The Great Bake-Off

There’s something uniquely satisfying about a baking day. Here’s our guide to getting your kitchen equipped for that next baking extravaganza.

If you’re just starting out as a home baker there are lots of handy tools of the trade you should have in your kitchen. And while there’s no need to go out and buy everything all at once, start to build your collection as your interest and expertise in baking grows.

Measuring cups You’ll need Australian standard metric measuring cups graduating from 1 cup (250ml) down to ¼ cup (60ml) to measure your dry ingredients. There are lots of varieties on the market, depending on your budget you can spend as little or as much as you like.

Measuring spoons Make sure the tablespoon size is the Australian standard metric 20ml. Australia is the only country in the world to have a 20ml tablespoon, other countries use a 15ml (3 teaspoons) tablespoon.

Bowls You’ll need a variety of sizes and shapes. Wide bowls are good for mixing ingredients with your hands, spoons, whisks etc. Stainless steel bowls are inexpensive, strong and have many uses. Ceramic or heatproof glass bowls are good too, as they are microwave safe. Make sure you have at least one heatproof bowl which will fit over a saucepan to make a double boiler for melting chocolate, making custard etc.