Since I started my blog almost 10 months ago (wow time flies!) to celebrate my love for baking (tacky I know) I am often asked how someone who literally never peeled a potato till she was 23 years, manages to not only cook, but bake and write her own baking recipes. To that I response, a) it’s a miracle, b)necessity is the mother of my kitchen adventures, and c) I just buy great gadgets.
I probably started cooking because am a food snob. I don’t like most of the food served at restaurants and take away. Cooking at home is healthier, cheaper and of course tastier. You think am a snob because I don’t like restaurant food a lot (you’ll catch me at resutrants in the weekends though), wait till you hear my opinion about desserts! They suck. Big time. That is why I learned to make my own desserts.
Baking is not rocket science. As long as you have the right equipment and follow a good recipe, then there is no reason to fail. Unless of course you add salt instead of sugar (which has happened to me), that was the only inedible dessert I ever made.
Anyway, here is a list of my favorite things I use while am in the kitchen.
- My KitchenAid Stand Mixer: I literally couldn’t bake a single cake without this one. For years I refused to get a handheld mixer. I only want the best. So when I got this two year’s ago on mother’s day, I was on cloud number 9. Not only is this pink (my favorite color) but with each purchase of one of these, Kitchen aid will donate $50 to the Komen Foundation helping to aid the fight against breast cancer. Although I love, love, love my pink kitchen aid, if I could buy a stand mixer today, I’d totalllly get this raspberry ice color. Saying its gorgeous is probably an underestimate. Am seriously in love with it. Now I just have to find an excuse to own two stand mixers in my tiny kitchen. Just another proof that life is tough.
- KitchenAid Flex Edge Beater: As a lazy bum who hates to lift a finger to do anything, so this is literally an indispensable gadget. I’d hate to spend my hard earned money on something that could be considered as a luxury, but if you vake regulalry, you know how tidious it is to scrape the bowl. One day I woke up and decided I am not scrapping bowls anymore. I got this beater and I never looked back.
- Microplane Zester: My life changed one night as I was hanging out in Williams Sonoma and I saw one sales lady using this zester to grate lemons. She didn’t need to say a word to me, I was sold by the smell of fragrant lemons. I walked down slowly and asked for one. My only regret is if I had bought this years ago. The time I spent using useless method to grate lemons. Honestly, I use it almost daily to grate lemon, cheese, ginger, nutmeg etc… It’s a must have even if you don’t ever bake.
- Digital kitchen scale: If there is one ultimate single thing once can do to successfully bake a cake my guess would be on weighing the ingredients instead of using volume. A cup of flour measured in a volume cup can be anything from 100 g to 140 g! I have never baked using volume, but if I did, I’d be very nervous every time that my cake would fail. Maybe it’s the OCD, but I like to measure everything that goes into my cake.
- Measuring Spoons: I know I just said I weigh everything, but I didn’t mean everything. I use these spoons for baking powder, baking soda, salt, etc… I have never seen measuring spoons with magnets until these. but don’t let their pretty look fool you. They come quite handy, esp since I hate fiddling with the classic measuring spoons with the ring.
- Heritage Bundt Pan: Unlike many other Bundt pans, this one is not only solid and sturdy but also an absolute show stopper. Even a novice can make a cake in this one and it will look like it was baked by a pro. That’s what I love about Bundt cakes, you can make a classic pound cake and yet it’d look gorgeous. Its not exactly the cheapest pan, but its definitely worth the price. Very high quality matierial.
- Bake Even Strips: If you bake a lot of layer cakes, you know how frustrating it is to bake uneven cake layers. Since I bought it last year, I have never had a single uneven layer since then. Except one time when I forgot to use them, but that’s a whole different story.
- Fat Daddio 9-inch Aluminum Baking Pans: I use these to make layer cakes. I am not a fan of non stick pans, I love aluminum because it’s a better heat conductor and last longer. These are anodized so you don’t have to worry about nasty things getting in your cakes. The best part is they have straight edges. I own two Fat dadios 9-inch and two Wilton 8-inch, Wilton’s are flimsy, light weight and not straight edge. I’d donate them to charity, but I don’t think they’d appreciate a layer cake with no straight edges. If you need a good pans, buy Fat daddio.
- T-fal Acti Fry 2in1: While am busy fattening myself with my baked goods, this thing is literally saving my life every day. It was a huge splurge when I bought it, but I tell you my arteries thank me every day. I honestly believe that one day when am old am going to look back and think that this is the best money I ever spent. When I first saw this in a shop, I was like no way am I going to spend all that money on a frying machine. Come on, its just fries stuff right? I seemed crazy to me. I walked away and never gave it a second thought until few months ago when I found out that both my mother and sister in law both bought one. You can imagine how fast I ran to buy one after my mom (who never made us French fries because she doesnt approve fried food) was raving about how she made French fries with one table spoon of olive oil. Whether I bought it because I was secretly jealous that they both own a gadget I don’t own or whether I bought it because I was sold on it remains vague to me. What matters is that I am thankful that I bought it. I have never fired anything ever since. I’ll save my calories for foods that are worth it. Like cake. This was my most recent kitchen gadget splurge and my waistline loves it.
- My DSLR: I know this is not a kitchen gadget, but I love my DSLR so much. Aside from my iphone, its probably the best non-kitchen electronic gadget I ever got. I originally got this because I wanted to take better pictures for my blog. But what I ended up with is much more valuable. Stunning pictures of my children that make me want to dump that point and shot crap into the garbage. P.S. I have no idea what all the buttons do, am always on auto mode. Go ahead judge me. But auto is working really well for me.
So what are your favorite items that help in you in the kitchen? Is there something you absolutely love? Let me know if I missed something.
