The Small Baking Tools That Deliver Big Result

It’s natural that your first thought regarding the tools you will need in your kitchen will be your oven and stand mixer. After all, they are the heavy machinery that does most of the work, which is why they get the most attention.

However, after you have baked quite a few cakes, you will realize that smaller baking tools are the ones that you constantly need while making a delicious cake. For instance, offset spatula helps to apply buttercream more precisely, pastry brush is used to evenly spread egg wash, and bench scraper can provide a cake with its sharp edges. These are usually the little tools that help you in creating those beautifully finished bakes.

You don’t need to have everything at hand at the very beginning. Equipping your kitchen gradually using appropriate baking tools and equipment will make it much easier.

Offset Spatula

Of all the tools used in baking, the first one which may change your method of decorating cakes is the offset spatula. A regular knife isn’t always the best tool for achieving smooth buttercream frosting. It often results in messy and uneven strokes.

An offset spatula helps your hand remain above the cake, helping you have more control when spreading. The smaller offset spatula is great for adding swirls to cupcakes, whereas the larger one is good for coating the whole layers of the cake.

It can be used for ganache, filling the cakes with jam, and for applying the buttercream layer prior to using the bench scraper. This is one of the cake decorating tools you will find yourself going back to again and again, thus making it an important utensil in your baking tools set.

Bench Scraper

The bench scraper is one of those baking tools you are going to use in ways you don’t think of. It helps in cutting the dough, dividing the brownies, and lifting the fondant without making any tears. You can buy smoothers and scrapers made of stainless steel or hard plastic, depending on your baking style.

Pastry Brush

A pastry brush may not be the first tool you grab, but soon enough, it will become one of the most used ones in your kitchen. There is hardly a single bake without the pastry brush.

You can use it to brush on an egg wash to pastries, to spread simple syrup onto the sponge layers, to grease cake tins with butter, or to give fondant an edible luster. It is easier to clean silicone bristles but natural bristles give you more control when you are decorating.

It is recommended to have two brushes. One for your baking purposes and other for decorating purposes to keep different flavors and colours separate from each other.

Measuring Spoons

Have you tried to adhere to a recipe in a strict manner but still ended up with a dish that was quite different from what you have imagined? The reason may sometimes be as simple as incorrect measures.

Measuring spoons are used when measuring ingredients such as baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and vanilla paste since even a small extra amount can affect the final result and a level spoon is more important than you may imagine.

The different spoon sizes are all that you will usually need when carrying out most baking recipes, ranging from one-quarter of a teaspoon up to one tablespoon. Spoon handles that are long are particularly useful since they fit into spice jars and thus make it quick, clean, and accurate to measure each time.

Mixing Bowls

Since you will need the mixing bowls as soon as you start baking, the proper selection will help you with day-to-day tasks.

Stainless steel bowls are a good option since you can melt chocolate over warm water, easily fold in the batter, chill the cream in the freezer, and clean them in the dishwasher. Three sizes would be enough for baking recipes.

The glass bowls will make it easy to see how the chocolate melts when using the microwave. The plastic bowls are not good choices since they retain odors, scratch easily and leave grease behind, which could affect recipes such as meringue.

Cooling Racks

It might seem tempting when you have just taken your bakes out of the oven to put them right on the baking tray. However, this additional time may give you a softer texture of the cookie and pastry rather than crispy one.

Cooling racks will help lift your bakes above the baking tray and allow air to go around all the sides. Moisture will evaporate from the baking items and they will cool faster, retaining their texture and shape.

Once you use cooling racks, they will turn out to be one of those baking tools which you will find yourself using on practically every bake. They take up very little space, they are affordable, and make a difference.

Piping Bags and Nozzles

Piping bags can be used in various ways apart from decorating cakes. Once you get used to baking and you do it frequently, you will be using the piping nozzles more often than you think.

These will help you fill your doughnuts, piping the choux pastry, achieving clean merengue peaks and piping borders of buttercream with ease. Disposable bags are great for daily uses while reusable bags are better for regular decorators.

The coupler allows you to replace your nozzles without changing the bag, saving on time and buttercream. A good set of piping supplies should include bags, couplers and nozzles.

Baking Belts

Do you remember making sponge cakes where the cake was high in the middle and the cake needed to be cut to make it ready for decoration? In most cases this is because the edges cook more quickly than the centre.

Baking belts go around the outside of the cake tin and assist the sponge in baking more evenly by reducing the heat at the edges, which gives the centre more time to rise at the same rate.

This ensures that there is an even cake surface and therefore requires minimal trimming before layering. If you love baking celebrations or tiered cakes, then you will find baking belts useful.

Rolling Pins

Does a rolling pin have to be used only for pastries? You will likely put it to many other uses. You will be surprised by how often you use it for fondant, marzipan, gum paste, cookie dough, and tart bases when even thickness is needed.

A non-stick rolling pin with guide rings ensures that you always get the perfect thickness of the dough or fondant. Simply adjust the rings to the required thickness and roll without worries!

When rolling fondant, select the one that is smooth, non-stick, and long enough to cover the whole cake tier at once. Not even the best fondant will help hide the unevenness of the cake, and that is why using a good quality cake pan is equally essential.

The Kit That Makes the Difference

All good bakers start somewhere, and you do not necessarily need a whole bunch of equipment right from the beginning. There are just a few tools that will help you handle most baking and decorating needs without complicating things.

These should include an offset spatula, a bench scraper and a cake turntable. As your collection expands, you may need to add other items like measuring spoons, cooling racks, a pastry brush, a rolling pin and baking belts. Instead of purchasing all these tools one at a time, you could go ahead and purchase a pre-packed cake decorating and baking tools set.

The right set of cake decorating supplies, cake decorating products, and baking tools are always long-lasting items. The more you bake, the more you realize the tools that you find yourself using over and over again.