Twenty first century baking is much more innovative and inventive than it used to be. Granted you only really need the basics, but there are so many fun things you can so with some extras in the kitchen, plus it’s also much easier if you have a well stocked baking accessories cupboard.
If you love baking up a storm in the kitchen, then here’s our top 10 list of favourite home baking accessories!
1. Nigella’s red mixing bowls
It is no surprise that Nigella Lawson is on this list. Her red mixing bowls are perfect if you don’t have much room in your kitchen, or simply love the design of her kitchen accessories. We like the way the four melamine stacking bowls fit in to each other – perfect for when you need two mixing bowls as well as a small bowl in which to whisk the eggs. Unique and Unity sell the set of bowls for £45.50.
2. Egg Separator
Pampered Chef sell some fabulous baking accessories which are well thought out. One of our favourites is this egg separator. It is perfect for meringues and creme brulees, making the job of separating eggs so much easier. The egg separator costs £6.50.
3. Silicone bakeware
John Lewis sells a good selection of silicone bakeware. You can make small cakes in the shape of stars, hearts, or traditionally round. They range in price from £6 to £9.
4. Flour or sugar sifter
This flour/sugar sifter can be bought with large holes, small holes or fine mesh holes, depending on what you want to use it for. It is a great idea and avoids flour getting everywhere as it tends to do. The sifter can be bought for £9.50 from David Mellor.
5. My kitchen 12 cup mini sandwich tin
This is a great idea if you want to make mini cakes. The 12 cup mini sandwich tin allows you to make mini Victoria sponges, with the loose bases helping. The Lakeland website has a few recipes to help or you can make your own. The tin costs £19.99 from Lakeland.
6. I Can Cook silicone baking mat
Some parents may know the CBeebies programme I Can Cook. This silicone baking mat is part of the I Can Cook range from Lakeland. The idea is that instead of grease proof paper you use the mat, which is available in several different colours. We like the red, yellow and lilac colours and they are more attractive to children, but they also have other colours including a blue one. The mat can be used for rolling out dough or for lining a baking tray and can be used in ovens up to 220°C. The mat costs £4.99 and is also microwave and dishwasher safe.
7. Tala icing pen
This Tala icing pen is great if you want to be a bit more adventurous and do fancy things with icing. You can pick up the icing pen for just £5.88 at Amazon.
8. Traditional mixing bowl
Sometimes you just can’t beat going traditional. This traditional mixing bowl from Blue Shoots looks as if it would be hard to break. It is made of glazed ceramics and is biscuit coloured in the outside and white on the inside. At £12.86 it is a good price.
9. Numeric cake frame
These numeric cake frames look like a good idea, particularly as they are available to hire as well as to buy. Each one is approximately 27cm long by 6cm deep and made from tin plate. They are a bit expensive – £16.95 to buy and £7.45 to hire but if you double the 9 up as a 6, and use them regularly you will get your money’s worth. They are available from The Cooks Kitchen website.
10. Message biscuit and cookie cutter
Lisa Angel sells these message biscuit and cookie cutters through Not on the High Street. The ‘happy birthday’ ones in particular look like they would be great for birthday biscuits and they also come with a biscuit recipe. Cost is £6.
By Jackie Cosh
