FIND: In the baking aisle.
STORE: In the refrigerator; use by the date indicated on the jar or packet.
equipment
the basics
Anyone can make desserts with equipment already on hand—
which probably includes measuring cups and spoons, a cake pan or two, baking dishes in a few sizes, a whisk, a spatula, maybe a food processor. All indispensable. But if you’re serious about baking, and you plan to do it on anything like a regular basis, having a well-stocked kitchen will transform your life—making dessert preparation faster, more efficient, and simply more fun. Here’s a guide to the essential elements of a dessert-maker’s kitchen. (Note that you’ll also find plenty of information throughout the book on other handy tools that will help with specific recipes.)
baking dishes & pans
Bon Appétit recipes are usually specific about the type of baking dish to use. It’s wise to buy a variety of sizes and materials, including heavy-duty metal, tempered glass, earthenware, porcelain, and enameled cast iron.
A heavy-duty metal baking pan is preferable when high-temperature baking or broiling is involved, because metal can withstand higher heat than ceramic or glass.
For fruit crisps and cobblers, which contain acidic ingredients, glass or ceramic baking dishes are better than metal, which reacts with acidic ingredients—and they can go from freezer to microwave to oven with ease. Ceramic baking dishes have an added advantage: They’re made in attractive colors and are pretty enough to serve from right at the table. The recipes in this book regularly call for 2-inch-deep baking dishes in these sizes: 8×8, 9×9, 11×7, and 13×9 inches.
baking sheets
Rimmed baking sheets, also known a jelly-roll pans or sheet pans, are usually about an inch deep. They’re great for cookies and pastries; you’ll want a few of them if you’ll be baking multiple batches of cookies. They can also be used under fruit-filled items like cobblers, pies, tarts, and turnovers, which can bubble over during baking. Rimmed baking sheets are also great for organizing groups of prepped ingredients and ferrying them around the kitchen. Heavy-duty, commercial-weight aluminized sheets (available at well-stocked cookware and restaurant supply stores) are the best choice because they won’t warp or buckle at high temperatures. Rimmed baking sheets come in quarter-sheet pan size (about 13×9 inches) and half-sheet pan size (about 18×13 or 17×12 inches). Note that pan dimensions may vary depending on the manufacturer.
Rimless baking sheets are helpful when it’s necessary to slide free-form tarts and other delicate items directly from baking sheet to cooling rack; they’re also good for baking cookies.
bowls
A set of nesting mixing bowls made of tempered glass, metal, or plastic is easy to store neatly. The various graduated sizes come in handy for mixing doughs and batters, tossing fruit salads, and organizing prepped ingredients.
cake pans
Heavy-duty round metal cake pans come in many diameters and depths. The recipes in this book regularly call for 8-, 9-, and 10-inch-diameter pans with 2-inch-high sides.
Rectangular or square metal cake pans are ideal for breakfast and snack-type cakes. Glass baking dishes can be used, but because cakes bake faster in glass pans than in metal ones (and because glass pans stay hot longer after being removed from the oven), you should reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees and start checking for doneness a few minutes earlier than the recipe says. Avoid dark metal pans altogether—they tend to brown cakes too quickly.
Springform pans, which come in several diameters, are an excellent choice for creamy-textured cakes, like cheesecakes and mousse cakes. The high, removable sides provide a form for the cake and the latched sides make unmolding simple.
More specialized cakes—such as Bundt and angel food—require their own pans; a Bundt pan can also double as a kugelhopf pan.
cake turntable
For frosting and decorating cakes, a cake turntable offers excellent maneuverability (a lazy Susan would do the trick, too). It allows the cake to be rotated and also raises it several inches above the work surface so that all sides may be reached easily.
cherry pitter
To pit whole cherries quickly, try using a cherry pitter. In our test kitchen, we use the Oxo Good Grips cherry/olive pitter (about $13; oxo.com). It holds large cherries easily and has a splatter shield that protects you, your clothes, and your countertop from the staining juices. If you don’t have a cherry pitter, use a chopstick: Push it into the fruit through the stem end, forcing the pit out the opposite end.
citrus juicers
Electric and manual citrus juicers are designed to squeeze juice from lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruits. An electric juicer is an efficient way to extract the most juice quickly. Less expensive and also easy to use are manual juicers. A few different models are available. When just a few teaspoons of juice are needed, a hand reamer is an easy-to-use option. Press and twist this small fluted tool into the citrus half, working over a strainer to catch the seeds. With a reamer set on a perforated base, the perforated base catches the seeds and sits over a dish that catches the juice. A scoop-shape juicer works best for lemon and lime halves. This perforated, clamp-like squeezer resembles an oversize round garlic press and operates like one, too.
citrus zester
To get slender strands of peel from lemons, limes, grapefruit, and oranges, use a five-pronged zester, which removes the zest while leaving the bitter pith behind.
cookie & biscuit cutters
Cookie cutters in a variety of shapes and sizes will come in handy all year, and can be used for making cutouts to decorate the top crusts of pies, too. Biscuit cutters, which are deeper than cookie cutters, are sold in sets of three or four or more, all with different diameters. Fluted or straight edged, they are perfect for biscuits and shortcakes and can double as cookie cutters. Our recipes commonly call for 2- to 3-inch round cutters.
cooling rack
A cooling rack lets air circulate underneath cookies, cakes, and pies for rapid, even cooling.
cupcake pans
Cupcake pans, also known as muffin pans, are usually made of metal. They come in a variety of sizes, for baking standard-size, oversize, or mini muffins or cupcakes. Bon Appétit recipes usually call for standard (⅓-cup) cupcake pans, with cups that are 3 inches in diameter. For mini cupcakes, pans with 2-inch-diameter cups are the pan of choice.
custard cups, ramekins & soufflé dishes
Custard cups are handy for baking individual puddings and for organizing prepped ingredients, too. They’re made in two basic styles: Tempered-glass custard cups are squat glass cups that are wider than they are tall. These have flared sides and come in sizes that range from 4 to 8 ounces in capacity. Ceramic custard cups have gently tapered, fluted sides. They’re less squat than glass custard cups and range from 2 to 6 ounces in capacity.