Essential Baking Tools in Egypt: The Must-Haves for Cakes and Cookies

Start with the basics only

Most people buy a 30-piece set where half of it stays in the drawer. What you use in almost every bake: a large bowl, measuring cups and spoons, a silicone spatula, a wire whisk, and parchment paper. Then add depending on what you are making: the rolling pin for cookies and pastries, the scale for cookies and gram-based recipes, the piping bag for cupcakes and cakes, and the cooling rack when baking becomes a habit. Cake pans, baking sheets, and kitchen scales have separate buying guides if you want to compare more models.

• Flour sifter: Removes lumps and mixes flour, baking powder, and cocoa evenly, which makes a big difference in cakes and cookies.
• Cookie cutters and pastry stamps: Inexpensive and make a difference in appearance, but don't buy them until you actually decide to make those items.
• Oven thermometer: Not essential, but useful if you feel your oven burns or bakes too slowly, because the thermostat number isn't always accurate.

Baking tools are mostly cheap, so the real difference is in the material, not the price: stainless steel instead of thin plastic, silicone with the temperature it can withstand written on it, and smooth wood without cracks.

The scale or the cups?

Cups measure volume, and a scale measures weight. With flour in particular, a packed cup can be much heavier than a spoon-filled cup, which affects the texture of cakes and cookies. That's why foreign recipes and professionals write in grams. If you're making a simple homemade cake, the measuring set is enough, but fill the cup with a spoon and level it with the back of a knife. If you're making Eid cookies with 1 kg of flour or more, a scale saves you a lot of effort. And keep in mind that a regular home tea glass is not always 250 ml like a measuring cup.

Spatula, whisk, and brush

The silicone spatula scrapes the bowl to the last drop, and it is what you use to fold whipped egg whites into the mixture without deflating them. The wire whisk is enough for simple cakes and small amounts of cream, and if you are whipping large quantities, it's time for an electric mixer. The silicone brush is for brushing the tops of cookies, pastries, and baked goods with eggs or ghee, and it washes easier than hair bristle brushes.

Rolling pin and piping bag

The wooden rolling pin is for cookies and shortbread cut with a cutter, pastries, sambousek, and pizza. Dust a little flour on it and the counter, and roll from the center outwards. If the cookie dough is soft, roll it between two sheets of parchment paper instead of adding more flour. As for the piping bag, start with a large star tip and a round tip: the star for cupcakes and petit fours, and the round for writing and dots.

Parchment paper and cooling rack

Parchment paper prevents sticking and saves on grease and cleanup, which is essential under cookies on the baking sheet. Aluminum foil is not a substitute because dough can stick to it. There are silicone mats that wash and can be reused if you bake often. A cooling rack lets air circulate under cakes and cookies so the base doesn't get soft from steam. If you don't have a rack, the oven rack itself after it cools down will do the job.

Check before you buy

• Read the material in the description: "Stainless steel" in the title sometimes means only parts of it.
• The temperature silicone can withstand varies from seller to seller, so read it if you will use it inside the oven.
• Count the pieces as soon as the order arrives and compare them to the list on the sales page.
• Wash wood by hand with warm water and air dry it, and don't leave it in the sink.