Take your baking to the next level with the delicious. team’s six essential buys for creating fluffy cakes, airy meringues and more. These are the appliances, bakeware and tools that the team rely on at home and when creating content for delicious. to deliver the best results, from smooth icing to easy clean-up.
Take your baking to the next level with the delicious. team’s six essential buys for creating fluffy cakes, airy meringues and more. These are the appliances, bakeware and tools that the team rely on at home and when creating content for delicious. to deliver the best results, from smooth icing to easy clean-up.
Baking essential: A stand mixer is a must-have if you do lots of baking. It makes light work of whipping up a light and fluffy cake mixture, whisking egg whites to perfect peaks and kneading bread dough.
Tried, tested, trusted: I’ve always been a fan of Kenwood’s mixers as I used my mum’s with her growing up and got my own in my early twenties. They are incredibly reliable, hardworking machines with a higher wattage (and therefore more welly) than their competitors.
Versatile appliance: I have multiple attachments for mine – a blender, food processor and mini chopper – and think it’s great that everything works from one machine, saving space in my kitchen cupboards.
Freestanding design: Being freestanding means you can get things going while preparing other steps of a recipe. I leave the butter and sugar for a cake to cream while I line the tins and weigh out the other ingredients, allowing me to multitask as well as resulting in the lightest, fluffiest sponge possible.
Smart design: When buying cake tins, quality definitely makes a difference. I rate MasterClass tins because they’re made with thick, sturdy metal that conducts the heat evenly around your cake to give it an even, level rise.
Long-lasting kit: The sturdy design also means they won’t warp with use. These tins are the type you’ll only have to buy once.
Cut down on waste: Reusable cake tin liners are one of my top baking hacks. I have them for all of my cake tins. They save so much waste as you can use them endlessly, as you simply wash them in soapy water or add them to a dishwasher load after use – much better for the environment.
Time efficient: They also save so much time on cutting out baking paper to line the tin every single time you bake. You can buy ready-cut liners in different sizes or you can buy a sheet and use it to make your own.
Effective and multi-purpose: The non-stick layer is great – your cakes release effortlessly. I have a few sheets to use to line a baking tray for cookies or even a tray of roasted veg to avoid using foil. It means there’s one less thing to think about when baking.
Hardworking tool: I would choose a silicone spatula over a wooden spoon every single time when baking. They’re gentle enough to fold a mixture and firm enough to stir more vigorously when needed.
No waste: They’re the best tool for scraping every last drop from the edge of the bowl or from a blender or jar of jam, too.
Affordable and attractive: You can get them in a huge variety of colours to match your kitchen style (and they’re not expensive, either).
Strength in numbers: It may seem simple but one of my most used tools when it comes to baking is a good set of silicone spatulas, including both a large one and a mini one. I have two sets: one for sweet and one for savoury cookery, as potent onions, garlic or spices tend to cling to the silicone.
Durability: A completely silicone utensil is easier to clean, more hardwearing and more hygienic than ones with a wooden handle.
Size matters: A mini spatula come in handy way more often than you’d expect, especially for those in a single or two-person household.
“The sight of my pastel pink beauty on the counter brings me joy every day”
Why deputy digital editor (traffic) Phoebe Stone recommends it:
Effective, efficient mixer: The KitchenAid is a classic appliance for a reason. The attachments reach the bottom of the bowl (which is a generous size and depth) to scoop up all of the ingredients (not the case with some other mixers on the market). I could never go back to using handheld electric beaters – the KitchenAid whips meringue to the stiffest peaks and you can leave it running while you attend to other kitchen tasks.
Streamlined design: Nothing is overcomplicated here. There are 10 speed settings – more than adequate – and a simple lever mechanism to lift the head up and down. These two controls panels are on separate sides of the machine, which avoids confusion and with time becomes muscle memory.
Once-in-a-lifetime purchase: I’ve had my KitchenAid stand mixer for approaching 10 years and the body looks as good as new. I’ve never once experienced it overheat or give up, even after 10-plus minutes of kneading pizza dough or beating swiss meringue.
Hard-working attachments: The appliances comes with key attachments in the box: a whisk, dough hook and beater. There is a world of other options available, including a meat grinder and pasta maker, but as an enthusiastic home baker of sweet things this selection has stood me in excellent stead. The beater is the only element showing a bit of wear after nearly a decade of mixing cookie dough.
Good-looking model: I’ve coveted a KitchenAid since seeing Monica Geller’s butter yellow model on Friends. The brand is known for its mixer’s iconic shape and innovation in colour, with shades and finishes to suit all kinds of kitchens. The sight of my pastel pink beauty on the counter brings me joy every day, even when I don’t get the chance to put it into action.
Makes decorating easier: If you regularly make celebration or birthday cakes, a turntable is well worth the small investment: I’ve found it makes spreading icing evenly across the sides and top so much simpler. Yes, you can manually rotate your serving plate (as I did for a long time), but once you’ve felt the smooth spinning action as your knife glides over the surface you won’t go back – it reduces the effort enormously while improving the results.
Greater control: Using an icing scraper (or a clean credit card, as recommended by another member of the team!), a turntable helps achieve a seamlessly smooth finish to your icing. Or, drag the tip of a butter knife across the surface in a spiral motion as you rotate the turntable for a rustic ribbon-style effect.
Stores neatly: Opt for a model that isn’t too tall (most aren’t, as this helps prevent the risk of large cakes toppling over) for easy storage. I’ve stashed my turntable vertically, slipped into the side of a cupboard, at times, or flat beneath my cake tin collection.
