6 baking essentials recommended by cake influencer Natalie Sideserf

Have you ever wanted to make the beautiful cakes you see all over YouTube and TikTok? Well, thanks to a creation by cake influencer Natalie Sideserf, you can do exactly that!

We interviewed Sideserf to learn all about her background and how she ended up making ultra-realistic cakes social media can't get enough of.

"I studied art in college," Sideserf explained when asked how she got into making cakes in the first place.  "I was using traditional media like sculpture."

Sideserf's art background shines through in all her creations. She made her first cake — a cow skull — in 2010 on a dare. She had a friend who watched all the early 2000s baking shows and wanted to see if Sideserf could create one of the beautiful masterpieces depicted on the shows.

Since then, Sideserf has made hundreds of cakes that look like spiders, pizzas, onions and hundreds of other realistic creatures and objects. 

"It was mostly fondant that I used then, but I’ve always found it’s far more difficult to work with than the edible clay I work with now," Sideserf told us when asked how she gets her cakes to look so realistic.

Edible clay, which is molding-chocolate based, is easy to work with and an affordable way to take your cakes to the next level. "It’s an all-ages product," Sideserf explained in our interview. She’s had kids and adults alike use her YouTube tutorials to make truly realistic cakes.

Sideserf decided to release her own brand of edible clay because she got so many daily asks for it. "With my YouTube channel, I get so many people asking for it…This is the product I use for all my cakes, so it made sense to release it."

Sideserf's goal has always been to help others learn to make realistic cakes. She has YouTube videos on everything from how to make a cake that looks like a crabby patty to making a hyper realistic pancake stack. Her recommendation for complete beginners looking to make their first realistic cake, was to start with her mac and cheese cake video.

During our interview, we asked Natalie her top baking products she recommends for cake bakers. She gave us six of her top baking essentials. Check them out:

Sideserf Studios edible clay is the most important part of all of Natalie’s cakes, so if you’re looking to make ultra-realistic (or even cartoony) cakes, edible clay is the way to go. It’s easy to mold and acts just like regular clay, Sideserf explained. This makes it easier to work with than fondant, which also has a much sweeter taste than the white chocolate-based edible clay.

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Sculpting a cake is very similar to working with a clay sculpture, according to Sideserf. That’s why you need your own set of sculpting tools when you plan to make shaped cakes.

"There are ones specifically made for cake, but some people use the same tools they would for regular sculpting," Sideserf said in our interview. So, you can get a bulk pack of cake-specific sculpting tools like these from Amazon, or, if you’re an artist as well, grab some multi-use clay sculpting tools from Michaels. Just make sure you sanitize all your tools before you start making cakes.

Cake painting brushes are also an important tool to have if you want to get into the cake decorating world. They help you create smaller details and add life to your cakes.

Natalie helpfully explained that wafer paper is just edible paper that you can manipulate into all kinds of creations, like flowers, for example. Sideserf made a sushi cake recently that features lots of wafer paper as the seaweed part of the cake.

Get creative with a 25- pack of wafer paper you can get on Amazon, or grab a 50-pack of wafer paper from Walmart.

To add color to your cakes or baked good creations, you need food color gel or food color powder. Sideserf explained that gel or powder is a better option than liquid food coloring because it adds more color without having to use a lot.

You can find a pack of 12 different food coloring gels from Amazon, or you can get a pack of six primary color food coloring powders also on Amazon.

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A non-stick baking mat helps your cakes or other baked goods slide seamlessly off the pan once they're out of the oven. Save yourself the agony of destroying your hard work and invest in a basic set of three non-stick mats on Amazon.

"They make cake-related ones with measurements as well," Sideserf said. This cake silicone baking mat from Walmart is an example of the mats she’s referring to. For more advanced bakers looking to make perfect cakes, a cake-specific mat is good to have.

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When asked about her favorite brand of cake pans, Sideserf was quick to point to Fat Daddio’s pans. "These are the pans I’ve always used, I’ve been using them for years," she said. Fat Daddio’s pans come in all different shapes and sizes.

You can get a classic round Fat Daddio’s pan from Amazon. Amazon also has square Fat Daddio’s pans and springform Fat Daddio’s pans for cheesecakes and pies.