spatulas
Spatulas come in solid or slotted versions and a variety of heat-resistant materials, including silicone and metal. The pancake-flipper style is especially useful for transferring cookies from a baking sheet to a cooling rack.
Icing spatulas in flat and offset (bent at a 90-degree angle) styles offer ease of maneuverability for icing cakes and cupcakes. They come in 1- to 2-inch widths.
Silicone spatulas come in many shapes and sizes. They’re great for stirring, folding, flipping crepes, and scraping doughs and batters off the bottom and sides of mixing bowls. In addition, silicone spatulas are flexible and easy to clean. Unlike the rubber variety, they’re heat resistant up to 800°F and come in a wide range of colors. Buy several silicone spatulas in different thicknesses, shapes, and sizes. Silicone spatulas with a scooped head are effective for spooning batter. Those that are curved on one side and flat on the other, with thin sides, are especially effective for folding mousses and angel food cake batters, as well as for scraping mixtures from the sides of a mixing bowl. A silicone spatula with a long, thin head is effective for scraping the last bits of puree from the bottom of a blender or jar.
spice grinders
An electric spice grinder makes quick work of pulverizing seeds and whole spices. A coffee grinder works, too, but get a separate one for spices so that the flavor of your morning brew isn’t affected. Using a mortar and pestle to grind spices has rustic appeal, though more time and muscle are required. Usually made of ceramic or marble, this time-honored two-piece grinder features a bowl-like mortar and a baton-like pestle.
springform pans
Springform pans have removable sides that seal shut with a spring-loaded latch. Making a cheesecake, mousse cake, or frozen dessert in a springform pan allows for especially easy removal of the pan sides at serving time. Springform pans come in several different sizes, but Bon Appétit recipes usually call for 9- or 10-inch-diameter pans.
strainers
Buy fine- and coarse-mesh strainers in a few different sizes. They’re indispensable for straining fruit purees, custard sauces, and freshly squeezed citrus juice. A coarse strainer does double duty as a sifter for sifting dry ingredients together, as well as for removing lumps from sugar and cocoa. Use a small strainer to dust cookies and cakes with powdered sugar.
tart & tartlet pans
Tart pans range in size from just a few inches across (for tartlets) to 11 inches wide. They can be round, rectangular, or square. The pan’s shallow depth and fluted edges give a professional pastry-shop look, and the removable bottom makes it easy to remove the tart from the pan.
testers
For testing the doneness of cakes, brownies, and scones, a thin bamboo skewer works well, as does a toothpick. You can also buy a cake tester, a thin steel skewer with a handle at one end.
thermometers, candy & instant-read
To check the doneness of caramels, syrups, candy mixtures, jams, and jellies, it’s critical to use a candy thermometer, also called a deep-fry thermometer. Get one that clips onto the side of the pan so that your hands are free for cooking. A candy thermometer is different from an instant-read thermometer, which is used to read the temperature of custards and butter. Many instant-read thermometers aren’t designed to withstand the high temperatures required for readings on sugar mixtures like dark caramel, which can get as hot as 380°F.
vegetable peeler
Choose a swivel-bladed peeler with a comfortable grip, which will offer the easiest maneuverability for removing the peel from fruits and for making chocolate curls.
whisks
A whisk’s sturdy wires help blend ingredients and also beat air into whatever you’re mixing. For combining dry ingredients and stirring sauces until smooth, use a standard whisk, which has a gently tapered profile. A balloon whisk, which is wider at the bottom than the top, is good for tasks that require aerating, such as whipping small amounts of cream by hand.
wooden spoons
Simple, heat resistant, and versatile, wooden spoons have countless uses. The spoons come with flat edges, angled edges, and, of course, curved bowls. They’re sturdy enough for softening butter and stirring thick doughs, batters, compotes, and sauces. The simple, dowel-like handle is easy to hold. And the wooden surface is less slick than a metal spoon’s, which makes it the tool of choice for stirring and softening thick ingredients, like buttery cookie doughs. Wooden spoons are inexpensive, so keep an assortment of sizes on hand.
techniques
the basics
Dessert preparation, like other kinds of cooking, comes with its own unique set of techniques,
whether whipping cream to soft peaks or creating the perfect custard. Some techniques may require a little more practice than others, but all are well within the reach of every home cook. Here we offer step-by-step guidance to the most widely used dessert techniques—those that you’ll use frequently throughout this book. In addition, you’ll find more specific instructions (how to frost cakes, for example, or how to prepare perfect pie crusts) within each chapter.
how to follow a recipe
Read through the entire recipe before measuring or preparing a single ingredient. This may sound obvious, but many cooks dive right in, only to discover that they are missing ingredients, have not allowed enough time for preparation or chilling, or don’t have the proper equipment on hand.
Pay special attention to the recipe headnote, which highlights useful information about the ingredients and techniques used in the recipe.
Ingredients are listed in the order that they are used in the recipe.
The French term mise en place means “setting in place”; in cooking, it refers to having all the ingredients prepped and ready to go—chocolate chopped, flour measured, strawberries hulled and sliced, etc. But, once again, read the recipe first before preparing the mise en place. You wouldn’t want to peel and slice peaches for a cheesecake topping, for example, only to find that they are added to the recipe after the cake has chilled overnight.
Cooking times will vary depending on individual ovens, pan variations, and other elements. Always set the timer for a few minutes less than the recipe calls for, just to be on the safe side. Once you find that your baking times are in sync with the times stated in the recipes, or that they routinely run a minute or two slower or faster, set your timer accordingly.
NOTE: Baking is the most exacting form of cooking; even minor changes to a recipe can make a dramatic difference in the results. Therefore, we suggest that you do not make substitutions beyond what may be recommended in the recipe or headnote. Or, prepare the recipe at least once as written, then experiment with your own variations.