In my Kitchen


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