to cover cakes or use a small rolling pin for smaller fondant decorations.
3. X-Acto Knife – This small sharp knife is incredibly helpful when making intricate decorations. It cuts through fondant and cardboard very easily so be careful. 
4. Fondant Smoother – This tool is used to smooth out fondant when it’s covering a cake. This helps prevent the fondant from wriggling. 
5. Gel Food Coloring – I prefer to use gel food coloring because they are more concentrated then water-based colors you might find in the grocery store. Ultimately you need less gel food color to create bright and vibrant color frosting or fondant decorations. 
6. Wooden Dowels or Plastic Dowels – These are used for stacking multiple cake tiers like this 2 tier cake. This prevents the top tier from crushing the bottom tier. It’s a MUST-HAVE when stacking on top of more cake. You might also need these pipe cutters to cut the dowels to the right size. 
7. Circle Cutters – These cutters are incredibly versatile when it comes to decorating. Cut out circles of sugar cookie dough or cut out pieces of fondant or chocolate, use as a stencil for a fun design. 
8. Acetate Sheets – When building a tall naked cake it could be difficult to hold its shape but using these acetate sheets to build your cake is a no brainer. This technic is made famous by Christina Tosi from Milk Bar. Her style of naked cakes is easy to make at home by using acetate to stack and fill your cakes. Get Inspired by Christina Tosi’s style of naked cakes from Milk Bar

See how to use these tools to make this Magical Unicorn Cake! 

You May Also Enjoy:

• Vanilla Buttercream For Cake Decorating (recipe)
• Common Baking Mistakes & How to Avoid Them (free ebook)
• Cake Planning Checklist (freebie)
• How to Decorate Your First Cake (free course)

Advanced Skill Tools

These decorating tools are perfect for advanced bakers. The following cake tools will help you master cake decorating like making fun figures and pretty sugar flowers as well as air-brushing cakes!

1. AirBrush – It’s not necessary to have an airbrush; it’s definitely an advanced skill to use an airbrush. It’s mainly used for specialty or fancy cakes. The airbrush machine sprays out an edible color that can make cakes looks fantastic! But be careful the color are go everywhere and be a big mess! 
2. Molding Tools – This is helpful when making fondant or molding chocolate figures. The tools can also be used to make sugar flowers and other decorations look realistic. 
3. Floral Wire & Skewers – This is more particularly for sugar flowers or figures that require an advanced skill. The floral wire is stable but still flexible that it can be moved into different shapes depending on what you need it for. 
4. Wire Cutters – If you are using floral wire or skewers these wire cutters are amazing. I use these to cut wires when I’m making sugar flowers. 
5. Paint Brushes – A cool technique to decorate cakes is to paint on them, so these paint brushes are fantastic for paining with food color. You can also use the brushes to distribute edible luster dusts and glitters. 

See how to use these tools to make this Cute Fat Unicorn Cake! 

Not Essential But A Treat to Have

1. Decorative Cake Stands – When you put so much time into creating and decorating a cake, you need to show it off and display for everyone to see. These decorative cake stands are fun and beautiful, but they do not spin; they are ideal for displaying and photographing. 
2. Fun Sprinkle Blends – Sprinkles are super trendy right now so these custom sprinkle blends by Neon Yolk are my favorite and you can go to her Etsy store to see the fun and wild combinations! 
3. Luster Dust, Petal Dust, & Edible Glitter – This is where I get really excited! All these colorful luster dusts and edible glitters are perfect for the finishing touch of a cake. They give the perfect amount of shimmer and shine to your finished cake. 

Having the right tools can make all the difference when it comes to baking and decorating cakes! Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions about tools, recipes or need some decorating tips! I’m here to help!

Happy Baking!

Hey, if you liked this tutorial, you really should check out, Cake Decorating Creator Program, my online cake program. I coach you on everything I teach on these cake tutorials so that you can uplevel your baking and decorating skills. We 10x it so you get the results you want most. Like any new skill, it’s important to learn from the ground up to build a foundation, so you can take on any cake challenge. It is an investment your future self will thank you for. Check it out at XOKatieRosario.com/creator-program. I will see you there!

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