My Equipment
Here’s the thing. I’m a student paying three odd grand a year, plus really expensive textbooks, and I have a serious problem when it comes to online shopping. My bank statement should come with a health warning and I already live on bread. In summary: I have no money.
So, when it comes to equipping my kitchen with tools I’ll need to make everything you see on this blog, I have to limit myself to the bare necessities. Maybe one day when I have job I can strike off the handheld whisk I bought for £5 and replace it with this little beauty.
P.S. This list is a work in progress. You might see things disappear or added as time goes on.
P.P.S. The list is in no particular order but at some point I shall put it into alphabetical order. Or, order of size. Or, price. Or, usage. Or, necessity. Or, colour coordinated. Or, something.
P.P.P.S. Is there something missing from the list you think I absolutely need? What’s one thing you couldn’t function without?
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KNIFE:
Singular. I bought my mum a beautiful new knife set but because she likes to hoard stuff to use 10 years later it sits on top of the cupboards. Some of the knives never even made it out of the box. Instead she’s quite content using the blunt knife with the tip broken off that she’s been using … since I was born, probably. And, because it’s her kitchen; it’s her rules.
SCALE:
One of my favourite investments is my electronic scale. I am the kind of person who has to weigh absolutely EVERYTHING. (Much to my mothers annoyance who does everything by hand and just throws stuff in with magic results every time.) It runs on batteries but turns itself off with disuse which comes in handy and is really easy to clean.
WHISK:
As I mentioned above, this thing cost me only about £5 but I’ve had it for a few months with no problems. Cheap and fully functional, I doubt I’ll be parting with it any time soon. Its not the most attractive looking but it does the job and that’s good enough for me.
SILICONE SPATULA
I use this every single time and it has quickly become my best friend in the kitchen. Mixing, scraping, smoothing … it’s like a third hand.
EGG SEPERATOR
I was getting sick of having to eat all the eggs I couldn’t successfully separate (a teeny bit of yolk always somehow slips through my fingers) and decided it would be wiser to invest in a handy little gadget that would do the job for me. There’s only so much scrambled eggs a girl can eat, ya know?
CAKE POP MAKER
You can easily create cake pops by baking a cake and mashing it up with some frosting and shaping them into little balls. I bought this because I like my balls to be uniform in size and colour. Also, to save time and because I’m lazy like that. I’ve only used it a few times but I love how compact it is, how pretty it looks and how easy it is to use and to clean. Ticks a lot of boxes.
WHOOPIE PIE PAN
Again, something I don’t really need as I could just as easily pipe my whoopie pie mix onto parchment paper and get the same results but I like my whoopie pies to also be uniform in size and colour and to be evenly spaced out. This helps me achieve that.
CAKE TESTER
Something else I don’t need as the end of a knife also does the trick but the tester is a lot thinner and doesn’t leave noticeable marks on my bakes like a knife might. Especially the knife my mother insists on me using where the tip has broken off (see above) which would leave slits in my cakes if used as a tester.
ASSORTMENT OF TINS/TRAYS
Right now I own a lot of circle shaped cake tins, a loaf tin and a bundt tin. I plan to eventually buy a square shaped one and I’m tempted to go for a heart or a novelty like Super Man. I also have a number of trays in different sizes and a beautiful pastel pie dish.
CUPS
I hate using cups. I prefer working in grams and often do a quick Google search if a recipe is asking for cups of ___. But, I wanted to give it a try so I bought a set. It’s not that difficult to use but you should already know just from reading this list (and if you’re a regular reader) that I may have a slight case of OCD (I have yet to be tested.) and I need all my ingredients to be an exact measurement. The cups haven’t seen much action.
SPOONS
One thing I don’t mind not using my scale for is when measuring teaspoons and tablespoons. But, again a spoonful of your ordinary spoons wouldn’t do as they’re difficult to level so I bought actual measuring ones. In a range of bright colours, you know, for fun.
COOLING RACK
Despite a strong desire to devour everything as soon as it comes out of the oven, I’ve become pretty good at exercising a certain degree of self will, self control and patience. Placing the cooling rack by an open window also helps.
COOKIE CUTTERS
In different shapes and sizes. My cookie decorating isn’t as great as I would like it to be but I’m hoping interesting shapes will help distract from the dodgy icing work.
SQUEEZE BOTTLES
To help me improve my dodgy icing work. See above.
CAKE STAND
Something new I recently purchased and am completely in love with. A beautiful cake needs a beautiful stands.
BLOW TORCH
A nice little toy I decided to treat myself to. I have yet to use it but I’m excited to give this a go. I should probably have an extinguisher at hand. Just in case.