Ramekins are squat dishes with flat bottoms and straight, fluted sides. Most are made of ceramic, though glass versions are also available. Ramekins come in a wide variety of sizes; the recipes in this book most often call for ½-, ¾-, ⅔-, and 1-cup ramekins. Stock a range: You’ll use them for baking individual puddings, soufflés, and cheesecakes and for organizing prepped ingredients.
Soufflé dishes are bigger, straight-sided ceramic dishes that resemble oversize ramekins and hold a quart or more. Glass versions are also available. Soufflé dishes are pretty enough to sit on the table and double as serving dishes.
double boiler
A double boiler consists of two pans, one set on top of the other. It’s useful for melting chocolate, making custard sauces, and other kitchen tasks that involve cooking above simmering water. If you don’t have a double boiler, rig one up by placing a metal mixing bowl in a saucepan of simmering water, but not so low that the bottom touches the water. (The bottom of the bowl must sit close to but not touch the simmering water when cooking eggs for a custard. When melting chocolate, this is less of a concern.)
electric mixers
Because it’s light, with a less powerful motor than a stand mixer, handheld electric mixer is ideal for mixing or beating small amounts. And because it’s portable, it’s also useful for quick jobs like whipping cream for a dessert garnish or making zabaglione on the stovetop. Handheld mixers are much less expensive than stand mixers.
A stand mixer is a heavy-duty version of the handheld mixer that’s capable of dealing with large and small quantities of dough or other mixtures, leaving your hands free for other tasks—it can mix and whip while you scoop, measure, and sift. And it comes with a variety of attachments that perform very different functions:
The wire whisk incorporates the maximum amount of air into light mixtures—use it for whipping eggs and sugar for flourless chocolate cakes and angel food cakes, and for whipping cream.
The flat paddle beater is best used for working with firmer mixtures, such as creaming butter and sugar for cake batter or mixing cookie dough. The BeaterBlade, a brand-name product, is a flat paddle beater with a flexible rubber edge that functions like a windshield wiper for the mixing bowl, almost eliminating the need to stop the machine to scrape down the sides of the bowl. It can be purchased separately from specialty cookware stores—or go to beaterblade.com for more outlets.
You won’t need to use the dough hook for the recipes in this book. Save it for mixing and kneading yeast dough for breads.
food processors
For quick chopping, pureeing, slicing, and grating, nothing beats a food processor. It comes with several attachments, including an S-shaped metal blade (which is probably the one you’ll use most often when making desserts; it’s perfect for making crumb crusts for cheesecakes, for example). A plastic dough blade, a shredding disk, and a slicing disk are other attachments.
Use a large-capacity food processor, which holds anywhere from 7 to 16 cups, to make purees and mix some doughs. Count on a mini processor, which holds around 2 cups, to pulverize small quantities of nuts or make flavored sugar.
graters
If you’re in the market for a grater, choose a reputable brand, like Microplane. The problem with many graters is that the teeth on them aren’t particularly efficient. Look for graters with super-sharp, razor-fine teeth: They’re essential for grating citrus zest, fresh ginger, chocolate, and nutmeg. Graters come in several different styles.
Paddle-shaped graters with handles and long, slender rasp graters both come in coarse, ribbon, and extra-fine rasp styles that allow you to grate everything from whole nutmeg and fresh ginger to the outermost layer of citrus peel. (The long, thin grater makes grating citrus zest especially easy—its slender shape allows you to draw the grater back and forth over a piece of citrus fruit, as if bowing a cello.)
A rotary grater, crank operated and cylindrical with a small chamber, makes quick work of grating chocolate for sprinkling over a finished dessert.
A conventional box grater has four sides with different-size holes for grating, shredding, and slicing. Generally, this kind of grater is best used in savory cooking, but the side with large holes can be used for grating carrots for carrot cake, and the smaller holes are suitable for finely grating chocolate, ginger, and citrus zest. Use the holes with pronged perforations for hard, dry ingredients like nutmeg.
When grating or slicing large amounts, the grater and slicer disks on a food processor are the quickest way to get the job done.
ice-cream maker
See page 452 in the Frozen Desserts chapter.
kitchen scale
Used by professional bakers, a kitchen scale is helpful for measuring ingredients by weight rather than volume, which helps ensure consistent results in the commercial kitchen. Avid home bakers use kitchen scales, too, for measuring dry ingredients like flour, cornmeal, chocolate, nuts, and brown sugar. (For a list of weight-volume equivalencies, see page 634). Mechanical scales start at about $20, digital scales at about $50. Both can weigh items up to about 11 pounds, and should be able to measure in ¼-ounce increments.
knives
Designed to last, stay sharp, and feel comfortable in the hand, good knives make cooking a pleasure. Because you’ll use them every day, it’s worth the extra cost to go for top-quality knives. Most top-tier, long-lasting knives are forged from a single piece of high-carbon stain-resistant steel.
A 6- or 8-inch chef’s knife is great for chopping nuts, fruit, and chocolate and for mincing fresh ginger.
A long, serrated bread knife is handy for halving cake layers, as well as for slicing Bundt cakes and pound cakes (a smaller serrated knife is good for cutting citrus and smaller cakes).
A paring knife serves well for peeling fruit, separating citrus pulp from pith, and mincing small quantities.
A long, thin-blade slicing knife works well for cutting rich cheesecakes and flourless chocolate cakes.
Ceramic knives have a following among some cooks. With a blade made of hard, high-tech ceramic, these knives come in 3- to 6-inch sizes and are ultrasharp—they can cut through an apple as if it were butter. Ceramic knives are also costly, prone to shattering if dropped on a hard surface, and require special equipment for both honing and sharpening.
To choose the knives that are right for you, visit a well-stocked kitchen supply store and try different models to figure out which design feels best in your hand.
loaf pans
Loaf pans come in metal, tempered glass, porcelain, and earthenware. Dimensions vary slightly depending on the manufacturer, but a full-size pan generally measures about 9×5 inches and is about 3 inches deep. Loaf pans are convenient for making quick breads, pound cakes, fruitcakes, and dessert terrines. At holiday time, miniature loaf pans are great for baking small, gift-size breads and cakes.
measuring cups
You’ll need both dry and liquid measuring cups.
Dry measuring cups are sold in sets of ¼-, ⅓-, ½- and 1-cup capacities. Sets that also include ⅔-cup and ¾-cup measures are available.
Liquid measuring cups are essential because they provide extra space at the top so the liquid won’t spill, and the pour spout makes it easy to add the liquid to a pot or mixing bowl. Look for ones that are made of heat-resistant glass with easy-to-read markings. You’ll use 1-, 2-, and 4-cup measuring cups most often; an 8-cup measure is a bonus when making larger quantities—and it can double as another mixing bowl.