I work in a bakery, decorating cakes. Folks pay $50-150 for a cake it takes me 15 minutes to decorate, sometimes more. Here, we talk about purchasing your supplies. In the next article, we will delve into decorating.

Buttercreme is the most popular icing for birthday and wedding cakes. Buttercreme does not need to be refrigerated like Whipped Cream does. You can leave buttercreme out on the picnic table or counter indefinately. To save time, energy and ensure optimal consistency buy from a cake goods vendor. Use buttercreme for all of your foundation icing, borders, inscriptions and decorations. It’s a one-stop-shop.

You need professional icing colors that come in powders or pastes . DO NOT USE LIQUID COLOR DYE. Wilton is a household name in the cake decorating business and have great primary and pastel sets.

A craft store like Michaels usually has these icing colors too.

 You want to invest in disposable pastry bags. They are made of thick plastic. If possible, find the bags that do not have a seam. (We use the seamed ones at work and they tend to bust if I accidently squeeze too hard which, you guessed it, ruins the cake.) Wilton’s disposable pastry bags Also, I do NOT recommend the parchment paper bags. It it difficult to feel proper pressure control due to how thick they are.

They also make pastry bag ties which look really useful and cute but I have not used them before. They might be worth a try. I just twist the top of the bag. On this note, only fill a pastry bag less than half full, twist, then use.

 I will cut straight to the chase. If you’re looking for a quality set of tips to start your decorating ventures, buy Wilton’s Deluxe Tip Set. It is all you will ever realistically need. The Master Tip set is too expensive and you don’t need the frills.

For more information on decorating: "Making Roses and Icing Bags Tips"

 Use a cake table, the ones that you can turn all the way around while you ice and decorate. Many decorators do not use one and I think they are crazy. The table protects your hands and wrists from carpal tunnel injury, you have less of a chance of dragging your arm through your work, and it speeds up the process.

Of the turntables on the Wilton’s website, this turntable is the best one for the money. You don’t need a professional or cake table. Just need one that spins and sits a ways up from the table surface.

By the way, if you can find foam board to set the cake on before you start decorating you will find it much easier to remove the cake and put on display after you decorate it. I would highly recommend getting foam boards.

I hope you’re excited! Cake decorating is so fun! While you are waiting for your cake supplies to be delivered, you can bake your cake mixes

. Freeze them indefinately, frost them while they are still frozen and freeze again (after decorating or just applying the base icing) for up to 21 days. By making your mixes in advance, you can spend more time doing the fun part, decorating! For your first endevor, possibly make extra mixes. You can use them in the future or if you drop it.

By the way, Store bought cake mixes often taste better than home-made recipes, they are quick and inexpensive. I like the pudding-in-the-mix but I have not ever frozen this one. It should freeze just fine but you never know. I would make a dummy pudding-in-the-mix to freeze up ahead of time.