- MIXER
A Mixer is an absolute essential for any kitchen. These are available in a number of brands but costs do vary. Mixers generally come with paddle, dough hook and whisk attachments and are a key tool for the kitchen. The mixer is used to help with tasks such as stirring, whisking or beating.
- SCALES
One of the most essential baking tools of any kitchen are scales. Ideally the scales should be digital, since it will give you greater accuracy when weighing the ingredients and it is preferable that it has the function “TARE, this includes a button that resets the display to zero on your scales when we put a container on top, ensuring that we only weigh the ingredients that we are going to add. If you do not have this function, we will have to weigh the bowl and then deduct its weight from the total. Another way to measure the ingredients is with cups and spoons.
- BOWLS
We can find them of infinite sizes and types, but fundamentally we will need two. One with a diameter of about 25 cm and high walls to prevent splashing, ideal for mixing large amounts of dough or for whipping with electric rods. Another one of a smaller size, about 12 cm, for smaller mixtures and with enough depth. This way, the dough, instead of spreading across the bottom of our mould, will accumulate in height and it will be much easier to beat it.
- MOULDS
Another essential in the kitchen and for baking are “moulds”, without them we can't bake! Round, square, rectangular, there are plenty of them, so it’s important you select ones you will make the most use of. Start by having some “basic” moulds with which you can work comfortably and later you can add more specialist ones to your collection. To start, the ideal would be to have a pair of basic rounds moulds (15cm and 25 cm) and a mould with cavities for cupcakes, this will already solve most of the recipes you want to make. But above all, my advice is to buy some moulds of very good quality, take care of them correctly, so they will be an investment for a lifetime.
- SIEVE
In baking it is essential to sieve the flour in almost all recipes, so we must have a sieve or strainer through which to pass the flour to eliminate possible lumps and impurities. Ideally, the mesh type of medium size, so that the flour is well aerated, separated and without lumps.
- PASTRY SLEEVE AND NOZZLES
If you want to go further into the world of cupcakes, cakes and decorated cookies, these will be another essential baking tool that you will need. The pastry sleeves will help us to fill, cover or glaze the items we want to decorate.
For your convenience, we recommend disposable pastry sleeves for when we have creams of different flavours or colours. These sleeves are plastic triangles to which we only have to cut the tip, add the required nozzle and fill them with cream to decorate, without having to worry about cleaning them after use.
Cake piping nozzles are cake decorating tools used in adding designs and decoration to cakes/biscuits. Some of the most common nozzles are the # 1M and the # 2D of the Wilton brand but we recommend that you also select some smaller nozzles so you are able to create the required effect/design you want.
- COOLING RACK
There are different shapes and sizes available. The “rack” allows air to circulate all around the dough, avoiding moisture concentrations at the base of biscuits or cakes (with its consequent "softening"). Stackable racks are very useful, especially for cookies, cupcakes or small pastas, which help you save space in the kitchen.
- SILICONE SPATULAS
Spatulas help to remove or scrape all the pastry mix from the side of the bowl to minimize waste. Since when fully coupled to the walls of the bowl they make it very easy for us to move the dough into the same container or even incorporate them into a new one, or when mixing ingredients more homogeneously.
There are many types available which have different levels of hardness. For example, the harder ones are better for lowering dense doughs (biscuit type) from the walls of the bowls and, the softer ones, are better for flocking the bowls as they better conform to the rounded shape of the container. The latter will also be especially good for smoothing creams on the surface of our cakes when we want to give a more casual finish.
- ROLLING PIN
For those people who want to get into the world of cookies or fondant decoration, the rolling pin will be one of their best friends since it is essential to smooth the doughs with a uniform thickness.
For best results, many rollers incorporate levelling rings this will enable you to keep an even level of thickness throughout.
- BAKING PAPER
Baking paper is a necessity for baking, lining moulds and even to make homemade capsules for cupcakes and muffins. Luckily, this product is readily available on-line and supermarkets.
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