Welcome back to the fourth post of Gwenyth’s Great Taste! If you haven’t already, I’d recommend checking out my 1st, 2nd and 3rd baking posts. In this post, I’ll share some of my favourite baking tools. Since I have been baking for several years now, I know which baking tools work for me and what kitchen tools a baker really needs. I’ll share my my top 7 baking tools, and a small description of how and when I use the tool. Without further a do. Let’s dive in!

1. Stand Mixer

I use my stand mixer in almost every recipe I make. Whether making cookies, muffins or scones, my stand mixer always comes in handy.  It makes mixing ingredients together so much easier than doing it by hand or even using a hand mixer. The KitchenAid™ stand mixer that I own comes with several attachments, making it adjustable and handy. I have a paddle attachment ( perfect for mixing cookie & scone dough, this is the attachment that I use the most often), a dough hook attachment (for making croissants or bread) and a whisk attachment. You can visit the KitchenAid™ website here. I have a silver stand mixer, but I love seeing all the colourful ones on cooking shows. There is actually a coloured stand mixer for every cook! I’d love to here what colour stand mixer you like best! You can share your  favourite colour of mixer by responding in a comment at the bottom of this post.

2. Proper measuring cups and spoons

It’s important to measure out your ingredients properly to prevent you from ruining the recipe by adding too much or too little of an ingredient. I love that my measuring spoons are all attached together, which makes it easier to find the spoon measurement you’re looking for. When measuring out flour or any dry ingredients, I make sure to flatten the surface of the flour with a knife, so that my measurements are precise. The most precise way to measure out ingredients is to weigh them on a kitchen scale, but unless you need your measurements to be that precise, I’d just use measuring cups and spoons. 

3. Pastry Cutter

This tool looks very cool and I love using it.  I use it for blending in butter into the flour mixture when making scones. It creates a sand-like texture, and leaves no big butter chunks. There is a smooth grip for this tool and I love how it feel in my hand. This is the one I love and use when making scones, from OXO.

4. Citrus Zester

When making anything that involves l citrus fruit, the recipe usually calls for zest. I use this tool very often because I make a lot of citrusy flavoured scones and also lemon squares. This type is ideal because it lays down flat on your cutting board, unlike some where you have to hold the zester at an angle with one hand and then do the zesting with the other hand.

5. Pastry brush

I use this tool for brushing cream over top of my scones, and then sprinkling them with coarse sugar before putting them in the oven. Unfortunately, my Labrador retriever puppy, recently took our pastry bush out of the dishwasher, and when we finally got it out of his mouth, the whole silicone part had been swallowed, so this is a barbecue sized version of the silicone tipped pastry brush. The smaller brush is super handy and I use it for multiple recipes, so I have to get another one.

6. Scone tin:

Although this pan is super difficult to clean, it makes the scone making process so much easier! If you’ve tried making scones and found it too difficult and time costly, try using this pan! I usually double the scone recipe and put one batch in the tin and the other half on a pan, because I love seeing the perfect imperfect shape of the scone without using the tin.

7. Masher

I love making guacamole and mashed potatoes. This masher promotes an extra smooth and delicious consistency, so that’s why I love it! I couldn’t find the exact same one that I own on Amazon, but I did find one that looks quite similar. I’d recommend this one or this one.

Thank you for reading this post!

Don’t forget to comment the name of the colour of your favourite stand mixer!