I've been making cakes for the best part of ten years, which means I have collected a LOT of kit. Some essential, some which saves a lot of time, some just super lovely to have. I have slowly but surely taken over probably about half the cupboard space in my house, much to the frustration of my ever suffering husband.

Amongst my stash are a few essential items that I just couldn't live without - my top five favourite cake decorating tools of all time. These 5 items all get used over and over in 99% of the cake decorating work I do. Perhaps surprisingly, there are no fancy items on the list - no airbrush or Agbay leveller or Ateco turntable or super duper Kenwood Titanium mixer with its huge bowl. Plain and simple basic items that I use every day.

In reverse order, number 5 on the list is my mismatched set of spacers, used to make sure whatever fondant, modelling paste or cookie dough I roll out gets rolled to the exact thickness I want. My cake perfectionism started here. I have acrylic versions that are 1mm and 5mm thick, and hand made versions which bridge the gap in between. I also use these guys to straighten the edges on sugar shapes, to straighten up long lengths of extruded modelling paste and as guides for placing decoration on a cake when it has to be straight or I need perfect spacing in between.

Number 4 on the list are my dresden tools. I use them for shaping and adding detail to models; smoothing joins; adding detail to flower petals; making ruffles; making guide holes; neatening edges; helping me put or slide decorations into place (the list goes on...). They're also good for chipping off unwanted pieces of royal icing, and if you balance one between two glasses it acts as a very neat hanger to dry a couple of flowers on.

Number three on my list of top five favourite tools is my secret (not so secret!) stash of rolling pins. 16 to be precise. From the big 24" weapon I use to roll out the fondant for covering my cakes, to the pretty little etched acrylic ones that transfer a pattern into modelling paste. Every time Cake International comes around it's soooooo difficult to resist buying more of these, they're so teeny and shiny and lovely! I use each rolling pin for something different. That is my excuse for having so many and I'm sticking to it...

And now we're in the top two! My second favourite cake tool is my collection of paintbrushes. These range in size and shape from teeny teeny to something you could almost paint a fence with. Used for painting fine detail and bolder strokes onto cakes, tidying up edges, dusting flowers, gently straightening decorations and pushing them into their proper place (I often have a paintbrush in one hand and a dresden tool in the other hand while I'm doing this); poking cut out shapes out of their cutters; removing teeny specks from the surface of fondant; applying lustre (painted or dusted); teasing royal icing piping into place; taking the points off piped pearls; cleaning up mistakes; applying sugar glue; the list goes on and on. 

And a big drum roll please for my number 1 favourite cake decorating tool of all time. It's a very slim and flexible rectangular shaped artist's palette knife. This may surprise you. I love it. It's the secret weapon in my stash, and I use it for about a million different things. I'm horrified now that the handle has become a bit loose and I probably need to replace. I will be very sad to throw this old friend away, we have been through many a late night together. Each cake you've ever seen me make? This guy helped me make it. Maybe I won't throw him away after all.