“I try to make cakes that delight in their imperfection,” says Natasha Pickowicz, author of the stunning new cookbook. More than cake. Despite her professional rigor as a pastry chef, she emphasizes that she wants her creations, however beautiful, to look like they were made by a person.
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However, to make special cakes, she doesn't use special tools, preferring to stock her home kitchen with versatile, multi-functional appliances that she can use for tasks beyond cakes. Here are her must-have tools.
Photography by Kristin Teig; food styling by Liz Neily
Stairs
“I could write a manifesto on how important I think scales are,” says Natasha. “I use mine for absolutely everything.” In fact, she uses a scale as much as she has two. She prefers a flat Go up the stairs, which she uses not only because it's more accurate than volume measurements (it is!), but also because it's so much easier than fiddling with measuring cups. “It's a lot quicker than pulling out the mixing cups,” she points out. “I hate all those things. It's a lot more work, it's so weird and there are more dishes. Give me a scale.”
Find in our store: Essential digital scale
Photography by Danielle Sykes; food styling by Liz Neily
Half sheet pan
“I don't actually have many round cake pans,” Natasha admits. Instead, she prefers bake her layer cakes in a half sheet pan, which results in flatter, more professional-looking cakes and allows easy customization of shapes. Plus, it saves space in her kitchen. “I love the versatility of the half sheet pan because it's also a pan you can use for roasting nuts, baking cookies or roasting vegetables. It's this powerful tool that can do anything.”
Find in our store: King Arthur Sheet Pan
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Liz Neily
Offset spatula
In her book, Natasha writes: “Sometimes I imagine myself as a cowboy, with a holster hanging low on my hip. My rapid fire tool of choice? A 4 3/4-inch (12 cm) offset spatula, which I use for everything from handling delicate cookies and rolling sticky fruit to spreading fillings and buttercream.”
She calls one offset shoulder “The tool that does everything.” (Our test kitchen agrees!) In addition to evenly spreading the fillings and frostings, Natasha says that an offset spatula is the key to a better, lighter cake. “You put in all the work to make this delicious, wonderful cake batter, but if you work too hard to make it stretch in the pan, it will deflate,” she explains. An offset spatula, with its angled handle and long, flat surface, allows you to spread the dough quickly and efficiently without blowing out too much air, resulting in tastier cakes.
And like all her tools, Natasha finds other uses, like forming meringue Pavlovflipping roasted vegetables on a baking sheet or scooping fried eggs out of a pan.
Find in our store: Small offset shoulder
Photography by Danielle Sykes; food styling by Liz Neily
Thermometer
Natasha asks this question about thermometers in her book: “Even though you can make an Italian butterscotch or caramel without one, why would you?” A small one digital thermometer offers the same consistency and accuracy as a digital scale, whether you're making caramel, fudge or fluffy meringue cream. Plus, it can be used for other types of baking, such as bread making – use for anything from desired dough temperature to check readiness.
Find in our store: Classic thermapen
Food photography and styling by Liz Neily
Pastry brush
Natasha holds two pastry brush in her kitchen at all times, each for a very specific purpose. “I use one just for dry ingredients and one for wet applications, like cake dips,” she says. The dry brush is never washed and is useful for wiping excess flour or confectioners' sugar from a baked product or work surface. The wet brush, meanwhile, is commonly used for dipping cakes. “I like that the brush is very precise, because when you're talking about thin layers of cake, you don't want to be heavy with the application of cake icing,” explains Natasha.
Find in our store: Pastry brush
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Lydia Fournier
Pastry bag and piping tips
While Natasha admits that a gallon-sized ziplock bag will work in a pinch to paint the pipe, she points out a major advantage for a professional. pastry bag: “It's not stretchy and won't tear (like a Ziploc bag), so when you're applying pressure with your hand and piping something, the bag won't burst.”
As for tips, she always uses her star tip. “And it doesn't take much,” she assures. “I don't know the perfect technique to do all these fancy piping styles, but I like a scratch, a little rose, a little dot.” And as always, she finds other ways to use a pastry bag, like piping chocolate mousse in glasses for a neater presentation.
Find in our store: Set for pastry bags and tips
Find more cake tools in our storethen get baking with one of our thoroughly tested recipe pages cake recipes.
Cover illustration by Michelle Chen; Original image excerpted from More than cake by Natasha Pickowicz (Craft Books). Copyright © 2023. Photos by Graydon Herriot.
