Cake decorating

[Dont mind me]

I have a question for all you experts

I am looking to treat myself for Christmas so I can make my homemade cakes pretty or cute or well something other than plain. I have some decent piping nozzles and piping bags but what would your must have items be for a relative new comer to cake decorating?

[VICKYTORIAPLUM]

It depends what types of cakes you want to make - you could invest in some cutters and moulds to makefondant topped cakes so you would also need a rolling pin, some colours ( I use sugar flair colours which are professional quality) not ones from a supermarket, and basically practice and watch you tube for ideas - do you have any specialist cake decorating stores near you?

[Vanillapod]

Hmm, I’d say a smoother, maybe a turntable, decent colours (I’d also recommend sugarflair or squires) and maybe a basic tool kit. PME have one for about £10 I think but you can get cheaper ones from eBay (beware, the cheap knockoff ball tool isn’t seamless so is pretty useless)

As above, it really depends what you want to make.

[Dont mind me]

Thanks for your replies, unfortunately no specialist stores near me So can't go and ask advice there. The fun of living in the country lol

I am most likely to be doing cute things (we don't really do flowers or elegant - not that I don't love looking at those kind of things) It's my dads 80th next year so i'm likely to be doing something Jungle themed as his fave film is jungle book (not planning on dong a fully on jungle book theme) but I would hope I could make an attempt at something with animals on! Before that i'll be practicing.

I'll take a look at the PME toolkit thanks for the suggestion!

Do you have any youtube suggestions? Also maybe some books?

[alp1972]

For websites Zoe's Fancy Cakes in Leeds has classes but she also has a You Tube channel which has hundreds of modelling tutorials on very good and easy to follow. I was self taught and picked most up by either pictures and having a go or watching tutorials on you tube. For a beginner I would suggest buying some Gum Tragacanth or CMC you add it to normal fondant and it makes it set harder and firms it up ideal for modelling as the fondant doesn't just wither on you. Also add a tiny amount to warm water makes edible glue. They charge a fortune for the glue in the shops. Maybe some colours for mixing the fondant and moulds or cutters but beware the ones sometimes from eBay are not very good .They use a hard substance to make the mould and it makes it very difficult to get your design out the silicone moulds are the best. Good luck .

[Disney2010]

I would recommend a smoother, a good plastic rolling pin, a turntable.
cake-stuff.com is great for supplies at a reasonable price. I often get boards/boxes from ebay shops.

As alp1972 said, Zoe's Fancy Cakes is great & her online classes are great. I love to watch videos on YouTube! xx