If you recently realized you’re down to the wire to finish holiday shopping with no inspiration, don’t fret! Remember this – the baker in your life, no matter the experience level, is always looking to add to kitchen collections. From the basics any baker would need to the top-of-the-line splurges for the advanced kitchen pro, we’ve got you covered with these suggestions to make finishing your holiday shopping as easy as pie.
Chocolate Tempering Machine
ChocoVision Rev 2B Chocolate Tempering Machine
Does the mere thought of tempering chocolate send you into panic mode? This machine from ChocoVision offers a dependable solution for tempering small batches (up to 1.5 lbs.), minus the stress. Perfect for the home kitchen, the Rev 2B tabletop model has all the bells and whistles of an expensive professional machine, but at an affordable price. We especially love the digital display screen, the ‘overnight mode’ (which allows you to hold melted chocolate for extended periods of time) and the ‘bowl pause’ feature, which makes it easy to dip delicate treats.
Ice Cream Machine with Compressor
When I get the urge to make ice cream, I’m not interested in waiting 24 hours for the bowl to freeze before springing into action. That’s just one reason why we love the Cuisinart ICE-100 Compressor Ice Cream and Gelato Maker, a sleek machine that is equipped with a commercial-style compressor that allows you to make multiple batches without waiting. Two mixing paddles – one for ice cream and one for gelato – and a countdown timer ensure your frozen dessert has the perfect consistency.
Ice Cream Machine with Separate Freezer Bowl
Less of a splurge and great for a beginner or the occasional ice cream enthusiast, this machine requires a bit of forethought to freeze the bowl ahead of time. But otherwise, little effort is needed to churn out a batch of ice cream, just insert the paddle, put on the cover and click a button. The 1.5-quart capacity is perfect for most at-home or small batch recipes. A quick 20 minutes and you’re done!
Stand Mixer
With nearly twice the bowl capacity of the standard Artisan mixer, this KitchenAid is made for serious bakers. A strong gear-driven 1.3HP motor can tackle even the toughest doughs without burning out, ensuring the machine will last for years to come. Like other models, it comes with a standard dough hook, flat beater, and wire whip and is compatible with 12 other available attachments, sold separately. But unlike the smaller models, it comes with a stainless-steel bowl guard like pro machines.
Food Processor
If you’re all about making double batches of pie dough in your food processor, this workhorse is the one for you. With an 11-cup work bowl, 625-watt motor and a wide-mouth feed tube, this classic is ideal for making doughs of all kinds. On-off ‘pulse paddles’ are simple to operate, while the compact, flat cover is easy to clean (unlike with many models). The bonus is that everything in the box is BPA-free.
Electric Cake Turntable
If you take cake decorating seriously, then you seriously need this electric turntable in your life. The Rolls Royce of cake turntables, the Spinner frees up your hands, so you can devote them to fine-tuning your decoration. You can also quickly adjust the speed and rotation direction of the turntable, which has directional LED lights that intensify as the speed increases. Finally, a circular guide with a graduated scale in inches and centimeters ensures perfect positioning of your cake or dessert.
Classic Turn Table
One of the best investments for any cake decorator is a trusty, sturdy turn table that will last years. This Ateco is no-frills, but as solid as they come, with a cast iron base and aluminum plate. With manual guidance, it will spin smoothly without wobbles, which is exactly what decorators need for neat and steady decoration. The 12-inch plate accommodates most standard cake sizes, but can keep cakes significantly larger steady with no issues.
Piping Tips
Okay, so you filled and frosted your cake, so now on to the decorating part! Instead of buying individual tips, this 29-piece starter set will cover all your basic needs from round and star to basketweave. The set also comes with flower nails to form classic shapes like roses, and the coupler included allows you to switch tip shapes without emptying the bag. Perfect for royal icing, buttercream and piping gels, these tips set up the decorator for success with so many shape and size options in one convenient carrying case.
Dough Whisk
If you’ve never used a Danish dough whisk, you have no idea how easy mixing dough can be. The unique looped design allows you to mix dry and wet ingredients together without the dough or batter sticking. Much easier to clean than a standard whisk, it has a stylish wood handle that is tapered for easy gripping. The Danish dough whisk is especially great for bread dough, but can also be used to mix batters for cookies, brownies, muffins and quick breads.
Proofing Basket
Vollum Brotform Round Proofing Basket
We haven’t forgotten about the bread bakers out there, and this classic proofing basket makes those loaves go from just tasty to stunning crusty patterned creations. Handwoven and made of natural cane, it follows in the centuries-old tradition of proofing baskets. Just flour lightly and let the bread make its final rise before turning out and baking. It only requires occasional maintenance to brush out the excess flour and it will continue to turn out consistency beautiful loaves.
