Kitchen Equipment

In order to make even the most basic of cakes, some rudimentary Kitchen Equipment are absolutely necessary.

You require good Baking Equipment but it does not necessarily have to be expensive. You do not need all sorts of gadgets and tools which will collect dust and take up space in your cabinets.

A good oven for starters and some pans, cake tins and baking sheets will do.

Here is an idiot-proof guide to getting some basic but essential equipment and tools to stock an empty kitchen..so fear not!

Ovens

I use a gas oven and have made cakes in electric and convection ovens.

Temperatures may differ from oven to oven, so it is best that you check the operating manual of your oven to ensure your cakes and breads come out perfectly.

You many use the temperatures specified in the recipes in this website as a guide, though!

I have not used a microwave ovens for purposes of baking as I'm an old-school advocate of gas, convection and electric ovens.

Cake Pans

Cake Pans come in various shapes and sizes. The Cake Pans I use are generally do not have a non-stick coating as such, I grease them by brushing butter or sunflower oil on the pans before pouring the cake mixture into the cake pans.

The following pans can be substituted for each other as they have almost the same capacity although you will need to adjust the temperature/cooking time of the oven accordingly.

- 20 cm ring pan

- 14cm X 21cm loaf pan

- 20cm baba pan

- deep 20cm round cake pan - this is mostly commonly used to bake fruit cakes.

- 2 X 8cm X 26cm bar pans.

Other basic pans

Loaf Tins

This can be purchased in most good baking appliances store in various shapes and sizes. Loaf Tins are used for baking breads and tea breads.

Rectangular cake tin

This is used to make cakes that are cut into slices as the cake will be shallow but large. This cake tin can also be used for making cakes and bake recipes that require layering of cakes/sponges between icing/frosting.

Ring Moulds

This is used for making ring-shaped cakes (including this Bengkang recipe) and angel cakes.

Square cake tins

These are most commonly used cake tins for making square cakes that are cut into slices.

Other Essential Kitchen Equipments.

- Wooden Spoons

You will require these in order to mix ingredients for creaming purposes for cakes, icings and frosting.

Wooden Spoons can easily be found in any supermarket or specialty baking equipment store and it comes in various sizes.

- Weighing Scales

You cannot bake anything without a weighing scale! Its an absolute must-have.

I have two in my kitchen...a small one that is portable and easy-to-clean and a large one for those massive bakes.

For the sake of practicality, you're better just having a medium-sized weighing scale in your kitchen.

- Non-stick Baking Paper

You need these for lining cake tins and baking sheets when baking cookies, biscuits and meringues.

- Here's how you choose Cake Mixers.