Nested, scoop-style cups are used for measuring dry ingredients. For spoons you need a good set that measures from ¼ teaspoon to 1 tablespoon. The “teaspoons” and “tablespoons” you eat with are not the proper size.

Glass or plastic cups are used for measuring liquid ingredients. You can see the measurement at eye level from the outside of the cup.

An assortment of bowls in an assortment of sizes makes measuring and mixing your recipes easy and efficient.

A rolling pin is essential for making pies, tarts and cookies. I prefer the tapered french rolling pin for ultimate control.

You’ll need a hand whisk for combining dry ingredients and folding together light and airy batters. You can
also use a hand whisk for whipping egg whites or heavy cream if you don’t have an electric hand mixer.

Spatulas are used for mixing batters and for cleanly scraping the batter from bowl to pan. Silicone spatulas are heat-resistant. The spoon-shaped spatula is my favorite.

A selection of wooden spoons are essential for mixing heavier batters and dough. They are also fairly heat proof.

I’ve had my KitchenAid 5 quart mixer for almost 30 years and have really put it through it’s paces, making everything from meringues to bread dough to rolled fondant. I recommend getting one spare bowl.

An electric mixer is essential for making cookies, cakes and frosting. Even if you have a stand mixer, it's nice to have a hand mixer to do those quick batters that don't require a powerful stand mixer.

A food processor is indispensable for pureeing and grating ingredients. Use it to grind nuts, mix dough and puree fruits and vegetables.

The most accurate way to measure ingredients for baking is with a kitchen scale. A digital scale that can measure pounds, ounces, and grams is great to have.

These are the workhorses of both professional and home kitchens. You’ll use these for baking everything from cookies, to sheet cakes, to pizza.

I recommend having at least 2 cake pans in this standard size for baking layer cakes.

Pyrex is my choice because the clear glass not only uses both radiant and conduction heat to bake the crust, but you can see if the bottom of the pie is browned.

Obviously, the pan you'll need to make cupcakes and muffins. But you can also use this pan to make individual tarts.  Jumbo and mini muffin pans are nice extras.

This is a good pan for making half batches of brownies or for snack cakes and other treats. A pan that is non-stick and has a fitted lid is especially nice.

This is the standard loaf pan for sandwich breads, pound cakes and quick breads. Get a non-stick pan to make life easier.

A Bundt pan has a hole in the middle and ridges on the surface for quick and even baking of cakes and monkey breads.

Cast iron is deal for making corn bread, upside down cakes and cobblers.

This is a good pan for making brownies or for snack cakes and other treats. A pan that is non-stick and has a fitted lid is especially nice.

A shallow tart pan with fluted edges and a removeable bottom is what you’ll need to make gorgeous fruit tarts that look like they came from a fancy pastry shop.

An Angel Food Cake Pan with removable bottom is what you need to make the classic sponge cake.

If you want to bake artisan bread at home, a cast iron dutch oven is what you'll need. The heavy lid traps in moisture, which helps the bread develop a thick and crisp crust.

Cooling racks are not only essential for cooling baked goods, but also for perfectly glazed cakes and pastries.

Parchment paper not only keeps cookies and biscuits from sticking to sheet pans, I also cut circles for lining cake pans. You can also use parchment paper to make piping bags for writing on cakes and decorating cookies.

A cake turntable makes it easy to split cake layers, ice a cake, fill a tart shell or flute the edges of a pie crust.

Believe it or not, apropane torch is an absolutely essential tool in my kitchen. Forget those frou-frou  “culinary” or “creme brulee” torches, once you have one of these babies in your kitchen you’ll find a million ways to use it beyond creme brulee. Use it for unmolding cheesecakes, warming up meringue buttercream, etc.

These spatulas are great for smoothing cake batter and tart filling. Medium size spatulas are perfect for icing cakes.

This is the ideal hand-held tool for scraping batter and dough out of mixing bowls.

A bench scraper is absolutely indispensable. I use it to cut blocks of dough, scrape flour and dough off the work surface, and most of all, get a perfectly smooth side on an iced cake.

Scoops of various sizes are essential for perfectly portioned cookies, cupcakes, muffins and truffles.

Round tips are great for piping cookies and candies. Star tips are great for icing cupcakes and piping eclairs and cream puffs.

Biscuit cutters cut through dough easily and make a clean cut. A nested set comes with several sizes.

Pastry bags are useful for decorating, filling pastries and piping cookies and candies. Disposable pastry bags are great to keep on hand and there’s no washing up, which is always a good thing.

A proofing basket is my favorite tool for rising lovely boules of artisan bread. The lame is wonderful for scoring bread.

Cardboard cake circles are great to use as a base when building a layer cake. The Cardboard base makes it easy to move the cake from refrigerator to serving plate. Use cardboard cake circles between tiers when building a multi-tier cake.