Pastry chef gifts

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mike and Mark - thank you both for the really good ideas! I never would have thought of these.

[Jenise]

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]

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!