The Kitchen Tool Natalie Sideserf Can't Live Without When Making Hyper-Realistic Cakes - Exclusive

Baking a cake requires various ingredients, tools, and equipment, and making hyper-realistic cakes is a step above the ordinary, reflected in the components used to make them. In an exclusive interview with Tasting Table, Natalie Sideserf shared plenty of advice about making her famous cakes. From the conception to the production, many elements aren't immediately visible to consumers. And while some are specific to the creation at hand, others are ubiquitous whether you're baking a birthday cake or a hyperrealistic concoction.

The number one tool Sideserf uses isn't as fancy and farfetched as you might imagine; it's a good ol' rolling pin. As one of the most recognizable instruments in a kitchen, it isn't so surprising that she finds it so useful. Sideserf's cakes rely on precision to imitate her subject matter accurately. "I use a rolling pin a lot," she says, "because I cover my cakes in a product that I'm going to have come out soon, which is edible clay." Its easily malleable properties make it a prime candidate for her cakes, and the imminent release means bakers can use it to try their hand at making artistic desserts too.

Rolling pins are commonly used to roll out dough, but Sideserf takes it in a slightly different direction. She starts by cutting a preliminary shape from a cake. The next step is adding the molding surface. She explains, "I roll it out and then I place it on top of the cake and then I sculpt it." Sideserf makes it abundantly clear that the edible clay (aka modeling chocolate) is the key to her creations and adds, "If I wasn't able to have that rolling pin on hand — sometimes I even use it to sculpt and shape — if I didn't have that rolling pin, I probably wouldn't even be able to use the product."

While Sideserf employs all sorts of creative tricks to assemble her wildly realistic cakes, it's comforting to know that the average person doesn't have to stock their kitchens with an array of fancy tools if they're curious to experiment with these fun desserts. That said, the rolling pin is especially helpful for working with edible clay, so you'll want to keep your eyes peeled for the imminent product release from Sideserf Cake Studio. And if your kitchen isn't yet equipped with a rolling pin, various items can make a solid substitution for the time being.

Follow Natalie and her hyper-realistic cakes on her YouTube channel, Instagram, or TikTok account, and sign up to her mailing list at sideserfcakes.com to receive the latest information on the upcoming product release.