Paint Brushes
Two paintbrushes should be purchased and used for only food-related purposes: A small detail brush to paint on watered-down dusts and dyes (among other fancy things), and a large fluffy brush to pick up and dust on edible glitter or brush luster dust over large areas. Always wash and dry well after each use.
Piping Bags
I recommend investing in a good quality plastic-lined cloth or silicone piping bag that will hold your large cupcake frosting tips. These bags can be rinsed out with soapy water and easily reused over and over. They have to be kept clean and dried out well after each use to avoid retaining any smells or discoloration.
I also recommend having a stock of disposable plastic bags for small quantities of royal icing or for recipes where you will need multiple colors at once and may not have many reusable piping bags. These are also handy for melting candy melts in the microwave. These disposable bags can also be rinsed out and reused to prolong their lives, but they won’t last forever.
Piping Tips
While there are a vast array of different piping tips out there, here are a few specifics that top my list – you’ll see them used throughout this book:
For decorating cupcakes: Ateco 845 (large star tip) and Ateco 809 and 806 (large round tip) will cover almost every type of frosting technique in this book.
For decorating cookies: Ateco or Wilton in a size 1 for the tiniest details, size 5 for covering large areas, and size 3 for just about everything else. I have about 15
of these tips for cookie decorating that requires a lot of colors.
Ateco and Wilton brand tips are the most popular and can be purchased online or in baking supply stores like Michaels or Bulk Barn.
Rolling Pins and Rings
While rolling pins come in many varieties, my favorite is the Wilton 20” Fondant Roller. It’s huge, it’s smooth, it’s easy to clean and it packs a mean wallop should an army of orcs invade while you’re prepping your cookie dough. I also like the smaller 9” roller when rolling out small amounts of fondant - though a round, clean pen or pencil will also do the trick!
Spatula
Several good spatulas will serve you well for many baking tasks. From scraping the bottom of a mixer bowl to incorporating all the dry ingredients to scooping buttercream into a piping bag, you’ll always have a use for a good spatula. I recommend the silicone variety as they are flexible and easy to clean.
Sprinkles
While sprinkles come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, the ones you’ll use most in this book are as follows:
Jimmies – Long thin sprinkles in a rainbow of colors (Figure 1),
Confetti – Round flat circles, usually sold in a mixed color variety (Figure 2).
Nonpareils or Dragées – Teeny, tiny balls in varied sizes, usually in rainbow colors or coated in metallic gold or silver (Figure 3).
Sanding Sugar – Coarse grain sugar, great for adding a bit of sparkle and crunch. (Figure 4).
Stand / Hand Mixer
I have (and worship!) a shiny silver KitchenAid mixer; I call it “The Silver Surfer.” While I recommend a stand mixer for anyone getting into baking in a serious way, all recipes in this book can also be made with a handheld mixer. In fact, some recipes, like the 7-Minute Floofy Frosting on page 66, will specifically require a hand mixer. I would recommend against hand mixing the recipes in this book with a spoon, no matter how buff your biceps are, particularly the Buttercream frostings, which require a large amount of air to be incorporated.
Vanilla Bean Paste vs Liquid Vanilla Extract
While there’s no doubt that liquid vanilla from the baking aisle of your local grocery will do the trick, there’s nothing quite like the professional presentation provided by vanilla bean paste. While both vanillas will taste very similar in your recipe, the tiny black flecks reminiscent of a scraped vanilla bean pod that appear in your cake or frosting are a visual reminder of the vanilla flavor dancing on people’s taste buds. You’d be surprised how much of a boost the extra sensory cue adds to the cake ‘nomming’ experience!
Whisk
Often, recipes will have you sift your flour with a sifter. This is to separate any clumps and make it easier to combine it with other dry ingredients, as well as with the wet ingredients. The same effect can be achieved with a metal whisk and some vigorous stirring, and using a whisk will save you having to keep a sifter around the kitchen. It can kick up a mean flour dust cloud, however, so maybe do your whisking near
the sink.
Wooden Toothpicks
Between using toothpicks as cake testers and scooping up bits of gel dye with them, I go through a crazy amount of toothpicks. To check that your cupcake or cake is baked through, stick a toothpick into the very middle, right down to the bottom. If the toothpick comes out clean, then your batter is baked through. If not, it needs to go back in the oven for a few more minutes. Don’t be deceived! Make sure it’s batter you’re seeing on the toothpick and not a sneaky melted chocolate chip.
X-acto Knife
I like keeping some of these sharp blades on hand to cut around templates in both fondant and dough. Be sure to use them on a cutting board, and don’t chop up your kitchen counter. A thin, sharp paring knife can also be used instead. Either way, be careful around the pointy end, adventurer. #sharpthingsaresharp
Skills Training and Combat Tricks
Masterful
