Five Simple Tools to Help You Bake Like a Pro

This article is aimed at young and aspiring bakers who are looking to purchase the tools that can be most useful for baking anything from cakes to cookies and tarts. When I started, my mother thankfully provided me with most of the small tools she would need for cooking and baking as my wedding gift. If this is not the case for you, check out this list and see if they can be added to your needs.

1. Roller

Of course, a rolling pin is useful for rolling out pie crust, so if you’re making a pie, it certainly makes life easier. You can roll out pie crust with a large bottle or jar, but a rolling pin has a longer surface which makes it much easier. Making cookies doesn’t require a rolling pin, but it can make quick work of it. Rolled cookies also require a rolling pin, and during the holidays when they do a lot of baking, it will be a lifesaver. If you’re a young mom with young children, taking a simple cookie dough and rolling it out into a solid dough on a baking sheet makes for quick cookie preparation.

2. Cake cutter.

There are two basic types of dough cutter. One has a handle with a series of thick wires connected in a loop to the handle. The other one has a handle and then a space on each side that is solid metal, then solid loops coming down from that metal plate. Which type to get is purely a matter of choice and what you get used to. I personally prefer the first type. This tool is usually specific to a single use, making cake batter, but it’s still a handy and time-saving tool to have in the kitchen. Some cookie doughs also call for cutting the butter or other fat into the flour, and it’s also great for mixing streusel.

3. Sieve

It may seem like a sieve is unnecessary these days, but I use my sieve almost daily in the course of cooking. Too many times I have made pancakes from scratch and had a tiny lump of baking soda in one bite of a pancake. There is nothing worse. I sift through any combination of dry ingredients to make sure they are evenly distributed and no one ingredient dominates in one bite. I usually don’t sift before measuring like some older cookbooks recommend, but I still use the sieve to keep things nicely dispersed.

4. Wooden spoons and silicone spatulas

Technically these are more than one item, but they often come in sets. You can find a set of three sizes of wooden spoons and at least two spatulas. Some recipes are best mixed with a wooden spoon, and some specifically recommend a wooden spoon. Silicone spatulas are newer, but when looking to buy one, look for ones that are made in one piece and don’t have the spoon part attached. These often fall apart, or worse, start to collect debris under the joint. The last thing you want is germs being transferred into a recipe via a smudge on the spatula handle, or falling apart in the middle of preparing a dough. Solid silicone spatulas are becoming more common these days and shouldn’t be hard to find.

5. Electric Hand Mixer

While you won’t make bread with a small hand mixer, they are still wonderful for creaming butter and sugar and mixing small batches of filling or meringue. A hand mixer might be nice to have, but unless you have a very strong arm, go for the small hand mixer. Even a small one with 3 speeds is better than none. I only had a small rotary egg beater when I made my first lemon meringue pie. Opt for electricity, if possible.

Thanks for taking the time to read my article. I hope it was informative and helped you on your own culinary journey.