Pastry chef gifts

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Pastry chef gifts

Postby Jon Peterson » Mon Dec 17, 2012 1:17 pm

Just found out that last summer, my daughter borrowed utensils from the pastry chef she was assisting. That pastry chef is no longer at the restaurant so my daughter will be assisting someone else. What are some good things (chef tools) to buy the budding pastry chef?
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Re: Pastry chef gifts

Postby Mike Filigenzi » Mon Dec 17, 2012 5:34 pm

That's a tough one. I know what my wife really likes for her baking but I'm not sure if her favorite items would translate well for a professional.

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Re: Pastry chef gifts

Postby Jon Peterson » Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:07 am

I know what you mean, Mike - it is tough especially not being a chef (of any type) myself. I did pick up a real nice flat whisk yesterday but I need something else...I just don't know what yet.
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When it comes to making this planet healthy, the next ten years are more important than the last 10,000 years.
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Re: Pastry chef gifts

Postby Mike Filigenzi » Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:37 am

Well, one thing that's been very handy for us is a "cake lifter" (that's proved useful for much more than lifting cakes). It's about 8" x 8", plus an angled back edge. It's the item pictured here.

Letterman asked Zevon if his condition had taught him anything about life and death. ''How much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich,'' Zevon answered. (From a 2003 NYTimes article on Zevon by Jon Pareles.)
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Re: Pastry chef gifts

Postby Jon Peterson » Wed Dec 19, 2012 8:54 am

Mike Filigenzi wrote:Well, one thing that's been very handy for us is a "cake lifter" (that's proved useful for much more than lifting cakes). It's about 8" x 8", plus an angled back edge. It's the item pictured here.


Nice price, too. Thanks, Mike.
"There is no green on this planet without the blue." Sylvia Alice Earle:American oceanographer, aquanaut and author.
When it comes to making this planet healthy, the next ten years are more important than the last 10,000 years.
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Re: Pastry chef gifts

Postby Mark Willstatter » Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:20 pm

A couple more ideas. I would think a pastry bag would be pretty much mandatory equipment and while that's not much of a gift on its own, maybe in a kit with a comprehensive set of tips? Also, I don't know if icing (as in cakes) would come into play but I understand the preferred tool for many is an offset spatula.
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Re: Pastry chef gifts

Postby Mike Filigenzi » Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:53 pm

Good ideas, Mark. We have a set of offset spatulas of various sizes that get a lot of use. On the pastry bags, we use the disposable ones. I don't know if that's what the pros use or not. Either way, a comprehensive set of tips would make a nice gift.

Something else I just thought of (if a lot of cakes are being made) would be a cake turntable. From what I've seen, they're very helpful when it comes to cake decorating. There's an example of a plastic one sold here.

Letterman asked Zevon if his condition had taught him anything about life and death. ''How much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich,'' Zevon answered. (From a 2003 NYTimes article on Zevon by Jon Pareles.)
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Re: Pastry chef gifts

Postby Jon Peterson » Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:53 am

Mike and Mark - thank you both for the really good ideas! I never would have thought of these.
"There is no green on this planet without the blue." Sylvia Alice Earle:American oceanographer, aquanaut and author.
When it comes to making this planet healthy, the next ten years are more important than the last 10,000 years.
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Re: Pastry chef gifts

Postby Jenise » Sun Dec 23, 2012 9:38 pm

Jon, you've been given some good ideas. I was thinking about those cutters--they're like a pizza cutter times 6 or 8 or something. Allows very uniform cutting of multiple rows at the same time. You might want to take a look at a website like cheftools.com for those and other products:
[url]
http://www.cheftools.com/Pastry-Wheel-C ... ducts/741/[/url]
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Re: Pastry chef gifts

Postby Jon Peterson » Wed Dec 26, 2012 7:05 pm

We ended up getting a flat whisk, a set of All Clad measuring spoons and an offset spatula. Evy other item mentioned is on the list for the future.
Thanks, everyone!
"There is no green on this planet without the blue." Sylvia Alice Earle:American oceanographer, aquanaut and author.
When it comes to making this planet healthy, the next ten years are more important than the last 10,000 years.
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