Cake Decorating Tools: Piping Bags, Nozzles, Fondant and Turntables

The tools of a cake decorator: a piping bag fitted with a coupler and a metal nozzle, or tip, for writing and borders; a turntable to spin the cake while frosting it; an offset spatula and a bench scraper for smooth sides; a decorating comb for patterns; fondant, the rollable sugar paste; stencils; and an airbrush to spray on color.

No word is diagonal. Turntable and airbrush, two of the longest words, read backwards.

Piping & Decorating Vocabulary: 10 Words to Find

Words run across, up and down; 6 of the 10 read backwards. The longest word is Turntable, with 9 letters.

Airbrush: A small spray gun that mists edible color onto cakes and cookies.
Comb: A decorating comb, a flat tool with teeth for making patterns in frosting.
Coupler: A two-piece plastic fitting that lets a decorator change piping tips without emptying the bag.
Fondant: A smooth sugar paste rolled thin and draped over cakes, or shaped into decorations.
Nozzle: The metal tip on a piping bag that shapes the frosting into stars, shells or lines.
Piping: Squeezing frosting through a bag and tip to decorate a cake.
Scraper: A bench scraper, a flat blade for smoothing frosting or cutting dough.
Spatula: An offset spatula, with a bent blade, for spreading frosting smoothly.
Stencil: A cut-out pattern placed on a cake and dusted with sugar or cocoa to print a design.
Turntable: A rotating cake stand that lets a decorator spin the cake while frosting it.

How to Solve the Piping & Decorating Word Search

"Nozzle" has the only Z, a double one, and runs upward. "Comb" and "coupler" both start with CO: comb reads backwards, coupler runs down. "Fondant" has the only F and D.

Cake Decorating Class Activities

Match each tool to a step: filling the bag, frosting the sides, adding patterns.
Practice piping on a plate with different nozzles.
Ask students to design a cake on paper and label the tools they would use.