There are hundreds of tools in the market meant for baking cakes and other items. If you’re a novice at cake baking, you might be confused about what types of tools are essential for baking.
Here is a list of tools that are a must have for baking in your kitchen:
- Parchment paper: This is a non-stick type of paper, perfect for lining cake tins. Its other name is Silicone paper. It is both moisture proof as well as grease proof. It is useful for lining baking trays and cake tins. There is no need for extra greasing and they can be used in freezer and microwave.
- Baking tins: These are available in the market in various sizes, materials and shapes. You must take care to use tins of size and shapes as specified in the recipe.
- Cooling rack: This is important equipment which aids in circulation of air around freshly baked biscuits or cakes, preventing them becoming soggy. It must be used to dry out cakes before cake delivery.
- Cutters: Different types of cutters are available in the market enabling you to make fun shapes of biscuits and a variety of cake decorations.
- Shaker/ dredger: It is useful for lightly dusting surfaces with icing sugar or flour while rolling out icing or dough. But even a common tea strainer can do this job.
- Food mixer: It is not vital for cake making, but saves effort and time.
- Food processor: It is useful for a variety of purposes like rubbing together fat and flour for making pastry and also for a variety of cake recipes.
- Grease proof paper: It is perfect for wrapping all kinds of food, especially fatty or greasy food. Experts recommend it to be used to wrap fruit cake before keeping it in a tin. It can be used in a microwave, oven or freezer. If you intend to use it to line a baking tin, you must grease it lightly before the cake mix is spooned in.
- Icing smoother: It provides a professional finish to your cake and is useful for cake decoration. It smoothes out sugar paste or marzipan after they are applied to the cake.
- Marzipan shapers: If you intend to decorate cake with sugar paste or marzipan, this tool will help you attain an even thickness.
- Measuring jugs: Baking requires using ingredients in a variety of quantities. Especially for liquid ingredients like milk or oil, a measuring jug is essential to follow the recipe strictly.
- Measuring spoons: They help to avoid under-estimation or over-estimation of ingredients to be used in baking. These tools help in accurate measurement of ingredients.
- Mixing bowls: It is good to have 2 or more or as per recipe. Choose from plastic, metal or glass and heat proof ones
- Rolling pin: It is useful to roll out dough or icing.
- Weighing scales: Since accuracy is essential in baking, it is necessary to have a set of scales of good quality to measure ingredients.
- Sieve: A fine sieve is useful for sifting sugar and flour, an important step in cake baking. It can also be used to dust cake with icing sugar or cocoa.
- Skewer: A metal skewer can be used to ascertain whether cake is done. If it comes out clean after inserting it in the cake, it means cake is done.
These are some essential equipment for baking in the kitchen. The easy option to baking at home is to order cakes online, but making at home is more fun and educative.