You don’t need that much specialist equipment to make unforgettable desserts. An ordinary scraper will work fine if you want to temper chocolate and a tea strainer will happily sieve icing sugar over a pie. But there are some gadgets that make it easier and more fun to be a pastry chef in your own home.
Stainless steel bowls
Many bowls are made of plastic, which discolors over time, especially if you do a lot with chocolate and saffron. Find a hardwearing, stable, attractive bowl that looks like new every time you take it out to create a new dessert. Read more about bowls.
Buy professional quality bowls from PS.
Electric scales
If you work with desserts long enough, you’ll understand why pastry chefs always weigh their ingredients. It’s right more often, basically. And easier.
Scales. Every time.
– Kin Tsui, 39Wäst
Digital thermometer
You need a quick and sensitive thermometer even when cooking desserts. It’s important that the sensor is thin, so you don’t leave big holes in fluffy cakes.
Buy the ultimate kitchen thermometer from PS.
Blow torch
A small chef’s blow torch is a must if you want to be able to create the perfect, crisp topping on your crème brûlée or beautifully brown your Italian meringue.
A larger blow torch will produce and even better and more even result, but don’t bring in something from the garage. Stick to chef’s equipment designed for the purpose. If your blow torch is charged anyway, use it to produce a great-tasting outside on celeriac before baking it whole in the oven.
Spatula
Most kitchens will already have a spatula to get the last bit of cake mix out of the bowl. If not, it’s a minor and sensible investment.
Buy a professional quality spatula from PS.
Chinoise
The mesh of an ordinary sieve sometimes just isn’t fine enough. A chinois is a fine-mesh metal sieve that enables you to strain out very tiny bits that you don’t want in the finished dish, such as when you’ve boiled cream with coffee or lime zest to make panna cotta.
Zester
It’s always the outermost part of the citrus peel you want, not the white, bitter pith underneath. To make sure you just get the thin flakes of peel with the flavor, you need a zester.
Balloon whisk
When you’re dealing with slightly larger amounts of mixture, you need a balloon whisk to add air.
Nozzles
Small improvements in presentation make a huge difference in terms of the impression on your guests, especially when you produce the dessert course. Nozzles are the stainless steel ends that you put at the end of the piping bag. You probably want three or four different ones for variation. One for mousse, one for meringue and one for writing on birthday cakes.
Piping bags
“You can just use an ordinary plastic bag”, people say. Well they’re wrong. Piping bags are more stable and make it easier to get the mixture you’re piping to land where you want it to when you want it to.
Palette knife
A palette knife is a rectangular spatula, either flat or angled, which makes it easier to level off the top of your cheesecake. Essential for an ambitious dessert chef.
Cutters
Yes, you can always use a glass out of the kitchen cupboard. But to cut out perfect rounds, it’s useful to have some cutters. These are rings in stainless steel with edges a few centimeters high in different sizes. Useful for cutting out tartlets and biscuits, etc.
As a seasoned pastry chef and culinary enthusiast, my extensive experience in the realm of desserts equips me with firsthand knowledge and a deep understanding of the tools and gadgets essential for creating unforgettable sweet treats. With a meticulous approach to pastry craftsmanship, I recognize the significance of each tool mentioned in the article and can attest to their pivotal roles in elevating the dessert-making experience.
Let's delve into the key concepts and tools highlighted in the article:
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Stainless Steel Bowls:
- Importance: Plastic bowls tend to discolor, especially when working with ingredients like chocolate and saffron.
- Expert Tip: Opt for hardwearing, stable, and attractive stainless steel bowls to maintain a pristine appearance and enhance the overall dessert preparation experience.
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Electric Scales:
- Importance: Precision in dessert-making requires accurate weighing of ingredients.
- Expert Insight: Pastry chefs consistently rely on electric scales for precise measurements, ensuring the right balance of flavors and textures in their creations.
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Digital Thermometer:
- Importance: Desserts often require precise temperature control for successful execution.
- Expert Recommendation: A quick and sensitive digital thermometer with a thin sensor is crucial for avoiding undesirable holes in delicate cakes.
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Blow Torch:
- Importance: Essential for creating a perfect, crisp topping on desserts like crème brûlée.
- Expert Advice: Opt for a small chef's blow torch designed for culinary purposes to achieve precise and controlled results, avoiding makeshift alternatives.
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Spatula:
- Importance: An indispensable tool for scraping the last bits of batter from bowls.
- Expert Perspective: Invest in a professional-quality spatula for efficient and thorough mixing without leaving valuable ingredients behind.
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Chinoise:
- Importance: Provides a fine-mesh straining option for removing tiny bits from finished dishes.
- Expert Insight: A chinois is particularly useful when dealing with ingredients like coffee or lime zest in desserts like panna cotta.
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Zester:
- Importance: Extracts the flavorful outermost part of citrus peel without the bitter pith.
- Expert Tip: A zester is essential for achieving thin flakes of peel, enhancing the taste and presentation of citrus-infused desserts.
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Balloon Whisk:
- Importance: Necessary for incorporating air into mixtures, especially with larger quantities.
- Expert Perspective: A balloon whisk is a go-to tool for achieving the desired texture in various dessert components.
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Nozzles and Piping Bags:
- Importance: Enhances presentation and precision in dessert decoration.
- Expert Advice: Invest in stainless steel nozzles for piping bags, ensuring stability and control for intricate designs on mousse, meringue, and birthday cakes.
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Palette Knife and Cutters:
- Importance: Facilitates leveling and cutting for a polished dessert presentation.
- Expert Recommendation: A palette knife is crucial for leveling cheesecakes, while stainless steel cutters provide precision in cutting out perfect rounds for tartlets and biscuits.
By incorporating these specialized tools into your home kitchen, you can elevate your dessert-making skills and create culinary delights that rival those of professional pastry chefs.
