The One With the Practical Things (Cake Making Edition)

Ok. I'll admit it. I've been sold on the Wilton products for cake baking and decorating.
They have about a million. But I'm only going to recommend the ones that have literally revolutionized and simplified my cake-making experiences. As a mom, I'm pretty busy and although I love baking, I don't have a ton of extra time to spend doing so. So I need these products that help me out. And the great thing is that none of them are extremely expensive. Especially if you sign up for JoAnn's coupons and collect one or two a week with 40-50% off coupons... you could seriously get the whole lot for hardly anything.

1. Turn table: Eliminates the need to reposition yourself or your cake every 20 seconds. This is so easy to use you won't even realize how much it's helping you until you're done and it hasn't taken you a whole day to pipe an edge. I have the Trim 'n Turn Plus, but I suppose the Tilt 'n Turn Ultra would be even better since you can actually tilt it as well. But so far, I haven't really desired that feature.
2. Cake leveler: Much easier than using a knife to flatten the top of your cake. You can even cut a single layer into 2 so you can fill the middle. At less than $4, you really shouldn't go without this.
3. In stores that offer Wilton classes, they have Decorating Basics sets that are an awesome way to collect the basic supplies you need like tips, bags, couplers, guides, spatula, etc.
4. Clear flavorings for your frosting are wonderful - they keep your frosting actually white instead of yellowish. Good stuff. 
5. Icing a cake couldn't be any easier than with Wilton Tip 789. It's an extra large tip used with an 18" bag that allows you to get the icing on your cake very quickly. Then you use a spatula to even it out. Combined with the turn table, this is the best discovery I made of Wilton products. You can ice a cake in about 5 minutes with this technique. So handy! Here's a little video tutorial if you're interested. 
6. Wilton also makes some Mini Squeeze Bottles which are awesome! I use them while decorating to keep water handy for thinning icing, but apparently they also work great for melting candy melts and drizzling them on things like cake pops. At about $2 for 2, you really can't go wrong. 

So there you have it! My favorite new cake making/decorating products. I've been having so much fun decorating cakes and ideas just keep popping into my head. Now I just need parties to take some cakes too... it would definitely not be a good idea for me to make these cakes just for the heck of it.