Tools And Equipment I Use As A Home Baker (And Love!)

Ok, I’ve finaly gotten around to getting all the tools and equipment I use as a home baker (and love!) up on the site for you guys! Every single item I’m listing was bought by me, (except for three that were gifted) and are things I use a lot and love. The three items that were gifted to me was my stand mixer (Kenwood), Digital kitchen scales (OXO Australia) and my Electric hand mixer (KitchenAid).

Despite these three things being gifted, I use them a lot, I love their quality and durability and would buy them if I wasn’t generously gifted them. I’ve had the Kenwood stand mixer for almost a decade and it’s almost like a living part of my kitchen and it works like the day I got it. None of the items are linked, I don’t get any commission from recommending them.

Baking Essentials

• Rubber spatula – I use the OXO brand spatulas. Large and small ones. I like that they’re one piece, have a stiff handle and the bit at the top is nice and flexible without being too soft.
• Whisk – I use a range of metal whisks. Balloon whisks (general use), French whisks can get into the corner of pots when whisking in a pot) and silicone whisks which I use for nonstick pots. I also use a magic whisk which sounds made up but is great for whisking small quantities of things like eggs.
• Mixing bowls – I use the PYREX heat resistant glass mixing bowls in various sizes. Although they’re not my favorite. The base is too small, and it wobbles more than I’d like.
• Baking paper – This is different from wax paper. It’s what I use to line my baking tins and baking trays.
• Cooling racks – I have one that fits my half sheet baking trays which I find really handy when I’m pouring something on top of cakes or cookies and need a tray underneath to catch the excess.
• Measuring spoons and cups – I use metal ones and I use ones that are made of one piece of metal. They’re easier to clean. Make sure your measuring cups are level with the handle to make scraping and leveling off ingredients into the cup easier.
• Glass jugs – I use the PYREX (all uppercase) brand ones. They’re heat resistance and ideal for melting things or heating things in the microwave. Different to the pyrex (lowercase) ones which are not as heat resistant.
• Fine mesh sieve – I like my OXO brand sieve. It’s what I used when I’m sifting my macaron mixture.
• Thermometer – I use a Javelin Pro for most things. You need to hold the thermometer to use it. I use it for syrups and caramels. But for something hands free, use a candy thermometer.
• Oven thermometer – Super important if you want an accurate reading of your oven. I have a brand name oven that was on the expensive side. I still use an oven thermometer to make sure the inside of my oven the exactly where I need it to be. I use the OXO brand one.
• Digital kitchen scales – I use the OXO brand kitchen scales. I love that they have a nice big light up screen and that they have physical buttons you can press. Not those stupid touch ones. They’re on the expensive side, but anything will work.

Read More → How To Measure Using Kitchen Scales

Bakeware

• Cake tins – I use the Wilton brand round cake tins. I always bake in a 20cm / 8-inch baking tin. That’s the size I use. I’d recommend having at least two cake tins. If I was choosing a different brand I’d go with USA PAN. I don’t like using cake tins deeper than an inch because the cakes go dry by the time the center is fully baked.
• Square baking tins – I use 20cm / 8-inch and 22cm / 9-inch baking USA PAN brand baking tins.
• Loaf tins – I use the USA PAN 1.25 lbs loaf tin. I use this for my banana bread, chocolate banana bread and chocolate pumpkin bread.
• Pullman loaf – I use the small USA PAN Pullman loaf with the lid. You don’t need to have the lid, but I use it to get a nice flat top on my Japanese Milk Bread.
• Rectangle baking tin (9×13-inch) – I use the USA PAN 22 x 33cm / 9 x 13-inch rectangle baking tin.
• Springform pan – I use a 20cm / 8-inch springform pan.
• Pie tin – I use the 22cm / 9-inch USA PAN pie tin. But I also use the PYREX glass baking tins for when I’m making some pies. I prefer the metal pie tins.
• Cupcake tin – I use a Willow 12 cavity muffin tin. Most muffin tins are just cupcake tins unless they’re bakery muffin size. Exact measurements of mine are Bottom 5.5cm, Height: 3cm, Top: 7cm
• Cupcake liners – I use the Confetta brand greaseproof cupcake liners. I like how colored cake batter shows right through them. Exact measurements are: Bottom: 5cm, Height: 4cm, Top: 7.5cm.
• Baking trays – I use Nordic Ware half sheet baking trays. I occasionally use Quarter sheet baking trays and for some of my Swiss roll recipes I use a USA PAN Jelly Roll tray.

Cake Decorating Tools

• Offset spatula – I use a mixture of small, medium and large offset spatulas when decorating cakes. My favorite ones are the medium sized ones. I find the large ones way too clunky. The small ones are great for finer details. I use a mixture of Wilton and Ateco ones. I don’t like using the flat ones, the offset ones are easier to use when decorating and they stop your hand mucking up the frosting by mistake.
• Cake leveler – I absolutely love my cake leveler. I use the Loyal brand one. It’s great for trimming off the dome shape on top of your cakes. I prefer using this to a serrated knife because with this you can get a much more even trim, compared to a knife which you have to get bench down on eye level to make sure you’re cutting level.
• Cake turn table – If you’re into cake decorating, this is a good investment. Do not buy a plastic one. They wobble way too much. What you want is a heavy duty metal one. They’re more expensive but they glide as you turn them which makes getting nice crisp edges when you frost your cakes a breeze! I’m not sure which brand I have but it’s made of cast metal.
• Cake boards – My rule for these is, make sure they’re thick, not flimsy thin cardboard because it will bench as you transfer your cake around. And make sure they’re an inch wider than your cake before you decorate it to allow room for the frosting. So an 8-inch cake will need a 9-inch cake board. These days though I decorate straight on a large round plate.
• Piping bags – I sue the Loyal brand plastic piping bags. I know they’re bad for the environment. I don’t use them as often as I used to, and you can technically wash them. I stay away from the cloth ones. They stink after the first use no matter how many times you wash them with hot water and soap. I used 20cm and 40cm ones.

• Piping tips – I use a broad range of piping tips. I prefer metal ones. Easier to clean and use, but some only come in plastic. The ones I have in my collection are:
  • Wilton 8B Tip – Used for cupcakes and cakes
    Wilton 6B Tip – Used for Macarons
    Wilton #32 Tip – Used for Macarons
    Wilton 1M Tip – Used for cakes, cupcakes and macarons. I use this tip to get my signature frilly swirl frosting technique
  • Wilton #4 Tip  – Used for small details like on my #lemonade cake
  • Small Round Tip  – 1cm in diameter
  • Medium Round Tip  – Loyal #11 1.4cm in diameter
  • Large Round Tip  – Loyal #13 1.6cm in diameter
  • Open Star Tip – Loyal #11

• Bench scraper – I love my bench scraper I use it a lot for getting sharp edges and straight sides when decorating cakes but it’s actually really great for (wait for it) scraping your bench!
• Ice Cream Scoops – I use the OXO brand ice cream scoops. I have all three sizes. Small, Medium and Large. I will specify which one I use in my recipes unless it’s more important to specify how much the cupcake liners should be filled. They’re also great for distributing batter amongst cake tins more evenly.

Pastry & Dough Tools

• Silicone rolling guides – These are so great for uncos like me. I can never roll my cookie or pie dough out nice and evenly. These go on the side of your dough on your bench and stop you from rolling any more than the height of the rolling guides.
• Rolling pin – I like using fondant rolling pins. They’re smooth, heavy and easy to wipe clean. The only issue is that dough sticks to them so I dust generously with flour and they dent easy, so you have to be careful with them.
• Pastry brush – I have a silicone pastry brush for hot surfaces and a pastry brush with natural bristles.
• Zester –  I use the OXO Zester. It’s the green stick design. It’s great for zesting citrus but also for mincing garlic.
• Cookie cutters – I use a range of cookie cutters. I have sets of round plastic and metal ones and some Ann Clarke ones for Christmas shapes. They’re expensive but they’re good quality. But you know what? I have cheap plastic ones in fun shapes. Just buy what you like.

Kitchen Tools

• Pots and Pans – I use a mixture of non-stick pots and pans and stainless-steel ones. More and more lately I’ve been liking the stainless-steel ones because they’re easy to clean if you just let them soak and there’s little risk of scratching. Plus you can use metal tools without it scratching. I use Scanpan stainless steel pots and Tefal for non-stick. The Jamie Oliver Tefal pots are the best I’ve ever used. Mid level pricing I’d say, but they don’t scratch as easy if you’re careful with them as the cheaper ones.
• Food processor – I use a Kenwood one. It’s ok. Not as powerful as I’d like. The food processor attachment for my stand mixer is super powerful. It’ll turn anything to liquid.
• Electric hand mixer – I use two models. Both KitchenAid. One was gifted, one I bought. I tend to use the cordless one a lot more these days. It performs well but the chorded one is more powerful.
• Stand mixer – I have aKenwood Chef Sense Stand Mixer KVL6100G Chef Sense 4.6Ltr Green with Glass bowl. I love it. I wish I had the pasta attachment though! Maybe one day!
• Knives – I have expensive knives and IKEA knives. I use the IKEA ones every day. They go blunt like crazy but I can be rough with them and sharpen them and they’re great. I use a large butchers knife for slicing by bars and I use a large serrated knife for breads.
• Peeler – I use mine for more than just my fruit and veggies. I use it to make chocolate curls for my Black Forest Cake.
• Chopping board – Ugh. I know I shouldn’t use a plastic chopping board, but you can’t use a wooden one with meat and serrated knives. So, I use plastic ones. In my experience expensive ones and cheap ones aren’t that different.

Content Creation Gear

• Camera – I use two cameras. Both Canon. A Canon R5 for my final photos and some of my step-by-step photos. And I use it to film my B-Roll of my finished desserts. I use a Canon M50 for my tops down photos and video. It films in 4K but it’s very grainy, even with great lighting.
• Lenses – I use a 50mm lens, but I mostly use an EOS 18-135mm lens.
• Tripod – I use a Manfrotto 055 tripod. It works well and I can be rough with it and it doesn’t skip a beat. It’s covered in sugar and flour and works great.
• Editing software – I use Photoshop and Lightroom for my photos and Final Cut Pro X for my videos.

Let me know if you felt this list was helpful! And if theres a tool or piece of equipment you think is missing or would recommend I try out, let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear from you!

N x

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