(Part 2) Best products from r/Baking

I love how much thought you put into the details! It turned out great!

I'm not quite sure why I feel like plugging this book, but since you love the details, want to learn, and maybe some traditional desserts, I really like Stella Park/Bravetart's new dessert cookbook. Local libraries might have it too. I think it'd be an awesome foundation for an aspiring baker and I wish I could just read it and bake through it faster. She is a really approachable pastry chef (who is very active on social media and will comment if you post pics of her things you've made on Twitter!). She loves digging into the history and the science of why things work (3" tall cake pans vs 2" give a better rise, etc) and has some awesome recipes for homemade oreos, cakes, pies, you name it! She also posts on SeriousEats.com with some great articles. Happy baking!

Both I find. Just by doing the browned butter will give it the flavor but letting it it sit for 24 hours will make it so much better. I've not heard of others having problems, but something that I run into everytime I do them is that by letting them sit in the fridge for 24 hours the batter becomes like a solid rock. This could be due to:


Home made brown sugar. It's much more "fluffy" than store bought and you can choose how dark/light you want it. Typically I do 2tbps molasses per 1 cup of sugar for 1 cup of dark brown sugar. Some call for 2 1/2 or 3 for dark but its all your choice.


Personally I'm not a fan of them being nutella stuffed. Too strong of a flavor like you said. Skip the nutella part and you got some super tasty plain cookies though.


Lastly, some tips. A friend of my dads asked for the recipe after I made them and found all this out the annoying way.

• Use good chocolate. Nestle, hershey, ghiradelli is all low quality. I used this: https://www.chocosphere.com/default/brand/a-c/callebaut/1kg-2-2lb-fairtrade-semisweet-callets.html . The price may be off-putting but it's 2lbs/32 oz which is almost 3x the amount of the small bags at the grocery store. The quality is also tons better and very worth it.
  
  
• Even though the recipe calls for 3 different types of chocolate, just go with the above.
  
  
• Reduce the amount of chips. There is too many with the default. By taking all of what is there it comes to 1 3/4 cups of chips. I would drop it to 1 1/4 or even just 1 cup. Depends on how much chocolate you like.
  
  
• Always brown the butter. Guide to do so is on the site. Be sure to use unsalted or it wont work. Butter quality doesnt matter to my knowledge.
  
  
• Try using home made brown sugar. 1 cup brown sugar is 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons molasses. Use a stand mixer to mix otherwise arm will fall off. The freshness will help with flavor.
  
  
• Always put it in the fridge. 2 hours minimum. Doing it for 24 is best for flavor. If doing for 24 it may become very hard to scoop so use something that wont bend. A spoon does not qualify. Using a knife to slash it can help. If buying extra things is fine then look into http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Medium-Cookie-Scoop/dp/B0000CDVD2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393910062&sr=8-2&keywords=oxo+cookie+scoop . A medium scoop is going for standard sized cookies whereas the large is good for gourmet sized cookies/the one I used. Medium is tricky to use when doing nutella stuffed due to size+amount of chips. The one I linked is also very sturdy and wont break trying to scoop out the 24 hour chilled dough.
  
  
• If doing nutella stuffed: get a ziplock back and put nutella in a corner. Squish it all down into a single corner. Cut a very small piece off of that corner. Squeeze the bag to get the nutella out. Any other way you will hate life making them.
  
  
• If doing nutella stuffed: you will want to get a plate with a ziplock bag on it. Scoop out the cookie down, put it roughly into a ball and then flatten onto the ziplock bag+plate combo. The ziplock is so the cookie wont stick to the plate.
  
  
• If doing nutella stuffed: Get parchment paper and cut it to roughly the size of the flattened cookies (before baking.) Do all the cookie flattening in one go and between each flattened cookie put a piece of parchment paper to prevent them from sticking to eachother.
  
  
• Probably overkill but a good pan will help with even heating. Something like: http://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Natural-Aluminum-Commercial/dp/B000G0KJG4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393910441&sr=8-1&keywords=baking+pan . Great if you use pans for other things.
  
  
• The lazy tip: Parchment paper when baking them. No need to clean the pan after.
  

The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart is my number one recommendation for bread. Im also a big fan of Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson. His first book, Tartine is also great btw. I would skip out on Tartine Book No.3 though which seems to have too many errors for my liking. Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish is also one of the better bread baking books out there.

For general baking, im a big fan of Bouchon Bakery. And one book that will surely help you improve as a baker and I highly recommend you cook through is The Art of French Pastry by Jacquy Pfeiffer. Its like a pastry arts class in a book. I am actually cooking my way through this. If you have a serious sweet tooth, Momofoku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi will probably be what you're looking for. And as someone else recommended, the Baked books are all great.

For cakes, it has to be The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Bernanbaum. This is probably the best cake book of all time. I would supplement this with Toba Garrett's Professional Cake Decorating book.

For pies, my favorites are Four and Twenty Blackbirds and Hoosier Mama. One that I haven't tried but am planning to buy is First Prize Pies. If the book lives up to their reputation, it should be an excellent book.

For plated, more ambitious desserts, I like Payard Desserts. I refer to this when I want to impress company.

The Wilton chart is for 2" pans.

A 3" pan will hold more batter.

You want to fill a cake pan no more than 1/2 to 2/3 full, depending on how much the batter rises - I have a recipe for Red Velvet Cake that rises more than usual so I use a deeper pan or go up to a 9" pan when making a full recipe.

However 6" cake pans are perfect for making smaller cakes for one or two people so I use them much more often than my larger pans these days as there are only the 2 of us and neither of us have much of a sweet tooth.

a 6x3 pan has a total volume of 5.8 cups. So 1/2 to 2/3 of that is what you can safely bake in it - 2.9 cups to 3.9 cups of batter fills it.

an 8x2 pan has a usable volume of 3.5 c to 4.6 c

a 9x2 pan has a usable volume of 4.4 c to 5.9 cups

Most recipes are for 2 layers.

The easiest conversion for your smaller pans is to find a recipe intended for a 9x2 pan and make half of it - that will make enough for 2 layers using 6x3 pans.

Because recipes vary somewhat in the actual volume they make, you will probably need to experiment a few times. Using an 8x2 two layer recipe could give you just enough batter (if the yield is at the low end of the range for the pans) or a bit too much (if it yields at the high end). No big deal, just make some cupcakes as well and adjust accordingly next time you make the recipe. A little math will be involved is all.

I'm curious, is the book to which you refer one of the Small Batch Baking books? My experience with those was also negative. The problem, I believe, is not with the recipes per se but with the way they are measured. Cake batters are extremely susceptible to small changes in ingredient quantities. Even when making "normal" quantities of 2 8" or 9" layers, variations in ingredient quantities can easily "break" a recipe. And when measuring by volume, quantities ALWAYS vary.

I strongly recommend switching to by-weight measuring for baking, especially for cakes. There are at least 3 pretty good recipe books that give most or all measurements by weight.

The Cake Book

The Cake Bible

*Great Cakes

If you've had trouble with cakes, switch to by-weight measures. It's amazing how much difference it can make in your baking. It also makes dividing recipe quantities much easier. Scales are quite affordable.

I own the Polder KSC-310-28, currently on sale at Amazon for $21, a real deal since I paid a lot more for mine.

http://www.amazon.com/Polder-KSC-310-28-Digital-Glass-Silver/dp/B000G2OTM2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369835990&sr=8-1&keywords=Polder+KSC-310-28+Easy+Read+Digital+Glass+Top+Scale%2C+Silver

I also own the Escali P115C Primo, which is ok but I like the Polder better, plus atm it's more expensive (normally the Polder is the more expensive scale).

http://www.amazon.com/Escali-P115C-Digital-Multifunctional-Chrome/dp/B0007GAWRS/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1370129662&sr=1-1&keywords=Escali+P115C+Primo

Also many people swear by the My Weigh KD-8000 "Baker's Math" Scale. It's a bit pricier but it is pretty heavy duty - manages up to 17 lbs! You can get a power cord for it (though you can use batteries if you want to) - search on "Old Will Knott Scales" to find where you can get both the scale and the power cord (plus full details on the scale itself).

I have a cookbook obsession, I have roughly 500 that are somewhat organized so I feel like I can be of great use here. I will break it down by type to make it easier.

Bibles

• Baking Bible
  
• Cake Bible
  
• The Pie and Pastry Bible
  
  Bread
  
  
• Beard on Bread
  
• Bread
  
• Bread Baker's Apprentice
  
• Flour Water Salt Yeast
  
• Josey Baker Bread (I just genuinely like this guy tho lol)
  
• All of the Tartine books (just get all of them, Chad is the man when it comes to bread)
  
  Caramels/Candys/Ice Cream
  
  
• Ample hills creamery
  
• Artisan caramels
  
• Chocolates & Confections
  
• The Sweet Book of Candy Making
  
• Sweet Cream And Sugar Cones
  
  Jack of all trades
  
  
• Baked Occasions
  
• Baker's four seasons
  
• Flour
  
• Flour Too
  
• Model Bakery Cookbook
  
• Momofuku Milk Bar
  
• Ovenly
  
  Pastry/Pies
  
  
• The Art of French Pastry (this is one of my all time favorites)
  
• Creative Eclairs (whole set is great for beginners to intermediates)
  
• First Prize Pies
  
  Textbooks
  
  
• Baking and pastry
  
• On Baking
  
  
  I'm sure I am leaving out a bunch of great ones but if I had to suggest just 1 to anyone it would DEFINITELY be The Art of French Pastry. Best for somebody who has done basics already and looking to try a little more. Even as a professional baker I find myself coming back and just reading the little spots like how he burned himself on his caramel. Great, great book!

I used this off brand Metro blade for my KA Pro 600 https://www.amazon.com/BeaterBlade-KA-6L-Metro-Design-KitchenAid/dp/B0015TMI28/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483386039&sr=8-1&keywords=kitchen+aid+pro+600+metro+blade for one year before it broke at the neck/shoulder area. Replaced it with the same blade and that lasted a bit over a year. I don't make bread and the cookies I make are not rock hard. I went looking for a replacement.

Here it is... https://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KFE6L-5-5-6-Bowl-Lift-Beater/dp/B006HGZ7AY This one is actually put out by Kitchenaid. I liked the dual silicone edge of the metro, but this blade is stainless steal coated, not plastic like the metro. It is DW safe (I've washed mine at least 25x already. 10/10 would buy again. Well worth the money if you plan on thicker doughs than cake batter.

I also recommend this 11 wire whip attachment (also KA brand) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PJ6XGQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It is also stainless, unlike the one sold with the mixers, which makes it totally DW safe (have washed that one at least a dozen times since I got it.

IDK if I really answered your questions, but in my experience the KA brand name accessories are worth the money. The quality is markedly different from the off brands, but in the end, it depends on what you are using them for and how much you are using them. The off brands might suit your needs just fine.

Oh, I forgot. I have the meat grinder too. I initially bought the plastic one, but traded up to the ss because of heavy use. Another example of ss being the better choice, though in this case they were both KA brand items.

Good luck to you. As a suggestion, your wife can bake to her heart's content, but have one or two and give away the rest, or the extra 50lbs will be with you in no time. I had to learn the hard way that taking it off was infinitely harder than putting it on. Save yourself and your wife!!

Edit: apologies for the word wall
Edit 2: Make sure you double check your model number before ordering any accessories b/c they may look like they'll fit, but they don't always.

My number one tip for baking is to measure ingredients by weight, not volume! It's more accurate, easier, and more convenient than using measuring cups. A cup of flour can weigh anywhere between 4.5 to 6 ounces depending on how it’s scooped, and that kind of variance can make a big difference to whether your baked goods turn out well vs. hard, dry, and tough due to having extra flour in them. So that could be a potential reason for past baking projects turning out to be hockey puck-esque.

A lot of American recipes only include volume measurements, but some good online sources that do include weights are the King Arthur Flour website and Serious Eats. Weights are also used in BraveTart by Stella Parks and everything by Rose Levy Beranbaum. I would recommend using those sources (or others that are trustworthy) as you're starting out, rather than finding recipes via Pinterest or random blogs.

Temperature is another factor that makes a big difference in baking. Ingredients that need to be at room temperature will not work the way they should if they’re cold. Trying to cream together cold butter and sugar will produce a dense cake instead of a light, fluffy one, and trying to make a frosting with cold cream cheese or butter will produce a clumpy frosting with chunks of unblended cream cheese/butter.

Likewise, ingredients that need to be cold will not perform the way they should if they’re warm or at room temperature. For instance, if pie dough gets too warm, the butter in the dough will melt and turn everything into a sticky mess. It’ll also obliterate the layers of butter and flour/water that produce a light, flaky texture for your crust.

So a change in seasons, which you might not ordinarily think about in this context, can really affect your baking and require adjustments. Serious Eats has a writeup on winter baking adjustments, and King Arthur Flour has a blog post on winter-to-summer adjustments for yeast baking.

For the most precision possible, you can use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature of your ingredients, but you can do fine without one. Just make sure to plan ahead and warm up/cool down your ingredients as needed.

Oven temperature also makes a difference. Most ovens are not properly calibrated, so even if you think you’re baking at the right temperature, your oven may run hot or cold. Use an oven thermometer to check! Baking at too low a temperature will produce a gummy, pale cake, while using too high a temperature will produce a dried-out husk. If a lot of your baking efforts have turned out burned, that might indicate your oven runs hot.

Follow cues, not suggested times, when baking a recipe. Obviously, use the times as a guideline, but it’s the cues that really matter. So for instance, if a recipe says to bake a cake for “one hour, or till a toothpick comes out clean,” start checking before your hour is up. If a toothpick comes out with some crumbs attached at the one-hour mark, leave your cake in the oven till the toothpick comes out clean. (This is another reason your baking projects might have turned out burned - if your oven runs hot and you only start checking right at the time given in the recipe instead of beforehand, then naturally things will get burned.)

Finally, any beginner should follow recipes as written and not experiment with any modifications that aren’t suggested. For instance, if you think a cookie recipe looks too sweet and reduce the sugar, that won’t just make the cookies less sweet, it’ll also make them softer and puffier (sugar makes cookies browner, crisper, and increases spread). If you do a 1:1 substitute of whole wheat for all-purpose flour in a bread recipe, you’ll end up with bread that’s drier and denser (whole wheat absorbs liquid more than all-purpose and contains bran, which cuts through gluten and prevents it from rising as much). So until you have a solid understanding of how different ingredients work, just follow each and every instruction in a recipe as-is (which, as you might have noticed from my points on weight/temperature above, isn't always as simple as it might seem!).

To wrap up this extremely long comment - for information on "correct fail safe methods," the King Arthur Flour blog and Serious Eats both have good tutorials and tips, and Rose Levy Beranbaum's books have a huge amount of helpful details on, well, everything. Good luck!

It's one of those 'personal preference' issues, really.

I've read a lot of the books that others have mentioned, but I haven't bought my own copies, mostly because I'm satisfied with Rose Levy Beranbaum's books, and have stuck with those. She's a good teacher who seems to understand the specific challenges of baking at home with the ingredients I can find. (Lots of other cookbooks seem to be focused on professional type baking situations, and on artisanal baking. Not what I need or want to use.)

Her recipes have been consistently reliable, approachable and the end results have been very tasty.

Some projects are apparently more than I want to manage, so I haven't baked EVERYTHING in her books, but I do own them all, if that tells you anything.

I learned a lot from her Bread bible.
http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/0393057941

Her newest, The Baking Bible also looks great (just got it, haven't yet worked my way completely through it.

http://www.amazon.com/Baking-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/1118338618/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y

There are a lot of different approaches to this kind of project. Along the way in my experiments, I learned that I'm not really all that fascinated with rustic artisanal breads, and that most professional cookbooks just aren't what I'm looking for in the way of specific advice on projects I can manage at home. For one thing, living where I do, finding top quality flours is a problem (i.e., online only).

Editing to add: I think it's probably best to buy a cookbook produced in your own country, whatever that might be. For example, ingredients can be hard to source, and wording can be a confusing issue. (British cookbooks have given me a lot of great ideas, but living in the US, I find I need to double check my understanding of the instructions and the ingredients. Metric measurements are a godsend, though, they simplify a lot. Other measuring standards can be more confusing.)

The microplane fine grater is one of my favorite tools. Finely grated lemon zest makes so many things super delicious. It's good for grating a little cinnamon or nutmeg into a baking project as well.

I use my fine sieve frequently for baking as well, like when I have to strain pastry cream to help it cool down or get the seeds out of raspberries.

Another favorite baking "gadget" is the cake strip - it prevents the cake from puffing up in the middle. Otherwise you have to cut off a fair sized chunk in order to stack it in layers.

My ultimate baking cookbook is Tartine bakery's - they are great at explaining complicated techniques and everything turns out fantastic.

Usually cake pulls away from the side of the pan because the exterior is cooking too much faster than the interior. The easy way to even out the process and avoid pull-away is to use baking strips. Personally, I have these from Wilton, but there are a number of different brands available that work equally well. In essence, you soak these then secure them around the outside of your cake pan much like you would a belt around your waist.

I've used them with equal success on spring-form and solid-wall cake pans. They're also great for baking cheesecake, although you have to fine-tune your baking times if you use them with most cheesecake recipes.

When you buy them, be sure to notice the length of the strips to make sure that you have enough for the perimeter size of your pan. They come in an assortment of sizes (6", 8", 12" and 16" are the ones I think I've seen). They're designed to be interconnected for larger pans, and ideally you minimize their overlap when you wrap your pan. Frankly, they sound far more complicated than they are. I have had much better results with consistency since I finally broke down and bought some. I use them constantly, and highly recommend them.

Everything. I make everything with my kitchen aid except for simple one bowl oil-based cake recipes/quick breads.

Creaming butter is super easy, whipping eggs/egg whites/heavy cream. Basically any and all baking, my kitchenaid does all the work.

I also have this attachment (link below) which I find very helpful. You might have to adjust your bowl height so it fits in (there are directions in the manual on how to do this) but it makes a big difference. I rarely have to turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides of the bowl, I'll do this maybe once while making a dough. Make sure you get the correct attachment for your model.

BeaterBlade KA-6L Metro Design Beater Blade for KitchenAid 6-Quart Bowl Lift Mixer and 5 Plus Series 5Qt Stand Mixers, White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015TMI28/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_5jTyyb8CHAGQ6

Additionally, there are a ton of other attachments you can slowly add to your collection that allow you to do so much more with your mixer. Personally, I love the meat grinder. Great for making your own sausage, meatballs, or just ground meat.

Have fun with your new toy!

So first things first, no baker whose work I respect uses measuring cups. Volume measurement is an anachronistic method of measurement. The reason is that baking is based on ratios of the mass of products to each other, and something like flour can vary by about 50% if you're going by volume. I.e. a cup can weigh between 4 and 6 ounces. What that means is that you need a scale. The good news is that scales are fairly cheap. It's like 30 bucks to get a good one. I like oxo 5 pound scale with the pull out display.

The next thing is that I tend to stay away from all of the cookbooks written by people who don't work in the industry. Chefs have had to stand up to years of criticism and constant learning to get to a place where they can even begin to think about putting out a cookbook. The two pastry cook books that I like the most are Thomas Keller's book, Bouchon bakery, and Christina Tosi's book, milk bar.

Bouchon bakery is a super French book (as is the bakery), so I would recommend getting it if your son is interested in making things like bread, croissants, eclairs, Madelines, macarons, cakes, etc. Things that you would think of coming out of a traditional patisserie. The book is fabulously written and gorgeous. It is incredibly approachable and in my opinion, doesn't require any outside knowledge of baking, although being a good baker certainly helps. If I were to go solely based on what I thought was the best book, I wouldn't go any further than this one

That being said, I love Christina Tosi's milk bar. Her style is more of a traditional American style, so lots of cookies, cupcakes, pies, etc. Her book isn't as well written, not as pretty, and requires a bit more knowledge of baking (but certainly not a ton). It is, however so warm and inviting and reflects her personality so much that you can't help but smile add you read her expositions about some of her recipes and past. Her cookies are so crazy awesome and delicious, that the single method alone is worth the price of admission.

The one caveat I would say is that both books will STRONGLY suggest you get a stand mixer. While neither book requires it, there are some recipes that will be very daunting without one; I sure as hell wouldn't want to do Tosi's creaming method (for making the aforementioned cookies) by hand, that's for sure. That being said, though, people baked for millennia without one, so if you don't have one, you certainly don't have to buy one before making most if not all of the recipes in either book.

NINJA EDIT:
Links to the books
Bouchon Bakery
Milk bar

Someone gave me Baking:From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, which I thought was a fantastic book with some good pictures. I also like books by David Lebovitz. He has a great blog about his life in Paris and he used to be a pastry chef here in the States. Fante's Kitchen Shop always looks like they have interesting things too. I love to browse there for ideas. Hope that helps a bit.

Oooh. I would suggest some fancy ingredients like some Nielsen Massey vanilla paste (I have the gigantic 1 quart size myself and it's pretty much my favorite thing ever) or some Valrhona cocoa powder or feves (fancy chocolate chips). Some high quality measuring cups like these ones from All Clad would probably make her over the moon (as others have said, you can never have enough measuring cups and spoons, and heavy-weighted ones like those are a delight to use). You can round out your gift with a few cookbooks you think she might like -- some suggestions are the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook (since you mentioned she makes lots of cupcakes), the Tartine Cookbook (I love this one), and Rose Levy Berenbaum's Cake Bible or Heavenly Cakes.

Yes, those are oats 😁😁. It was super delicious and healthy. It’s a recipe from my friends book https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1980914281/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526254613&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=cristiana+stoian&dpPl=1&dpID=51Y26qkhcmL&ref=plSrch

I see a kitchenaid one on sale for $35 on amazon:

kitchenaid

Otherwise, if you're looking for something cheaper, it may not hold up as long or be as good quality, but unless you're using it extremely frequently, a cheap hand mixer like black+decker would work just fine as well and you can get it for $14 on amazon:

black+decker

I bake a lot and tend to be cheap when it comes to hand mixers, and even cheap $15 mixers have lasted at least a few years each for me.

As a professional baker, there are two books that I recommend:

• I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking by Alton Brown (gets into the science of baking, it's entertaining, and has some great recipes)
  
  
• Baker's Manual by Joseph Amendola and Nicole Rees (has the most classic recipes, and covers a lot of the things I learned in culinary school)
  
  I doubt it's in your price range, but every baker absolutely needs a kitchen-aid standing mixer.
  
  Other necessary items: wire whisk, rubber spatula, good set of bowls, various pans, or at least two half sheet pans, measuring cups, measuring spoons, bench scraper, etc.
  
  Wilton has a good cupcake decorating kit. Offset spatulas are necessary for any decorating, 4" for cupcakes, 8" for most cakes. If she likes cake decorating, then she needs a cake wheel and a decorating comb.
  
  I personally go for more practical items as opposed to novelty items. I hope some of that was useful.

No chocolate at all, all cocoa powder for the color. High quality cocoa is key. (I use bensorp, but valhrona/scharfenberger...whatever will be great) Start by blooming your sheet gelatin (take the sheets and submerge in a bowl of ice water). Boil water, sugar, cocoa and heavy cream, while whisking. Don't stop whisking, you'll burn the bottom of the pot. This will easily boil over if not watched. Boil for 2 minutes. Take off the heat, run it through a strainer if you have one and cool down to about 150 degrees. Then remove your gelatin from the ice water, give it a squeeze to get rid of all excess water and add your gelatin to the hot mix and mix it in with a spatula (don't want to whisk at this point and add air bubbles thats your glaze enemy right now) You want to use this glaze at 85-90 degrees, make sure whatever you are glazing is very well refrigerated/completely frozen otherwise you will melt the base during the glaze. (glazing bare cake will not work it will seep into the pores of the cake, you want to glaze mousses or buttercream covers only) Glaze on a glazing screen onto parchment, and then reuse the glaze for other stuff.

Water - 12 oz

Granulated Sugar - 1 lb

Cocoa Powder - 5.25 oz

Heavy Cream - 9 oz

Gelatin Leaves - 9 sheets

(gelita sheets are great, I use gelita silver sheets. These look good though for you home bakers so you don't have a million sheets extra https://www.amazon.com/PerfectaGel-Silver-Gelatin-Sheets-Bloom/dp/B009GJXSMS/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=sheet+gelatin&qid=1570448090&sr=8-7).

For essentials I would suggest a half sheet pan for things like cookies and brownies and a 9x5" loaf pan for things like banana bread, lemon loaf, pound cake, etc. Those are good starting points! Oh also maybe a cupcake/muffin tin?

Parchment paper is also great to have on hand to line the half sheet pan so that the cookies don't stick.

What kind of things does she like to bake? Cookies, Cupcakes/cakes, breads/pastries/doughs, pies/tarts...? Anything and everything?

Aside from an awesome KitchenAid mixer, my personal favorite baking tool is a Silpat (and having two so you can rotate pans easily is nice. I'm always putting a second pan in after the first one, so it keeps things going.) After getting those, I almost never have to wash my baking pans, and crap doesn't occasionally stick to the pan while baking like it used to. I usually end up moving baked goods to the rack with my fingers because a spatula isn't even necessary with a Silpat much of the time. Freakin' awesome.

If she rolls dough often, she might enjoy one of these pastry mats. I use mine a lot (almost as much as my Silpats), but I roll out dough like every other day.

A nice idea is a really cute apron, so when she starts her baking, she will put it on and then think of you. Some other good things: a set of piping tips or these cool flower ones, turn tables they're cheap but having two can be really helpful, baking pans with a flat and tall sides, a hand mixer, or some sculpting tools. These links are Canadian but you'll still see what I am talking about. Hope this was helpful!

"Crack" pie is pretty good. It's kind of like a pecan pie without nuts, so a custardy sweet filling.

I'd also recommend the book "Pie" , which my friends and I have taken to calling the Pieble. It's quite the tome and has a bunch of good recipes.

I am fond of pastry mats, myself, for working with dough by hands. Which is quite rare, but I use it a lot for things like scones. I don't like cutting boards; I have a difficulty with heavy objects and find silicone sticks to my counter top much better.

Here's an idea of one

I really love them because of their measurements, too. Which saves me from guesswork or whipping out a ruler.

Baking is a learning process. I’ve selected a list of a good references:


Getting started

https://www.instructables.com/class/Bread-Class/

My favorite books


https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Bread-Lessons-Master-Baker/dp/031620062X

https://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=D3W0A522YN0Z49Y37CR2

https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals/dp/160774273X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2/132-2200314-5814741?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=160774273X&pd_rd_r=d2b81337-6b5d-11e9-9f49-5707d913d0fd&pd_rd_w=aXXDJ&pd_rd_wg=GprXQ&pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&pf_rd_r=AKFEA35FM58RZV98V93X&psc=1&refRID=AKFEA35FM58RZV98V93X


Good and reliable websites


https://blog.kingarthurflour.com/

https://www.theperfectloaf.com/

Enjoy!

I used the recipe in the Bouchon Bakery cookbook by Thomas Keller - best of luck, happy baking!!

Bouchon Bakery

Thank you! I always use this recipe. It makes 3 layers, but I just used two for this cake. My layers were especially soft because I used cake strips. It was my first time using them, and I was blown away by the results. It was soft and tender on the outside and beautifully flat :)

Thanks for such a detailed reply. I'm looking specifically at these Artisan silicon mats, not actually Silpat, since they're less than half the price and have equally good Amazon reviews. I've seen customers' pictures so I'm familiar with the size relative to half sheet pans and although they're a little smaller than Silpats I don't think it's a difference worth $25 to me.

I plan to use it mostly for roasting vegetables and baking breads, so the tip about the bread is especially helpful, but I believe my oven heats from the bottom so I should be good.

Is there anything stopping me from using silicon mats on nonstick pans? Just so I still have the option of the nonstick if I don't like the mats.

It was pretty good! I haven't had strawberry rhubarb in a while, but I think it's pretty comparable tart-wise.

Here's the filling! (I got the recipe from this book)

• 1 lb fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (2.5 cups)
  
• 2 cups raspberries
  
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
  
• 3 Tbsp ground arrowroot (I used 2 Tbsp of cornstarch)
  
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
  
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  
• 1 large egg
  
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
  
  Mix rhubarb, raspberries, granulated and brown sugars, arrowroot, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in a large bowl and toss to combine. Stir in the egg and bitters. Pour the filling into the pastry shell, arrange lattice on top.
  
  Bake at 425F 20-25 minutes on lowest rack of oven, until pastry is set and beginning to brown. Lower temperature to 375F, move pie to center oven rack and bake another 30-35 minutes until the pastry is a deep golden brown and juices are bubbling throughout.
  
  Enjoy!

If it has a 5, it means it has a 5 quart bowl, 45, 4.5 quart.

If your kitchen aid has a tilt head, then then you can buy the smaller one (i.e. this ) if yours is a "bowl lift", you'll want this. However, be careful on the last one, for it's plastic. It should be fine, but if your batter is super heavy it might break and need a replacement with a metal base (like I had to).

You can try one of those plastic cutting mats for sewing. One of these https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00L5I8RTW/ref=zg_bs_262643011_13?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YMBFT6YKR9K9KT8FAF8H some of them are better quality than others, and they come in different sizes.

I roll out my smaller doughs on a silicone baking mat. This is the exact one I have, and I love it! https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IY1C7D0/ref=mp_s_a_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1511365887&sr=1-13&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65

You need you some "Bake Even Strips". You soak them in water, wrap them around the outside of the pan, and they keep the sides cool. You end up with almost perfectly flat cakes that have sides as lightly colored as the top.

These are my favorite kitchen thing. There are some cheaper ones but I know this brand. Putting together a bridal shower gift and I got a different brand and a small serving spatula and got some blue mason jars at Joanns with their 50% off coupons this week and plan on filling them with cookie, brownie, cake and muffin-in-a-jar recipes.

It depend on the pie wether or not I blind bake. The sugar only goes on the rim and top crust.
If I blind bake I usually brush with egg white to not allow the filling to seep into the crust and make it mushy.
If you want the best resource for pie baking I would totally recommend this book
pie by Ken Haedrich

Try Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From my home to yours"
It's a real gem (:
her recipes are almost foolproof!

Even if you have a kitchenaid, a hand mixer like the one I linked is great for everyday. Kitchenaids are invaluable for big projects but can be annoying to get out and then clean for 1 batch of cookies, etc. https://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KHM512ER-5-Speed-Ultra-Empire/dp/B009VUHLHA

http://www.amazon.com/Baking-Home-Yours-Dorie-Greenspan/dp/0618443363

Note, many of the recipes on the Great British Bake-Off are very British. They won't be in a standard baking book not from Britain.

Thanks! I find that these cake strips really help in keeping cakes from doming and needing to be trimmed. Also, props to my husband for actually icing the cake. I get impatient with the fussy bits.

Instead of parchment paper, you should pick this up:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008T960/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's even better then parchment paper. I was hesitent at first cause of the $25 but its totally worth it.

I couldn't find the recipe on Ken Headrich's site, but it looks like it's from his book Pie. Here is the filling recipe from a blog I found!

Baranbaum is always a good resource and this is literally a Baking Bible.

The Baking Bible

This is the one I use. There are different bloom strengths and this one is commonly used for baking.

These help. cake bands
Also, try not to overfill.

hey! i used to do a lot of tiered cake making, and i used a set of pans similar to these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000VZ2QG/ref=psdc_289681_t1_B00AE6PXXE

except i have a few more sizes, and you might look around to see if theres a set for the exact sizes you are wanting to make.

the way i would tell you to do it, is cook enough batter in each pan to have it dome up, then cut off the dome and cut the layer in half horizontally, so that each cooked tin worth of cake becomes 2 cake layers in the finished product.

it helps very much to cook larger sizes (12 in round or more) with a piece of wet dish towel wrapped around the outside (or you can buy these: https://www.amazon.com/Regency-RW002-Evenbake-Cake-Strips/dp/B000I1UXUI), this is especially useful for naked cakes because it helps the edges evenly brown.

and then take a bit of tin foil crumbled into a thick cylindar and place it in the center of the tin brfore filling it with batter to act as a heat core for the middle of the batter, otherwise it will burn on the edges before it cooks in the middle, or you can just buy a heating core: https://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Decorative-Preferred-Heating-Bakeware/dp/B0000VM82M/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1494163617&sr=1-2&keywords=heating+core+for+baking

if you use the foil heatcore, you can fill the empty space with off cuts, if you use the bought one, you're supposed to fill it with batter too and then use that as a plug for the empty space.

I use these but there’s several different brands there. You can even make your own I imagine. Before I had real strips I used an old cut up dish towel held together with safety pins.

The whole idea is you soak them in water before use and wrap them around the pan. Basically provides insulation from the outside of the pan and allows for the cake to cook evenly (domed cakes are caused by the edges cooking quicker than the middle).

They're non-stick pan liners used in lieu of parchment paper or cooking spray. According to Amazon, they're a French product. Here's a link.

I spelled caramelized wrong, oops.

Recipe
The tart shell and pastry cream recipes are from the Tartine cookbook. Both seem fairly standard (I don't want to copy from the cookbook!). I used sweet vanilla pastry cream but made it with half and half instead of whole milk.

Cut the figs in half, dipped the cut side in sugar, and caramelized them on the stove for about 5 minutes each. Set them in a bowl to cool. Then poured 3 tablespoons of bourbon in the fig drippings, about 1 tablespoon of honey, and 2 tablespoons of butter and cooked it down until it was a little thick.

Assembly: 1 cool tart shell, filled about 3/4 full with cold pastry cream, topped with figs, and served the bourbon sauce on the side to prevent sogginess. The bourbon sauce made the tart, it really isn't the same without it.

A little heavy for summer but just got the tart pan and figs were $6 at costco, so...yeah.

http://www.amazon.com/Baking-Bible-Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/dp/1118338618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419978179&sr=8-1&keywords=baking+bible

http://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1419978172&sr=8-2&keywords=science+of+baking

[Escali digital Scale] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007GAWRS/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_fqA8wbXAH9S62) is the one we use at home and my mom used these when she was in culinary school.

I bake twenty of them a day, each scaled at just over 900 grams, or approximately 2 lbs. Their all baked in a wood fired oven, so they turn out unlike any bread I've ever made. The darkness in the crust isn't actually as dramatic as that photo might lead you to believe, chalk it up to my phone camera being overly dramatic. Still, it is a very dark bake. The owner of the restaurant is very fond of Tartine's bread, so I've had to tailor the bread I make to be more in line with that.