Baking gift ideas

[Drama Llama]

My 10 year old has gotten really into baking this year.  I'd like to get him a collection of baking things for Christmas.  Any suggestions?  Little items that could go in a stocking, or big items that a grandparent might buy would be equally good.  

[Kassia]

Does he have an Ove Glove?  Not really for baking, but so useful!  

[Carol in Cal.]

What kind of baking?  Desserts, cookies, bread?

If cookies, the Betty Crocker Cooky Cookbook, the retro reprint one, is excellent.

If desserts, “The Pie School” is outstanding.

If breads, “Soup and Bread” is pretty good, but it might be OOP.  

 

[Drama Llama]

12 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

What kind of baking?  Desserts, cookies, bread?

If cookies, the Betty Crocker Cooky Cookbook, the retro reprint one, is excellent.

If desserts, “The Pie School” is outstanding.

If breads, “Soup and Bread” is pretty good, but it might be OOP.  

 

He makes a lot of desserts, including bars and cookies and cakes.  He cooks other things as well.  I think he'd be interested in bread.  I am intimidated by yeast, but I was thinking I'd get a packet of it, and put it in his stocking and we could explore it together.  I'm not sure what we need to go with that.  A dough whisk?  

He really likes the Great British Baking show, and he's had fun making a few recipes from there.  He wants to try some of the savory baked goods, like meat pies and that sort of thing, so I am thinking I might get one of the cookbooks from there. 

[gardenmom5]

I don't know how your kitchen is equipped, so some of this might be redundant.

 

dd asked for a danish dough whisk.  I got one for dh too.

dd also asked for baking strips that go around the outside of your cake pan.

good baking pans! 

I have these cake pans.

Fat Daddio's round pans - -I have this cheesecake pan (slip bottom bake more evenly than a springform pan.  you also want a pan of water on a lower rack so it doesn't bake too fast, or dry out too much.  dh took his chocolate cheesecake to a business get-together once.  he's now required to bring it.

heavy cookie sheets, aluminum - not steel (they bake differently.)  parchment for lining them.

I finally broke down and bought a new tube pan.  (I consider 2-piece a must)  I use it for fruitcake more than angle food cake.

webstaraunt.com is a good source, and cheaper than sur la table

heavy cooling racks

good whisks,

a good scale.     

If grandma wants to spend - a 3qt Cuisinart French Classic triply saucepan.  (NOT "Cuisinart's chef's classic"!!!!  It's a common mistake, they're not the same thing.)  I like the dimensions better than the 3qt AC (which I also have).  And it's a lot cheaper than the AC.  It's a good utility size for things like ganache . . . . to cover your baked item . .  (ganache would be easy for a 10 year old to make.) 

 

 

[Carol in Cal.]

7 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

He makes a lot of desserts, including bars and cookies and cakes.  He cooks other things as well.  I think he'd be interested in bread.  I am intimidated by yeast, but I was thinking I'd get a packet of it, and put it in his stocking and we could explore it together.  I'm not sure what we need to go with that.  A dough whisk?  

He really likes the Great British Baking show, and he's had fun making a few recipes from there.  He wants to try some of the savory baked goods, like meat pies and that sort of thing, so I am thinking I might get one of the cookbooks from there. 

Two cookbook recommendations for you then:

”Savory Baking”—this is a fantastic cookbook.  It applies sweet dessert baking techniques to savory dishes, which are amazingly good.  I especially love the Dijon Chicken Brown Betty, and the blue cheese cheesecake.

”An Unexpected Cookbook:  The Unofficial Book of Hobbit Cookery”—this has meat pies in it that are to die for.  Lots of other stuff, too—it’s not really focussed on baking but the meat pies are amazing and if your son like LOTR he will love this cookbook.

[Pippen]

Do you have some type of mixer already?  If so, I probably wouldn't invest in anything else for mixing yeast breads at this point.

2 large USA cookie sheets (these are awesome pans! I use with parchment.)

Cookie scoop

Silpat for rolling out dough

Variety of colored sparkling sugars

Zak happy mixing spoon

springform pan or cake pan with removable bottom

cooling racks

electronic kitchen scale

digital thermometer 

 

Edited November 26, 2020 by Pippen

[gardenmom5]

6 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

He makes a lot of desserts, including bars and cookies and cakes.  He cooks other things as well.  I think he'd be interested in bread.  I am intimidated by yeast, but I was thinking I'd get a packet of it, and put it in his stocking and we could explore it together.  I'm not sure what we need to go with that.  A dough whisk?  

He really likes the Great British Baking show, and he's had fun making a few recipes from there.  He wants to try some of the savory baked goods, like meat pies and that sort of thing, so I am thinking I might get one of the cookbooks from there. 

a bread bowl

[domestic_engineer]

4 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

 

”Savory Baking”—this is a fantastic cookbook. 

Is the author Mary Cech?  (I’m Trying to identify it on Amazon)

[Pippen]

20 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

He makes a lot of desserts, including bars and cookies and cakes.  He cooks other things as well.  I think he'd be interested in bread.  I am intimidated by yeast, but I was thinking I'd get a packet of it, and put it in his stocking and we could explore it together.  I'm not sure what we need to go with that.  A dough whisk?  

He really likes the Great British Baking show, and he's had fun making a few recipes from there.  He wants to try some of the savory baked goods, like meat pies and that sort of thing, so I am thinking I might get one of the cookbooks from there. 

If he really likes the Great British Baking show, I'd stick with their cookbooks or just use the online recipes.  My experience with every one of my kids is that they rarely use cookbooks. They search for recipes online, and one uses Youtube fairly extensively for recipes and methods. I bought them a number of cookbooks and they rarely used them.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Pippen

[Carol in Cal.]

4 minutes ago, domestic_engineer said:

Is the author Mary Cech?  (I’m Trying to identify it on Amazon)

Yes, that’s the one.  It’s quite unique.

[Ali in OR]

Someone here recommended this Joseph Joseph spatula/bowl scraper a few years back and I put it in my stocking that year. It has a built-in rest that keeps the spatula part off the counter when you're mixing cookie dough. Love it.

https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-20122-Elevate-Integrated-One-size/dp/B07KKZQBLT/ref=sr_1_5?crid=V888N50H89YB&dchild=1&keywords=joseph+joseph+spatulas+elevate&qid=1606410735&sprefix=joseph+joseph+spatula%2Caps%2C229&sr=8-5

[Pippen]

20 minutes ago, Ali in OR said:

Someone here recommended this Joseph Joseph spatula/bowl scraper a few years back and I put it in my stocking that year. It has a built-in rest that keeps the spatula part off the counter when you're mixing cookie dough. Love it.

https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-20122-Elevate-Integrated-One-size/dp/B07KKZQBLT/ref=sr_1_5?crid=V888N50H89YB&dchild=1&keywords=joseph+joseph+spatulas+elevate&qid=1606410735&sprefix=joseph+joseph+spatula%2Caps%2C229&sr=8-5

That might have been me. I recently searched and couldn't find the full size curved spatula that I liked the best. I did find the one you linked, plus this narrow one which is great for scraping ingredients out of cups, scraping jars, etc. .https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FP4ZZJN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Ali in OR]

3 minutes ago, Pippen said:

That might have been me. I recently searched and couldn't find the full size curved spatula that I liked the best. I did find the one you linked, plus this narrow one which is great for scraping ingredients out of cups, scraping jars, etc. .https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FP4ZZJN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yeah, the one I got is a little different than the one I linked--couldn't find the exact one I got. But I think just having the ledge is great even if the shape is a bit different.

[catz]

You've gotten some good suggestions but if he likes GBB and making desserts, stuff for piping could be really fun!  Box of disposable pastry bags and a variety of tips.  Actually, there are some nice basic piping kits on Amazon digging around a bit.  Make sure to get a couple bigger tips for piping whipped cream, etc.  You could also get him some of the chocolate wafers for dipping.  ❤️  

If you get a GBB cookbook you'll want to make sure to have a digital food scale, you'll need to weigh flour, etc.  Basic breads isn't as hard as GBB makes it out to be, getting him like a pound of yeast is a great idea! I am making a ton of bread right now.  Do you have a stand mixer with a dough hook?  That is really the best tool to have for bread.  

Edited November 26, 2020 by FuzzyCatz

[happi duck]

On another thread it was mentioned that the GBBO books might go by weight so a scale would be good.

[Bootsie]

A couple of fun things:  In ISI whip creamer and a blow torch for creme brulee

 

[math teacher]

microplane

pastry blender

citrus squeezer thing

[Tree Frog]

This juicer is really easy to use and yields more juice than the hand held squeeze juicers. 

Https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CQR3ZQB/ref=cm_sw_r_sm_apa_fabc_aL.VFbFBKZC5K?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[Kareni]

An apron -- perhaps Real men bake

Regards,

Kareni

[Drama Llama]

Thanks for all the suggestions.  You've given me lots to think about. 

[mmasc]

This is an awesome little spatula! I love mine and use it all the time. It’s perfect for my kids to scoop cookies or make eggs with. Small enough for a stocking. 
 

https://smile.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Silicone-Cookie-Spatula/dp/B00Y60M6QQ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Oxo+cookie+spatula&qid=1606442657&sr=8-2