a request for the bakers among you

bladerunner73

Hi All, I think you may be the best group of people to ask this question of - apologies if I'm in the wrong place.

I have been told by my DH that he's buying me a Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas as I won't tell him what I want (he could've definitely picked something worse than that :j) but my problem is that I have not baked in a few years and I'd like to restock a cupboard with supplies before Santa brings my new toy so that I don't have to go near shops while the sale things are happening.
Anyway aside from my ramblings could any of you lovely organised folk who bake regularly offer me some suggestions of things I'll wish I already had when I come to play in the kitchen after Christmas.

Many thanks

RosyRed

How lovely! Well it really depends on the kind of things you want to bake,cakes or bready type things.Off the top of my head if its cakes it would be good to have :-
Self raising flour,& plain flour,
butter/marg,
caster sugar,icing sugar and eggs and vanilla essence for sponge type cakes.
Sprinkles and decorations
You could use dried fruit such as sultanas ,raisins,cherries.
Some cakes need spices ,like ginger,cinammon,mixed spice.
Black treacle and golden syrup,possibly a brown sugar like light muscovado.
Cocoa powder is another good flavouring,along with good quality dark chocolate(the basics range is ok,personally I hate that choc flavour cake covering )

If you want to make bread then dried yeast,strong white and wholemeal bread flour.I hope I'm not stating the obvious with some of these things,I dont know how much you've done before,but it might help a new baker anyway Enjoy your lovely new Kitchen Aid when it arrives.

bladerunner73

Thanks RosyRed, you're definitely not stating the obvious that's brilliant, it's so long since I ventured into my kitchen for anything other than functional cooking I don't remember anything

Little_Vics

I always have the following in, so that I can whip up a cake:

butter/Stork
eggs
milk
self raising flour
plain flour
baking power
caster sugar
muscavado sugar
icing sugar
golden syrup
treacle
honey
cocoa powder
chocolate/chocolate drops
dried fruit
fun things to put on top of cakes

In terms of equipment, I'd be lost without my Kenwood, a wooden spoon, spatula, weighing scales, piping bags and nozzles, a set of measuring spoons, baking tins, baking parchment and an apron!

Have fun x

lushlifesaver

What a lovely present! Bf got me a stand mixer earlier in the year and whilst I've used it a bit it will be getting most use over the festive period and then when I go on maternity leave!

My store cupboard essentials are:
SR Flour
Plain Flour
Soft marg
Hard Marg (I always use stork for both marg types!)
Caster sugar
Icing sugar
vanilla essence
eggs
bournville cocoa powder
Golden syrup
Sultanas/raisins/ dried mixed fruit
cinnamon (dried ground)
ginger (dried ground)
basics chocolate
'sprinkles'/basic decorations
Condensed milk
oats
bicarbonate of soda
baking powder
ground almonds
strawberry jam

Equipment wise:
cupcake/muffin tin
sponge tins (2)
spatula (flexi silicone)
scales and spoon measures
cake cases
greaseproof

Sounds like a lot but it all gets used, I would start by maybe just getting in the basics for one or two recipes to play around over the festive period then start adding bits to my collection. I was lucky, I inherited a lot

meritaten

aside from the usual flour butter eggs etc - I like to keep in stock
Dates (you can get large bags of stoned dates from poundland) essential for sticky toffee cake or pudding.
Golden Syrup - it is surprising how often I use this! in place of honey if I run out or even apricot jam!
Dried fruit
Glace cherries
Ground Almonds
Nuts - most useful are Walnuts/Pecans, Almonds and Hazelnuts.
Vanilla essence - should have listed with the flour and eggs - I put it in just about every cake!
Mixed Spice - can often be used where other spices are specified in recipe!
otherwise - Cinnamon and Ginger I use nearly as often.
Honey
Caster sugar
Icing sugar
Raspberry/Strawberry Jam - or any well flavoured jam

with these I can make most recipes or rather, I can find a recipe I can make with these!

bladerunner73

Thank you so much for all your help, I'm writing my shopping list tonight so I'll put all of the stuff that keeps on there and have a scout around the supermarket at the weekend.
Does anyone else have huge amounts of difficulty when asked what they want for Christmas and birthday gifts?
My DH picked this one, but he's grumbling about me having a kitchen appliance as a gift.
I on the other hand am very happy

LV_Sue

My kids have clubbed together and bought me a new Kenwood Chef for Christmas. :j
My brother thought it was a dreadful present and said my sister-in-law would brain him with it if he dared buy her one for Christmas or her birthday.

I am ecstatic and can't think of a present I'd like more. :j
They bought me a new sewing machine a couple of years ago and my OH bought me an armchair! :rotfl:

Tiddlywinks

I got a KitchenAid stand mixer about a year ago and it is fantastic.

I'd recommend this attachment:

http://www.hartsofstur.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=kitchenaid&PN=KitchenAid%2dArtisan%2dSlicer%2d%2d%2dShredder%2dMVSA%2ehtml#SID=412

It slices and shreds really quickly and is a doddle to clean... I don't use my processor anymore now. The easiest way I've ever seen to grate carrot and cheese.

By the way, Harts of Stur do a great price on the mixers themselves as well...

meritaten

one persons idea of a good presents is anothers nightmare.
though twenty years ago my OH bought me an electric knife - I could've cut off his b****!
that knife has been in constant use and is still going strong! I love it! I use it weekly.
and I never thought I would ask for this as I am quite proud of my 'knife skills' - I asked OH for a food processor for my xmas present! he looked at me rather oddly and asked if I was sure...........roflmao!
Yes I am - I have thought about it for a couple of years now - and YES I want one!

bladerunner73

Thanks again, I like that slicing attachment, I think that's a new year purchase. I'm extra lucky this year - I always get considerate presents, but this year I've been allowed to pick all the things I like and nobody's too worried that it's all practical things.