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When you first start cake decorating, it seems that there's a lot to buy
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but these 10 tools really are the only things you absolutely need
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Number one is a turntable. You can choose a plastic one if you're looking for cheap and cheerful
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and if you're only planning on decorating cakes as a hobby, or an activity to do with your kids
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Notice the lines of texture that my spatula leaves with every spin
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The spin on a plastic turntable is quite wobbly, and the vibrations will cause grooves or dense in your frosting
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and if you're making cakes for fun, it might not matter to you. But if you want to get serious about cake decorating
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and want to get your frosting really smooth, choose a metal turntable
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The spin is much smoother, and once you've practiced and perfected your technique for smooth frosting
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your results will be much better with a metal turn table. If you have a metal turn table and you're still struggling with smooth frosting
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watch my tutorials on seven secrets for smooth frosting on cakes, and also 15 frosting mistakes you're making and how to fix them
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The second cake decorating tool to buy is an offset spatula or palette knife
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Offset just means that the blade is in two parts, with a diagonal or sloped section first
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which means you're holding the handle a little bit away from the cake, so you can spread frosting and also smooth it more easily than with a completely straight blade
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To choose an offset spatula think about what size cake you going to be making and make sure the blade is at least half the size of that cake So if you have 8 inch cake pans make sure that the blade is at least 4 inches long
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so that you can smooth the frosting on top of the cake like this
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After you spread frosting onto your cake, you'll need to smooth it. So the third tool you'll need is a frosting smoother, also called a cake comb or an icing scraper
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Choose plastic if you're a hobby cake decorator or acrylic or metal for
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even smoother frosting. Make sure your cake comb is at least as tall as the cakes you make so that it
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scrapes the entire surface of the cake with each spin. Number four is cakeboards, at least two inches
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wider than your cakes. Cardboard with a grease-proof lining is the cheapest option, but the corrugated
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cardboard edge isn't very pretty. There's foam core, which is a little bit more expensive
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but it has a nicer edge than the corrugated cardboard and it's reusable. You can put these in the dishwasher
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to clean them. And then there's acrylic, which is even more expensive but also more durable and longer
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lasting. Of course, if you're selling cakes or giving them away, you probably won't get the cakeboard
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back, so you might not choose acrylic. To make colourful cakes, buy some gel colours. Choose a student
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or starter kit that includes all of the basic colours, which you can then mix to make every other
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colour you need, like black and blue to make navy, or green and orange to make avocado green. Gels are better
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than liquids because they more concentrated so you can make really bright and bold colors with just a few drops without making your frosting too runny or watery The sixth tool to buy is piping bags Use these for quicker
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filling and frosting of cakes to save yourself time, and piping bags can be used for, of course, piping
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Even without piping tips. For example, cut a V into the end to pipe succulence, or cut a tiny hole off the end
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to pipe dots or lines or to write messages. For more detailed piping, you'll need piping tips
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You can buy them individually, but sets are usually more affordable. For piping swells, choose a star tip, which you can also use for rope borders and wave or shell borders
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I love smaller open star tips for textured beaded borders like this
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Try a number 32 or a number 199. For neat lines and dots and writing, choose a small round tip like a number three or a number four
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And petal tips are great for petals. And also vintage piping and ruffles
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For a digital tool to take your cake decorating skills from beginner to professional
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join my online course, the Layer Up program, which takes you through three layers of cake decorating skills and techniques
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and also gives you access to live sessions and a few. a members-only community group
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Save yourself time and money by learning everything that I learned in 12 years in just three to six months instead Once you mastered smooth frosting use the exact same technique with a textured cake comb to add lots of details to the frosting without learning any new techniques or skills
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All you need is a cake comb with a pattern along one side. Quick tip, the shallower the pattern is, the easier it will be to use
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If the pattern is very deep and dramatic like this, your frosting will need to be really thick
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to imprint the patterned texture, and it's much trickier to get it neat
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With textured frosting, a simple and quickly frosted cake looks stunning. To take your cakes anywhere, you'll need a cake caddy or a cake box
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A caddy is reusable, so great if you're taking a cake to a friend or an event you're going to
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and you'll be able to bring it back home afterwards. Choose a tall one if you make tall cakes
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I like this one that collapses for compact storage, but extends. to fit my extra tall cakes inside
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For gifting or selling cakes, you'll need boxes that you can give away and not get back
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Choose boxes that are tall enough for your cakes and ideally the same width as your cake boards
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so that the cake doesn't move around inside. I hope this list of your first 10 cake decorating tools to buy
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has been useful. Visit my cake school on British Girlbakes.com and start your seven-day free trial
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of my all-you-can cake membership, which gives you access to everything on my cake school
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Thanks for watching. watching. Thank you