Before you master the art of baking; you must know every kitchen must have the essentials.
Equipment
While it’s nice to have an arsenal of equipment, the truth is that home bakers can easily get by with a few basic pieces of equipment which I decided to list below. It’s nothing fancy, just cheap, easy to source things to make your baker life easier.
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Baking pans
Whether we’re talking about large cookie trays or smaller baking pans, nothing can be done in the kitchen without having a few of these pans. Round cake pans are suited for cakes or cheesecakes and they come in many sizes.
The most common size is 8 or 9-inch diameter and I recommend having two of either size for those cases when you have to bake two sponge cakes at a time.
Bundt cake pans come in various sizes as well and their shape or pattern can be different too. A 10-cup Bundt cake pan will cover any of your needs in terms of size.
But when it comes to shape and pattern, it’s your choice. However, I recommend avoiding intricate designs as these pans tend to be harder to clean.
Muffin tins usually come in 2 standard sizes – either with 6 cups or 12 cups. Most muffin or cupcake recipes found in this book yield 12 muffins so keep this in mind when buying muffin tins.
Pie and tart pans are similar and one of each is more than enough for your home kitchen.
Mixer
I could easily send you to buy a professional mixer for your home kitchen, but I’m going to say just this – I started baking with a very cheap, weak mixer and I pulled it off. You don’t need a powerful, large, fancy mixer to bake any of the recipes found in this book. In fact, a mixer should be the least of your concerns as baking can be done with a whisk as well.
Whisk
I don’t know what the pastry world would be without whisks. At least 2 should exist in any kitchen and they should be well made and strong, fitted for your hand size, and easy to grab.
Spatulas and wooden spoons
Sometimes a whisk or a mixer can be tricky to use because gluten can form easier under the speed of a mixer.
That’s when spatulas or wooden spoons step in. They allow bakers to incorporate ingredients at a much slower pace, thus preventing those gluten strands from forming and yielding a better texture for your cake, cookie, or bread.
Food processor
Although not compulsory, a food processor comes in handy when grinding certain ingredients or even making pie crust dough.
Luckily, they’re fairly cheap nowadays so investing in one for your kitchen is never a bad thing.
Measuring spoons and cups
No recipe in this book could be done without these measurements. They come in sets, ranging from ¼ cup to 1 cup and ¼ teaspoon to 1 tablespoon accordingly and you can measure basically anything with them, from flour to sugar and various liquids.
Mixing bowls
Needless to say that mixing bowls are compulsory in any kitchen. I recommend either steel or glass bowls because they don’t retain odors or grease.
Baking paper or parchment paper
Before the invention of baking paper, home bakers used to grease their pans and flour them. Sometimes baked goodies would burn or become greasy.
It all ended when parchment paper came along. Not only that this kind of paper ease the cleaning after baking, but it also protects the baked products from browning too quickly. It can also be used for chocolate decorations or even storing the baked products. It’s cheap and easy to find in most supermarkets.
