5 Tools You Didn’t Know You Needed to be a Baker!
June 22, 2011 | in Everything Else by admin | 10 Comments »
Over the years of professional cake makery I have accumulated some unusual tools which I would never have anticipated needing. Here are my top 5 ‘strange but essential’ baking tools:
A Junior Hacksaw:
No – it’s not for cutting through my cakes thank you! If you stack cakes then you are going to need one of these to neatly cut cake dowels to height. Whether you prefer wooden or hollow plastic dowels, a junior hacksaw with a fine tooth blade is perfect for giving a flat, even finish with no burrs.
A Spirit Level:
Another tool that is useful for stacked cakes (please tell me I’m not the only one obsessive enough to use a spirit level!). I remember my horror when I made my first stacked cake many years back and the 1mm tilt on the base tier amplified with every tier I added. It probably wasn’t that bad but to my eye it looked like a serious list to port! Luckily it was for a family birthday and it didn’t fall over! I now use a spirit level on every tier!
A Basic Grasp of Algebra:
I remember sitting in maths lessons thinking ‘when am I ever going to need this stuff?’ as my poor teacher attempted to explain algebra. Well I take it all back Mr West, I use it all the time now for working out how much ribbon I need to go around a board as well as for calculating various dimensions for carved cakes!
A Large Collection of Ribbon:
I’m a baker who has to trim and ice my boards, I just don’t like to see a lovingly made cake on a bald silver cake board. Hence I have a rather large collection of ribbon. Despite this I never seem to have just the right colour in the right length and so my collection is ever expanding!
Biceps to shame Pop Eye:
Baking can be surprisingly heavy work sometimes – all that kneading to colour kilos of sugarpaste to just the right shade of pink, hefting around boxes of 90 eggs and 10kg bags of flour, delivering 12” fruit cakes, carting wedding cakes up stone spiral stair cases (don’t ask!). I now understand why my nan, who was a cook and fantastic baker, gave such great bear hugs!
So there’s my odd collection – what surprising tools and skills have you had to call upon in the name of baking? Do leave us a comment!
kathryncake said on June 23, 2011
HaHa! that made me laugh! I will confess to having a spirit level aswell as a junior hacksaw. Got a box full of ribbons, as I buy it by the 25m or 50m reel from the local florist wholesaler. As for algebra….. I’m afraid I use a tape measure instead!
joscakes said on June 24, 2011
This is brilliant, especially the biceps like popeye – it’s so true! x
admin said on June 28, 2011
My biceps are the only part of me that gets a regular work out LOL!
raecox said on June 28, 2011
Brilliant….. Must admit I do own a spirit level and lots of different ribbon but now in the process of looking on the web for a junior hacksaw.x
admin said on June 28, 2011
Try Screwfix Direct – very fast delivery!
bakinglovely said on August 23, 2011
I love this and will be getting a hacksaw at the weekend, I have had to make do with a Stanley knife to cut my dowels so far – not very easy!
Any suggestions for a good ribbon supplier?
admin said on August 23, 2011
I have used craftyribbons.com before but I often go to my local haberdashery so that I know the exact shade I am buying as it can be tricky to tell online.
tjudd said on October 6, 2011
I have just set a cake business up and the spirit level was one of the first things I bought, recommended by a friend!
mvpj80 said on October 26, 2011
Haha! great tools!
i have a perfect tool that comes in handy in times of chaos, my brother, sister or boy friend ( got a have one with an artistic eye haha!) no, seriusly they are a great help when you have to do a 100 hello kitty faces, or 200 flowers…. and you have to pay them with… cake off course!
Esther Brice said on February 26, 2013
Got them over the years. But pop eye that’s my husband. Lol. He is very helpful.