After the baking comes the decorating!
 
Almost everyone loves to post food pictures on their social media. In fact, one of the most well known hashtags is #foodporn, where people share the most mouth watering pictures of food that they’re eating or food that they’ve made.
 
To get the very best pictures of your baked goods, you will need to beautify them a bit. But what do you need as a rookie dessert decorator? Check out this starter kit to know what baking equipment you’ll need!

 

(image credit: canva.com)
  

1. Piping Set

The first thing people think of when talking about cake decoration is piping icings and frostings in pretty shapes. Buttercream frosting is one of the most favoured kinds of frostings for dessert decorators, but there are many different kinds. If you want to learn more about buttercream frosting, read our article here!
 
There are a few different items you need in a beginner’s piping set:

  • Piping bag
  • Piping tips
  • Flower nail

 

(image credit: pixabay.com)
 
You can get a basic piping set at many grocery stores cheaply, so you don’t have to spend a lot of money on branded piping tips. And a flower nail is usually best for if you are making many designs to put on your cake, for example, usually you wouldn’t need it if you’re just making a small design on cupcakes.
  

2. Icing Spatula

Also known as an offset spatula the icing spatula helps to smooth out frostings and icing after you dropped a dollop on your cake.
 

(image credit: Meredith [allrecipes.com])
 
One beginner’s tip about frosting your cake is that you need to do something called a “crumb coat”. This is the step where you apply a thin layer of frosting just enough to make sure none of the cake crumbs are going to fall off and start appearing on the surface of your frosting.
 

The icing spatula is great for this step because you have control over moving the frosting over the curves and into the nooks and crannies of your cake.
  

3. Icing Smoother

 

(image credit: pexels.com)
 
Many professionally designed cakes are covered in some form of frosting or icing. But the icing spatula can only do so much, especially if you’re handling a cake that’s larger than most normal sized cakes. An icing smoother is what you need!
 
It smooths out the bumpy and uneven surface of your icings and frostings. Of course there are some bumpy frosting surface designs that can look appealing. An example of this would be our Mermaid Cakes, where we make the frosting look like ocean waves.
 


But a majority of cake designs use an icing smoother, it’s easier to use as well. The previously mentioned ocean wave design is a bit more difficult to make.
  

4.Sieve

Not only do you need a sieve for the baking process, you can use it to decorate your desserts too!
 
Dusting various edible powders on top of your baked goods is a simple but efficient way to give them a little more class. It is also one of the many easy ways you can decorate your desserts!
 
While icing sugar is the most common ingredient that you can dust on top of your desserts, there are plenty of others as well. Some examples of ingredients you can dust on your desserts are:
 

  • Icing sugar
  • Cocoa powder
  • Coffee powder
  • Turmeric powder
  • Cinnamon powder

  

5. Turntable

It may not be just pictures that you’re decorating your cake for, it could be for an event where people can view your masterpiece from all angles! A turntable is also known as a Revolving Cake Stand.
 
Remember to keep your turntable’s mechanism well greased so that you can always have a smoothly spinning turntable. If you are using it together with your icing smoother, it will help to make a nice and even coat around your cake sides.

 

(image credit: pexels.com)
 
Turntables come in a few different sizes, you should always get one that is larger than the size of your cake mould. This allows you more space to decorate your cake without accidentally touching and ruining what you’ve made.
 
You should always make sure that the turntable you’re buying has a stable and even base so that you won’t be accidentally arranging your decorations wrongly or they fall off.
  

6. Tweezers

If you happen to be fond of the idea of using little decorations or candied fruits to decorate your cake, you’re going to need a pair of tweezers.
 
Tweezers give you more precise control over where and how you place these decoration pieces on your dessert. It’s great to be able to avoid smudging the frosting after you’re done smoothing it down or keeping the curls of piped icing.
 

(image credit: lakeland.co.uk – PME’s Angled Tweezers)
 
The previously mentioned candied fruits need tweezers because you wouldn’t want to touch them using your fingers. The sticky surface will not only make a mess, but it will also keep your fingerprints!
  

7. Coffee or DIY Stencils


(image credit: pexels.com)
 
If you’re into coffee art, you might have come across some powdered art that has been dusted on top of your coffee’s milk foam or hot chocolate’s whipped cream. This is done by using a stencil to create the shapes easily.
 
You can buy them in grocery stores or make them yourselves using a non malleable piece of paper or cardboard and a blade.
 

(image credit: pixabay.com)
 
Fondant is a common decorating technique commonly seen on baking shows and competitions. However they can be hard to make and hard to use, not to mention it isn’t as delicious as frostings and powder dustings. That is why that decorating method is not mentioned here.
 
However there are many other decoration techniques that we at My Weekend Plan can guide you through if you happen to be interested. We update our classes every 2-3 months so that we can offer you new and trendy techniques all the time!
 
Come and see if any of our classes catch your eye!