Kit : Essential Baking Tools

9" cake tin, hand mixer, grease proof, baking beans, wooden spoon

I have a small number of things that I really rely on nowadays for baking. A few items that find useful and I cannot compromise on. So, I thought I'd put them all together for you, seeing as some of you are still checking my first Kit post and we've come a little way since then.

1. I never realised how valuable my spring-form loose bottom cake tin would be. This particular size (22cm) can be translated over cakes and Cheesecakes alike leaving easy clean edges when presentation is the key.

2. Silicone Pastry/Basting Brush. I'm always using this, it gets a nice thin coat of oil/melted butter/sugar/chocolate/syrup/ you get the idea, over the surface. I find it easy to clean too, compared to a bristle brush version.

3. These are from my hand mixer. I was solely using a trusty wooden spoon for many years before converting to this. Biggest advantage: Time! Oh yes, it saves me loads and prevents a tired wrist from all that manual mixing  ;-)

4. Too many recipes called for greaseproof paper or parchment of some kind and me previously using tin foil as a substitute just wasn't cutting it. I was trying to be frugal by never buying it, but believe me, I'm loving the benefits (peels gracefully off the edges of cakey Brownies, easing Lemon Drizzle cake out of tight loaf tins, etc.) and I keep a roll in the drawer now.

5. Baking Beans. Needed for blind baking tarts/pie bottoms.

6. My Own Spoon. This spoon is a bit like Kryptonite to the other half, with its bright pink handle. He does not use it and that's perfect for me leaving it exclusive for my baking and not his oily culinary concoctions!

7. Now something a little bit unorthodox for a British kitchen – Cup size measures. I got these because they were so cheap to buy and allowed me to quickly use a US or Australian recipe without having to convert the ingredients on my iPhone App to metric scale. There are loads of US recipes I stumble on so it just makes sense to keep some of these handy!