Baking and Decorating Tools
Here are a few tools that I have in my baking 'toolbox':
- Small offset spatulas for spreading icing on smaller cakes and cupcakes and transferring small sugar decorations
- Long offset spatulas for filling and masking cakes and also transferring cakes
- Serrated knife from trimming/levelling/carving cakes
- Paring knife for cutting/trimming fondant
- Pastry wheel for cutting/trimming fondant
- Fondant smoothers
- Plastic mats for rolling out fondant
- Tape measure and small metal ruler
- Piping tips for piped decorations
- X-acto knife for cutting smaller fondant/gum paste decorations
- Gel paste colours for colouring icing, fondant and gum paste
- Powdered food colouring
- Food markers for writing or drawing details on fondant decorations
- Gum paste tools
- Rolling pins - I have a small plastic one for small pieces of fondant/gum paste, a long wooden rolling pin with rubber thickness guides (for rolling out fondant for regular size cakes as well as pastry and roll out/sugar cookies) and a heavy wooden rolling pin (for rolling out fondant for large cakes.
Kitchen Appliances
- KitchenAid Stand Mixer
- KitchenAid handheld mixer
- KitchenAid Food Processor
- Kitchen scale - I use for weighing fondant and chocolate
Books
The Confetti Cakes Cookbook
Contains a great list of tools used in cake decorating, instructions for basic cake decorating techniques with photos and lots of beautiful projects for inspiration.
The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook
I haven't made a recipe from this book that hasn't tasted fabulous!
Miette: Recipes from San Francisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop
A beautiful book to peruse through with pretty scalloped-edged pages. There is a list of errata from the publisher to take note of however.
Martha Stewart's Cupcakes
Contains a large number of recipes and flavour ideas.
Cake Art
Contains instructions for basic recipes and decorating techniques.
Hello, Cupcake! and What's New, Cupcake?
A great resource for simple and fun ideas. I use this one for guests to look at when I host cupcake parties.
Websites
(yes my MacBook is most often in my kitchen!)
Bakerella
Sweetapolita
I am Baker
