Cake King's Original "Learn to Decorate" Cake Decorating Kit

I bought this as a beginning decorator kit for a 12 year old. It is exactly as described on the website. The only thing, keep in mind the decorator tips are plastic, not metal.

Great starter kit

Great starter kit for the price!!

This is a kit which is designed to teach those who are new to cake decorating how to achieve better results. The kit includes various items so I am attempting to assess value based on the value of each one as well as evaluate the quality and utility of each item.The first item that I used was the oddly shaped cake pan (it is designed to look like a slice of cake). It is a good quality (thick, but not too thick), non-stick pan which is a nice inclusion since it is a novelty design which has varied utility. I have a lot of bakeware, but I have nothing like this, and the shape is suitable for adults or children. It's also slightly smaller in capacity than a 9” square pan so I found it very good for small brownie mix portions, though the dark metal means you have to be careful about edges not over-baking or becoming too dark.I tried to find this pan for sale on the Kaiser web site to see what it sells for, but it was not included. I did find an independent seller who sold it for $12 and Kaiser pans in general are not cheap with shaped pans on their web site selling for about 10 Euros ($11), so the value and quality of the pan can be factored into the total price of the set.There's a “cake board” which is just a round piece of cardboard with a silver foil cover. This is a disposable item that you can use once. I'm sure it's just included to save the user from having to make one the first time, but it's not a particularly valuable inclusion since it is quite small and fits only a small round pan (which isn't the type of pan that you are given in the set). I would set the value of this board at no more than 50 cents.There is also a Wilton cake decorating booklet included and this sells for $4 on Wilton's site. The booklet's contents are available on Wilton's site (you don't need to have the booklet, but it is handier to have a print copy). The booklet is quite good in orienting you on the basics, but I do think it is also useful to go to Wilton's web site for more details or to YouTube and subscribe to their channel to watch demonstrations of the techniques rather than rely on the pictures and words in the booklet.Finally, there is the decorating equipment which comes in a little plastic box and contains tips, outlining tools, and pastry bag. All of the component are white plastic, which means they aren't high quality (that would be stainless steel tips). For beginners who don't require a huge investment, this isn't a serious issue. The set does include more pieces than you'd get from a cheap dollar stare set and the pastry bags (which are disposable) are properly sized and shaped for better precision while piping. The set includes an angled funnel, a stylus (for writing in frosting before piping so you can do a better job), stencils for both letters and graceful shapes (to trace with frosting), and a variety of tips. The tips work well, unsurprisningly, and there is enough variety to get many of the effects Wilton talks about. The pieces work quite well. I actually tested them first by piping meringue cookies and was able to create graceful swirls with them. I am pleased that this comes with its own little plastic case as most kits come with just a zipper plastic bag or no storage at all, but it isn't high quality (more of a dollar stare value item).The weak point of the decorating kit are the letter stencils and the tray that is included to align them. The stencils come joined together as one plastic piece connected by thin bits of plastic that you snap apart. The problem is that little nubs of plastic stay at the bottom and top of the letters which make the letters sit slightly askew in the alignment tray. I tried trimming these off with scissors so the bottoms would be even, but it is nearly impossible to do and rather fiddly and tricky. I think the letters are only useful if you are masterful at aligning them on your own or don't care if they are straight. Also, the stencils are shallower for the letters and it's tricky to make sure you don't get the outline of the stencil imprinted as well. The other stencils are a bit deeper and have “spikes” on them and work better.So, overall, this is not a bad set for beginner's, but I don't think the decorating tips, box, etc. are worth $10 on their own (which they would have to be for this to be a good value). I also expect a set to cost less than the sum of it's parts if I bought them on my own and this actually costs more at the time of this review ($27). At $15, this would be a 5-star offer despite the stencil issues because it'd be a steal, but at the current price, it's just okay, and I think one might do better by shopping around and buying pieces separately.Note: I purchased this item at a discount for my assessment.

This is a great set. Much better than I thought it would be. It includes everything you need to start you collection to become a great cake decorator. The book that is included is very helpful in showing how to do flowers, edging and much more.I am exploring my desire to make decorated cakes and with this kit I am on my way. Not perfect of course but this certainly helpsI purchased this product at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review