Baking & Candy-Making Essentials for Beginners
by Niki Hampton
For as long as I can remember I have loved to bake. It is one of the most relaxing things for me to do and now that I am a mom I am looking forward to passing that love of baking and candy-making to my children.
Somehow over the past few decades we have gotten away from homemade goodness and more towards store bought substitutes. What happened to the day when our grandmothers baked bread fresh daily and still had time to throw together a pie for dessert? We find ourselves running between work and soccer practice at breakneck speed, leaving no time for baking anything but the occasional batch of cookies for a school bake sale. Well, ladies, I propose a revolution. A revolution to bring back baking and candy-making to our busy homes. A revolution to teach our children how to create something beautiful and tasty with their own hands.
This article will take us back to the basics and talk about the common tools needed in a baker’s kitchen. Many of these items you already have and maybe some of them you wondered about their use when seeing them in a store.
Baking Essentials:
These are the items you most likely already have in your cupboard, but if not pick yourself up some good quality ones. Kitchen Aid is the preferred brand for good quality home cooks. I use many Kitchen Aid tools myself.
• Measuring Spoons: You should have 1/8t, ¼t, 1/2t, 1t, 1/2T and 1T.
• Dry Measuring Cups: You should have 1/8, ¼, ½, 1 cup.
• Liquid Measuring Cup: You should have at least up to 1 cup, a 2 cup is best.
• Sifter: These are pretty standard. A small one will be sufficient.
• Dough Blender: This is a small hand tool that has rounded blades that run horizontal with a handle.
• Dough Cutter: This is a single blade with a handle.
• Scraper: This is a silicone, rubber or plastic tool used to scrape dough from your counter or board.
• Rolling Pin: This is an essential tool; they come in many varieties including stainless steel, wood and marble. The steel or marble are a best bet, since wood can soak up bacteria.
• Assortment of Baking Pans: The basics should include a loaf, muffin, mini-muffin, spring form, jelly roll, cookie sheet and Bundt pans, as well as cooling racks.
Baking Luxuries:
These are items that are used by professional pastry chefs or for specialty dishes you may want to prepare. If you are going to be using them a lot, invest in the good ones.
• Ramekins: These are little individual dishes to make custard, Crème Brule or other individual treats in.
• Tart Pans: Tarts are a great summer favorite with lots of fresh berries available. Tart pans come in lots of sizes. I recommend a 9” and some individual ones.
• Cookie Press: This is a great tool that allows you to press cookie dough into great, elegant shapes.
• Decorating Bag and Tips: Makes decorating cakes, cupcakes or other treats flawless and easy.
• Cookie Dropper: Looks a lot like an ice cream scoop and allows for uniform cookies every time.
Candy-Making Essentials:
These items are the essentials of candy-making and should be in every baker’s kitchen. If they are hard to find, look online or at your local specialty kitchen store.
• Candy Thermometer: These are slightly different than meat or other thermometers. It should have a small mounting lip so that you can hang it off the lip of your bowl or pot.
• Molds: There are many available and they can be used for chocolate and poured sugar.
• Double Boiler: This can be an actual double boiler set or a heavy duty glass bowl over a pot of water. Either way you will need this set up to melt and temper chocolate.
While, this is only a basic list of the items that you may need in your baking and candy-making adventures, it is a few of the absolute basics that every home cook should have to start with. With a few of the basic tools and a little practice, any one can become a seasoned baker in just a few tries.
