11 Must-Have Cake Baking and Decorating Tools [You May Not Know Exist]

Pan grease is a mess-free alternative to greasing and flouring your pans. It is a vegetable oil, shortening, and flour-based spread that is designed to create a nonstick surface on bakeware, so your cakes don’t stick. It can be applied to the baking pan using a pastry brush or paper towel. Bakers swear by it!

Watch Us Use Pan Grease with a Bundt Pan

Using flour and oil to grease your cake pan leaves an unsightly residue on your cake. Pan grease does not leave residue on your cake and allows an easy, clean release from your pans.

Parchment paper with tabs is particularly useful for baking delicate and fragile baked goods, such as layer cakes or cheesecakes, as they can be difficult to remove from the pan without causing damage. The tabs provide a secure and stable grip, making it easy to transfer your baked goods to a serving plate or cooling rack. To use, simply place the parchment paper with tabs into the baking pan, ensuring that the tabs are folded over the sides of the pan. Once your baked goods are finished baking, you can use the tabs to easily lift them out of the pan without tilting or inverting the pan.

When baking a cake, you may notice that the edges tend to bake faster than the center. This can lead to a dry or overcooked cake on the edges and sunken or uneven on top. To solve this problem, you can purchase a heating core. A heating core is a tube that conducts heat and helps distribute it evenly throughout the cake. This is especially important for larger cakes or those with a lot of batter. To use a heating core, simply grease the tube and insert it into the center of the cake pan. Then, pour the cake batter around the tube and bake the cake as directed. When the cake is done baking, remove the tube, and the center of the cake will be evenly baked, without any dry or sunken spots.

Magic cake strips are fabric strips that are wrapped around the outside of your cake pan before baking. You should use magic cake strips to help your cakes bake more evenly and prevent them from doming or cracking. They also help to prevent the formation of a hard crust around the edges of the cake, which can form if the edges cook too quickly. By keeping the edges cooler and allowing them to bake more slowly, the cake strips help to create a soft and even texture throughout the cake. To use, simply soak the strips in water for a few minutes before wrapping them around the outside of the cake pan. Make sure the strips are snug against the pan, but not too tight. Then, bake your cake as directed.

Watch Magi-Cake Strips in Action

A cake tester is a metal long rod with a blunt tip that is specifically designed for testing cakes. It's made of stainless steel and can be reused over and over. To use, simply insert the cake tester into the center of the cake and pull it out. If the cake tester comes out clean, the cake is done.

Cakes are delicate and can easily break or crumble when you try to move them from the cooling rack to the serving platter. A cake lifter provides a large, flat surface that supports the entire cake, making it easier to transfer it without damaging it. A cake lifter can also be used for other baked goods such as cookies, brownies, and bars. It can be particularly helpful when lifting larger or heavier baked goods that may be difficult to transfer with just a spatula or tongs.

These sifters have a fine mesh screen that is used to sift dry ingredients. We use this sifter for powdered sugar used when making royal icing and buttercream. Traditional sifters have a medium screen, which may not be fine enough for clumps to move through small piping tubes. When using the fine sifter, it's important to work in small batches and tap the sifter gently to help the dry ingredients pass through the mesh screen.

Getting a smooth surface on buttercream cakes is challenging. These cake cloths are an essential cake decorating tool that makes it easy and quick to get your icing smoother. To use, simply spread an even layer of buttercream over the entire surface with an icing spatula. Gently press the cake cloth into the icing. In most cases, the icing will not stick. However, if the icing is sticking, you can use a pastry brush to rub a small amount of cornstarch onto the cake cloth before using it. Cake cloths can be used over again several times. Wash in warm water and hang to air dry.

Watch How To Smooth Buttercream With A Cake Cloth

This Sprinkle Pen is a handy tool that allows for precision decorating, so you can easily add sprinkles, sugar pearls, or other decorations exactly where you want them. This makes it time-saving and easier to create intricate designs and patterns on your cakes and cupcakes. Sprinkles and other small decorations can also be messy and difficult to work with. Thi sprinkle attaching Sprinkle Pen helps to reduce the mess and allows you to work with smaller decorations more easily. The Sprinkle Pen can be used with a variety of different types of decorations, including sprinkles, sugar pearls, edible icing eyes, and more.

Watch Us use the Sprinkle Pen to Attach Edible Pearls

These dusting spray pumps have tiny grips inside the pump to collect dusting powders and fine edible glitters. Sprinkling fine edible glitters by hand can be messy and difficult to control. Using a spray bottle helps to contain the glitter and reduces the amount of clean-up required. You can also cover a larger area more quickly, which can save you time when decorating your cakes. A spray bottle allows you to apply fine edible glitter more evenly and precisely than if you were to sprinkle it by hand. You can also use spray bottles for shimmer and luster dust powders to give an overall sheen to cakes. To use, fill a clean, dry spray bottle with the glitter. You can use a small funnel to make this process easier and less messy. Hold the spray bottle about 6-8 inches away from your cake. Spritz the glitter onto the cake or baked goods in a light, even layer. If you want a more intense sparkle, you can apply multiple layers.

Watch the Dust Pump in Action

See the difference between sprinkling edible glitter directly from the shaker jar and the dust pump.

Cutting your disposable piping bags with scissors can be time-consuming. Have you ever cut your bag too big at the tip, causing the coupler to split the bag? The Icing Bag Cutter and Brush Set helps you to cut your bags quickly, accurately, and cleanly, which can save you time and effort. The Icing Bag Cutter and Brush Set is small and portable, so you can easily take it to cake decorating classes or a friend's house for a decorating party. To use, insert a coupler into your disposable piping bag. Slide the cutter over the icing bag with the arrow pointing toward the coupler. Squeeze side tabs, twist, and cut. The tip-cleaning brushes included in the set are an added bonus!

Wilton Icing Bag Cutter Tutorial

With these 11 essential cake-baking and cake-decorating tools, you can take your cake game to the next level. From baking tools like pan grease and heating cores to decorating tools like cake cloths and sprinkle pens, these tools are sure to simplify and enhance your cake decorating. So grab your favorite tools and get ready to bake and decorate!

How many of the above tools do you have? What must-have tools do you use that are lesser-known for cake decorating and baking?