Before you start baking your cake, either for home consumption or for a client, you will want to ensure you have some necessary equipment. These essential tools are needed for smooth cake baking and excellent result.
Cake baking is enjoyable when you have the right equipment for it. They make your baking process faster and even more interesting to do. These tools are essential when baking any cake, and every beginner must have them. This list is the top equipment necessary for every cake baker. Although you might already have them in your kitchen, this post will help guide every beginner who wants to build their baking equipment inventory.
Here are the essential cake baking tools. They are in no particular order of importance.
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1. Mixer (Stand mixer or hand mixer)
A mixer is a way to go for stress-free cake baking. I remember that old-fashion style of mixing cake batter, it was frustrating. I had to sit to mix the cake batter with my big bowl and spatula for about 2 hours until the sugar was completely melted in the butter. It is not only time-consuming but it is stressful, thank God for technology. A good mixer will do the job for you in less than 5 minutes and the result you get is always a creamier cake batter.
You can make use of either the stand mixer or the hand mixer but my recommendation will always be the stand mixer. I love it because it is bigger, has many attachments, and will do the job on its own. Also, the stand mixer already has a bowl connected to it and can sit to do the job while you do other things. This is not the case for the hand mixer, you will have to hold the mixer all through until you have a perfect batter. At least, the hand mixer is better than using all your energy to mix butter and cake with a wooden spatula for hours.
The stand mixer or hand mixer is a good investment for every baker.
2. Measuring cups and spoons
A good baker must have measuring cups and measuring spoons. How else do you want to have an accurate result for your cake baking? Having the right measurement will save you some hitch and accuracy is key. There is this confidence you have when you know that you are doing the right thing.
With your accurate measurement, there is a belief that in the end, you will get a perfect cake. That is the magic of measurement. It measures the perfect amount of wet and dry ingredients. You need excellent and standard measuring cups and spoons of different sizes. The standard measuring cups should have 1 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/4 cup, and 1/8 cup. Also, the standard spoon sizes should have one tablespoon, 1/2 tablespoon, one teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon, and 1/4 teaspoon.
3. Digital kitchen scale
The kitchen scale is another important measuring tool every baker must have in their kitchen. A kitchen scale or a digital scale helps to give an accurate measurement. It is used for measuring flour, butter, sugar, icing sugar, and other ingredients used in the baking cake. You might get tempted to weigh your ingredients by volume using cups and not by weight because you feel it is much easier by doing so.
Measuring cups are designed for measuring wet ingredients. When you weigh dry ingredients in your measuring cups, the measurement will differ when next you want to measure it again. It will either be less or more in quantity so it is better to weigh your ingredient with a digital scale for better accuracy.
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4. Mixing bowls and sieve
As a baker, you must have enough mixing bowls for every baking need. So it has to come in different sizes, it is either you have them in plastic, stainless steel or in glass. The mixing bowls should be only to mix cake batter and other things relating to cake making. Avoid using it for other purposes that are not related to cake making.
A sieve looks like the simplest of all the cake-making tools. It is inexpensive but a very important tool every baker must have. Sifting your dry ingredients before use is highly important. This helps to remove clumps in your flour and makes it aerated. It also makes mixing dry ingredients to be easier and well incorporated.
5. Pastry brush and a cake tester
I’m bringing these two tools together because some bakers underestimate them. They might look like small tools but they are really important when baking your cake.
A pastry brush is used to spread the butter into the baking pan before pouring your cake batter into the pan. This process can’t be skipped and that is why you need a pastry brush for spreading butter. You can also use your pastry brush to spread anything like syrup on your baked cake. It has to be a quality pastry brush that can easily be cleaned.
A cake tester or toothpick is a small tool but this small tool is what you will use to determine the doneness of any cake. This is an essential aspect when baking and it is only a cake tester or toothpick you can use to know when a cake is ready. When you insert the toothpick at the center of your cake, it should come out clean or almost clean without having any streak of batter.
6. Baking pans
It is important to get your cake pans ready before you start mixing your cake batter. Getting the right cake pans is very necessary to get a good baking turnout. Using anyhow pan for your baking will not make you get an exact cake, so use a quality one and the one that suits the cake you intend to bake.
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We have different sizes and shapes of cake pans, get as much as possible so you will not be on the outlook when the need arises. You can get more round pans and some square pans, tube pans with some other shapes. The most common baking pan sizes are 6-inch, 8-inch, and 9-inch round pans.
7. Oven gloves and apron
To get a head start on any cake, ensure you have these two materials; oven gloves and an apron.
You must have your oven gloves on before removing any baked product including cake from an oven. Why should you even open the oven without having any gloves on? This should not be told, it is a must-do.
The apron is another necessity when it comes to baking, you will not want flour or batter all over your clothes when baking. An apron is used also for baking and not only used when cooking.
8. Thermometer and cooling rack
The thermometer is something everyone that owns an oven should have, it is what help you to check the internal temperature of your oven at intervals. A thermometer is what helps to prevent your cake from overcooking or undercooking. You will need to keep a thermometer in your oven for it to be properly calibrated. When using the oven, the thermometer will notify you in time when your baked goods are ready, that’s if your oven is working perfectly. Adjust the thermometer in the oven whenever you can’t hear a sound from it.
The cooling rack is specifically for cooling cake fast. Immediately your cake is out of the oven, it is the cooling rack that helps it cool off quickly. Before you cover your cake with frosting or before you put it in the fridge, you need it to be completely cool off. You should have more than one of these cooling racks in case you are baking more than one cake.
9. Whisk and spatulas
A whisk should be in your cake-making tools. A whisk can be used for several things in baking from whisking eggs to whipping cream or meringue. It can be used for mixing ingredients in the kitchen and they come in different types like balloon whisk, french whisk, flat whisk, spring whisk, ball whisk, and coil whisk. I recommend the multi-purpose whisk (balloon whisk) that can be used for whipping different ingredients and also helps to incorporate maximum air into the ingredient.
Different types of spatulas are needed during baking and they can be used for many purposes in cake making. It is used whenever ingredients are mixed in a bowl for stirring, scraping, and folding.
10. Cake stand and turn table
You need a stand that is designed for displaying cakes and a turn table for easy decoration of your cake.
A cake stand is tableware used when you want to display your cake, for decoration, and also when you want to serve your cake. You must owe one as it is an essential object when you want to display your beautiful piece.
The turn table is a must-have when you are planning to decorate your cake, it works best for decoration than the cake stand as you can easily reach every corner of your cake without you moving around. It only requires you to spin it as you decorate. It also helps to get your frosting even and straight. You must get a quality turn table that is sturdy and firm enough for decoration, you need to be the one spinning it and not the turn table spinning itself anyhow.
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Final note
Having all these tools makes cake-making easier, and faster. It also helps to get a professional result. You need to invest in cake-making tools if you want to bake like a pro, it will make your work more fun and also help to get a fantastic cake.
Have you gotten all of these cake-making tools yet? If not, you need to invest in absolutely everything!
Hope this post was helpful.+ I will love to hear from you.
Thank you for reading