A Few Of My Favorite Tools!

I had a fun conversation with a fellow bakery owner today and it inspired me to blog about my favorite tools.  Not to mention that I had NO cakes last week.  We spent the week working on taxes but you really don't want to hear about that do you!?!  Most of you that follow this blog know that I LOVE my metal scraper that enables me to get my buttercream smooth as well as my Cricut cake machine (most of the time).  What you might not know is the little things that help me make pretty cakes every week.

One tool is a sewing gauge that I use when marking tiered cakes.  For instance if you are stacking a 9" and 6" round, once your 9" is cold you can basically center a 6" cardboard circle or cake pan on the top.  Then use your sewing gauge to get your 1.5" on all sides of your board.  Since the tool is so light it's also good for leaning up against the side of the chilled cake to mark something you need.  The little arrow that slides up and down is very handy too!

ACE 1" Food Barrel Extruder

One of the other favorite things is my large Polymer Express Clay Gun.  It's an extruder gun that is easy to load, easy on your hand, holds a lot of fondant and is easy to clean.  Did I mention that it's very cool too?  There are small fondant extruders, which are fine if you are just a hobbyist, but if you are going to make a lot of cakes, spend a few extra dollars and you won't regret it.  The three circle die is cool because if you twist it slightly it looks just like rope.  Trying to make a fondant rope that looks even and smooth is not an easy task without one of these fantastic little tools.  I love this site in general because of all the cool stuff you can't find anywhere else, like some of their great impression mats.

What are some of your favorite tools and why?