The sweetest tools/
equipment
Bake with a little or a lot. A dough only needs a
bowl and the magic of your hands. Other bakes
need a lot more. When you shop for baking
equipment, you only want to buy it once, so
look for simple and sturdy equipment from
professional cookware shops or online. Add
to your arsenal as you bake more, and
remember: fancy isn’t everything.

I have a handful of SUE (single-use equipment)
that I use for these recipes: cannoli tubes
(although they are also good for brandy snaps),
a pasta machine and small springform tins.
Also a strawberry huller. (I deeply dislike
strawberries trimmed straight across the
shoulder. Blecch!)

On the facing page, you’ll find my poster of
baking equipment with the most-er, including
hands – the GOAT of equipment.

Mixers
A good number of recipes require electrical
power to beat, whip or knead. KitchenAids are
my one true mixer love, bringing endurance and
beauty to baking. I have a professional size that
is sometimes too capacious for small-batch
baking. My mini version is perfect and powerful
enough. I also like that they can be used without
a splash guard. These guards, while saving you
from a little mess, restrict air flow into your foams
and batters.

Electric hand beaters have less power, so if that’s
what you’re using, follow the visual cues rather than
times. If I say hand whisk, just use a balloon whisk.

The terminology for speeds can vary slightly
depending on the brand of stand mixer, but this
list, based on the KitchenAid’s speed spectrum,
should give you ballpark speeds.

Low KitchenAid Speed 1
Above low KitchenAid Speed 2
Below medium KitchenAid Speed 4
MediumKitchenAid Speed 5
Under highKitchenAid Speed 8
(I never go above Speed 8 – it flings strands of
the mix up the side of the bowl and away from the
main mass of the batter or mix. Beating slower
allows more air in. Make it your new top speed.)

And regarding the attachments: use the whisk
for whipping foams and creams, the paddle for
creaming or pastry doughs, and the dough hook
for yeasted doughs.