As an airbrushing artist of many years, I was stunned to learn that airbrushes are commonly used to decorate cakes. It makes sense, airbrushing is such a highly versatile artform that it’s reasonable to see this tool being used in the cake decorating business.
After doing some research, I came to realize that cake decorating is very similar to other forms of airbrush art. Like other forms of airbrush art, your artwork is only as good as your gear.
This article is about getting the right airbrush for cakes so that your artwork will truly command the astonished gaze of your friends, family, and customers.
So in the quest to find the right airbrush for cakes, the relevant question arises:
Can you use any airbrush for cake decorating?
Yes, any airbrush can be used for cake decorating. Airbrushes are made to atomize color solutions with fine pigments. Therefore, cake decorating food colors for airbrushing can be used in virtually any airbrush.
What Makes a Good Airbrush For Cakes
Here are a few things to consider when getting an airbrush for cake decorating:
- How much air pressure you need
- How much detail and control you need
Since you won’t be using your airbrush for massive coverage, a detail oriented airbrush with a medium to small sized air compressor will be needed.
Large air compressors are often noisy, hard to move around, and take up precious space in your kitchen or workspace. The perfect air compressor for cake decorating will only need to put out between 10 to 25 PSI. This is great because you can prioritize sound level and size over sheer power.
Detail and control over your color flow is imperative for cake decorating. That’s why I highly recommend getting a gravity feed, double action airbrush.
Gravity feed refers to the airbrush style that has a fluid hopper located on the top of the airbrush. As opposed to a siphon feed airbrush that sucks the colors in from a bottle located on the bottom of the airbrush. Gravity feed gives you far more control over how much fluid is fed into the airbrush and allows you to mix colors directly in the hopper.
Double action refers to an airbrush trigger style that initiates air flow when you press the trigger down, and progressively activates the color stream as you pull it back. This is in contrast to a single action airbrush that activates air and paint flow at the same time. Double action airbrushes can do everything that a single action can but they also give you far more control over the color stream pattern.
Check out this other article for more information on the different types of airbrushes.
Now that you have some groundwork for picking a stellar airbrush for cakes, let’s get into the top picks.
1. U.S. Cake Supply Airbrush Kit
Best Beginner Airbrush for Cakes
It can be a pain to research every component of airbrushing. This research takes energy and time – time that would be better spent practicing decorating!
If you’re a beginner, you will be better off getting an airbrush kit that has everything you need to start decorating right out the box.
That’s what the US Cake Supply Airbrush Kit allows you to do.
The U.S Cake supply kit includes a double action airbrush, a hose, air compressor, and 12 premixed airbrush food colors. You can literally open the box, plug in the compressor, hook up the airbrush and put a few drops of food color into the hopper to start airbrushing.
One of the best benefits is the preset pressure settings on the compressor. There are 3 different settings (high, medium, and low) for how much air pressure will be used – perfect for beginners as you don’t have to mess around with settings.
It also has a color chart for the included food colors – again, perfect for beginners as you don’t have to guess what the tone will be once it sprays onto your cake. You can simply start airbrushing with confidence that it will turn out great.
This kit is truly your plug-&-play model for airbrush cake decorating. If you’re a beginner or a professional cake decorator that needs an airbrush for cakes right away, get the U.S. Cake Supply Kit and you will be airbrushing in no time!
2. Autolock Cordless Handheld Airbrush Set
Best Portable Airbrush for Cakes
Cake decorators who are always on the go have the challenge of taking their equipment along for the ride. A few long trips of lugging excessive airbrush and cake decorating gear is enough to scrap the heavy gear and get something portable.
The challenge in airbrushing is always to find a nice balance between portability and a compressor large enough to supply the needed air pressure.
The Autolock Cordless Handheld Airbrush Set achieves this balance nicely.
This airbrush kit features a rechargeable battery style air compressor that mounts directly onto the bottom of the airbrush. It puts out more air pressure than other typical handheld compressors at up to 25 PSI. This is enough to use for decorating cakes while still maintaining its sleek portable design.
The Autolock also comes with a double action, gravity feed airbrush with a spray volume knob – offering more than enough versatility for your detail work and wide spray patterns alike.
The entire setup comes in at just over 1 lb, making this compact design perfect to toss into a bag when your cake decorating gig is abroad.
Keep in mind that the Autolock Airbrush kit does not come with food colors for cakes. You will have to get airbrush food colors separately.
If you’re looking for a compact airbrush kit that still has enough power to decorate a cake properly, the Autolock Cordless Handheld Airbrush Set is your pick.
3. Master Airbrush G34 kit
Best Value Airbrush for Cakes
When shopping for your first airbrush for cakes, you might be looking for something affordable. After all, who doesn’t like a good deal?
But like anyone who’s found a “good deal”, you know that there is a fine line between good value for the price and utter garbage.
The Master Airbrush G34 Kit is my pick for best value airbrush for cakes.
I’ve used a Master Airbrush before and can say that it works as expected. The G34’s 0.3mm nozzle is an optimal size for shading and detail work – it has a gravity feed hopper and a double action trigger.
The kit comes with an 18 PSI mini compressor, a hose, quick connect attachment, and 3 primary food colors plus black. It even comes with a how-to instructional airbrush guide. This kit truly has everything that you need to start airbrush cake decorating right away for a great price.
Don’t expect to keep this airbrush kit around to give to your grandkids – the components are not as precise and robust as other mainstay airbrush brands. But if you’re looking for a cheap starter kit to try out and get your feet wet, look no further, the Master Airbrush G34 is your pick.
4. Iwata HP-CS
Best Advanced Airbrush for Cakes
The Iwata HP-CS is a great advanced airbrush for cakes that will give you peace of mind.
This trusty tool is a mainstay in many a professional airbrusher’s stable. Iwata has been perfecting their design since 1982 and has built a well-deserved reputation in the airbrushing industry. Once you hold an Iwata airbrush in your hand, you’ll understand why.
Imagine you have worked hard on a cake for several hours. You arduously exacted a masterpiece design onto the icing. Visions of your dinner guest’s jaw’s dropping upon the cake’s reveal flash through your mind.
All that remains is one final touch-up with the airbrush. As you come in to apply the finishing stroke, your airbrush clogs, sputters, and plasters a big ugly splotch right in the middle of your design.
Advanced airbrushers have all been in this type of situation at some point or another. Clogged nozzles, paint splatters, and finicky triggers are enough to make you want to throw your airbrush at the wall and walk away for good. Over the years, I have come to appreciate the virtues of precision, reliability, and craftsmanship in an airbrushing setup.
After using cheap airbrushes for a while, I came to the conclusion that confidence in my tool and the peace of mind that it gives me are well worth the price premium.
The HP-CS airbrush has a buttery smooth double trigger action, a reliably even color stream, and a great weight balance. The 0.35mm needle and nozzle system has a responsive fluid-stream activation which allows you to put the food color exactly where you want it.
This airbrush does not come with a compressor, hose, or food colors, so you will have to get those items separately.
If you’re a professional or a serious cake enthusiast that intends to decorate a ton of cakes, I highly recommend getting the Iwata HP-CS.
5. Neo CN for Iwata
Editors Pick Airbrush for Cakes
Anyone who has read my articles knows that I’m a huge proponent for Iwata products. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that my pick for the best airbrush for cakes is the Neo CN for Iwata.
This kit achieves a great balance between advanced detail work and medium range coverage at low air pressures.
It comes with a quiet and reliable air compressor that has three preset pressure settings – a hose, two gravity feed cup sizes and airbrush cleaner are included as well. (it also comes with 3 primary acrylic paints but do not use these for cake decorating! Airbrush food coloring will be needed separately)
In short, the Neo for Iwata kit comes with the same pieces as some of the other beginner airbrushes listed above except with a step up in quality. With an airbrush for cakes like this, you should be able to take your skill level from beginner all the way through to high-intermediate.
With the Iwata name behind your equipment, you will be able to decorate tons of cakes without issue – making it a great option for hobbyist and professional cake decorators alike.
If you want an airbrush for cakes that is a sturdy beginner option with longevity and a solid brand name for a fair price, get this kit.
Accessories for Airbrushing a Cake
Get these additional items to make your cake decorating experience go as smoothly as possible:
Turntable
A turn-table allows you to spin your cake around and airbrush any side with ease. It will make cake decorating 100 times easier because you won’t be walking around the cake while risking dragging the hose over your masterpiece.
You can save space as well by setting up your airbrush booth in a small kitchen corner.
This 12” turntable for cake decorating will work dandy.
Cake Decorating Airbrush Food Colors
It is very important that you use airbrush approved colors for cake decorating and not try to spray random fluids through your airbrush. The reason why is that airbrushes have very small nozzle and needle systems that are tuned for fine pigmented fluids. If the pigments become too coarse, you risk clogging your airbrush. There is nothing like a clogged airbrush to put a damper on a fun cake decorating session.
I shouldn’t have to point out the obvious that the airbrush colors should be edible. Do not spray on water based acrylics or any other kind of non-edible airbrush paint onto cakes if you intend to eat them!
Low-Cost Airbrush Food Color
For a great entry-level low cost airbrush food color, get the U.S. Cake Supply starter pack. With 12 different colors in 2.0 fl. oz. bottles, you will have more than enough to mix and match colors.
Advanced Airbrush Food Color
The Amerimist Airbrush Food Color by Americolor is a high grade food color option. These airbrush food colors are high quality and used by many professional cake decorators.
Sold in individual bottles, the Americolor line of airbrush food colors allow you to pick your own color palette with a variety of sizes – from 0.65 fl. oz. to 9 fl. oz. Airbrush colors go on very thin so a small bottle will go a long way, but if you intend to decorate a ton of cakes, a 9 fl. oz. bottle is the way to go.
Paint Booth
A paint booth is a device that will protect your surroundings from overspray and prevent oversaturation of atomized particles in the air. If you’re decorating cakes in the kitchen, protection from such a mess is probably a top priority.
This paint booth by Master Airbrush works handily for decorating cakes. It has a large spraying area, great side wall protection, and an exhaust system to suck up all that pesky overspray.
Hopefully, this article has given you enough info to get what you need to start airbrushing cakes.
Any airbrush can technically be used for cakes, but you will likely be using lower air pressures with high attention to detail.
By getting an airbrush kit to start, you can be sure that all the components are there to start decorating right away. But an initial investment in a high-quality airbrush, compressor, and food colors will almost always yield better results.
In the end, it is up to you.
The main thing is that you’re having fun because that is when you will make the best art!
