I get lots of my supplies and tools at cake design stores, particularly online stores where products are often less expensive. But I also use a lot of tools that you won’t find in any cake design store. Here are four I can’t do without:
1. Vodka. I buy the cheapest vodka I can find in the largest quantity. Vodka evaporates much more quickly than water and therefore won’t dissolve the sugar in fondant the way water will. I mix vodka with luster dust to liquify it and use in my airbrush. I also use vodka rather than airbrush cleaner to clean my airbrush. Simply fill the color cup with vodka and spray until it runs clear. For cleanups on fondant-covered cakes, lightly moisten a paper towel with vodka and gently wipe away stray marks.
2. Non-slip shelf liner. An indespensible tool, non-slip liner is worth its weight in gold, although it’s very inexpensive. For about $5, you can buy a large roll at Target. I place it under my cakes and my commercial cooler to prevent them from sliding around during transport. It can also be used under a cutting or rolling board so that it won’t slip on the table surface.
3. Sandpaper. I use sandpaper to soften the edges on dummy cakes (where the side meets the top) so that my fondant won’t tear as easily. I also use it to smooth the seams on the sides of the dummies. Sanpaper works perfectly on dried sugar decorations. Rather than risk cracking them by applying the pressure of even the sharpest blade, I smooth rough edges on dried gumpaste and pastiallage pieces with sandpaper.
The trick is to know what grit to use. The lower the grit the rougher the sandpaper and conversely, the higher the grit the smoother the sandpaper. 100-grit sandpaper is rougher than 200-grit sandpaper. “Grit” referes to the number of abrasive particles per inch of sandpaper (woodzone.com). An easy way to remember is to imagine a 1″ square. Think about how small and fine the particles would have to be to fit 300 into that square inch, and how much bigger (and rougher) the particles would be to fit 50 particles. I tend to use finer sandpaper on my sugar pieces (300 or 400) and slightly rougher sandpaper (150 or 200) on my cake dummies.
4. Easy Cutter. I use 1/4″ wooden dowels (be sure to buy them at a hardware store rather than a crafts shop) to support my cakes. To cut them, I use the Midwest Easy Cutter, a tool specifically designed for cutting small wood strips. It has a guide so that you can ensure your cuts are exactly 90 degrees. Some of the larger Jo-Ann Fabrics stores carry them in their woodcrafts department, or you can purchase them at the online art store, Dick Blick. 
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Have a favorite cake design tool that’s not intended for cake? Please feel free to share it here.
love this post! I do the same thing when I transport cakes….that non-stick shelf liner works wonders! I am so going to have to get that Easy Cutter…I hate cutting the wooden dowels, but this could be the solution to my problem! Thanks for all the helpful info
I so need that Easy Cutter in my life!! and I love to use paint scrapers to ice my cakes straight when icing in buttercream!
I just mentioned to my husband today that I needed to find another cutting tool to cut my dowels. I'll have to check the Easy Cutter out. Thanks for the info.
such great tips!
Another tool I canNOT go without is my spray bottle. I misplaced it right before I had to do a cake and thought I could go one cake without it. I use the spray bottle to wipe down my tools as I go, dampen a paper towel to wipe off my tips when piping, and to thin buttercream in small batches, and to smooth an icing job on cake. I tried a bowl of cold water, a bowl of hot water, a tall narrow glass, a shallow dish, but boy was I wrong. After a few hours I sent my husband to the store to buy TWO so i'll never be without one again!
Thanks for all of the tips you share! I haven't been in the cake business for a bit, would love to have known about the non-slip then, but it will be good for those few birthday cakes I transport now.
Great tips – thanks for sharing!
I’m up at the ungodly hour of 2:30am not able to sleep finding myself reading through my Google Reader. I started to read one of my subscriptions by Half Baked’s blog and came across your blog within her article. Now 3:45am find myself still on your blog reading. LOVE LOVE all that you put into this blog….the stories….and the tips you have given.
I’m new to this baking thing and found your story of your start to baking inspirational yet so day-to-day real. Craigslist was a genius idea! Made you get the job done and learn at the same time. I love it! All the tips posted on here thus far have answered a few questions that have been lingering in my mind.
I’m an airbrush artist and had an idea that vodka would be something I could probably clean my airbrush with (I clean my body paints within the airbrush with rubbing alcohol) and wahlah…..so it be. I love the luster dust idea too! No clogging issues with that?
Oh and the cutter! Well I’m an Esthetician (Jack of all trades-LOL) and I always cut my waxing sticks in half with these huge scissors and tried to do the same with my dowels (LOL) when I made my first cake, what a joke that was and went to pruning shears. I like these and will use these instead. Thanks for this post. It will help out in more ways than one.
So you now have a new frequent reader amongst your group. I’ve added you to my subscriptions and can honestly tell you, yours will be one of the first I look for updates on. Great work on this!
Your blog is really great. I get some ideas for my wedding.
Hi Erica! I also LOVE the rubber shelf liner for putting underneath cake boards during transport. I learned about it the hard way after having one wedding cake tier (out of four tiers) slide around in its box on the way to the venue, smooshing a row of meticulously-applied candy pearls into the fondant. Aarrrgh!
As for unconventional tools, I love using craft paper punches on very thin sheets of gumpaste, to create borders and applique shapes. (I got that idea from Rylan Ty, of Art and Appetite.) I use nipple piping screwed into flanges from the Home Depot, covered with food-safe piping (water tubes) where the cake will touch, as a central-doweling system for 'balance'/wonky cakes. I LOVE finding cake equipment at the hardware store.
I love your blog.
Real nice design and style and wonderful subject matter, nothing else we need
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God, I feel like I souhld be takin notes! Great work