Helpful Pastry Equipment

A sturdy rimmed baking sheet is essential for baking pastries with ample air circulation and even browning. We bake all of the pastries in this class on our winning 18 by 13-inch pan, which you’ll find here.

Baking your pastries on a baking sheet lined with parchment makes life so much easier. Not only does parchment eliminate the risk of sticking, but it also speeds cleanup. If you’re interested in baking a lot of pastries, order flat sheets cut to fit baking sheets so you can avoid having to uncurl the rolls. Check out our favorite parchment paper here.

In this class, we use a variety of pastry tips for both piping and filling our pastries. If you’re new to pastry tips, you can buy them individually at your local craft store, rather than purchasing a full set. For easier filling, a Bismarck tip might be worth your while. Its elongated tip easily pipes into èclairs, profiteroles, and the like.

Like pastry tips, you’ll be using a lot of pastry bags in this class. You can certainly buy reusable cloth bags, but we found them to be fussy to clean, especially when coated with sticky choux paste. Using plastic pastry bags works just as well and makes for easier clean up. (And FYI, it's possible to wash and reuse plastic pastry bags if you're trying to reduce waste: just turn them inside out, wash them with warm, soapy water, and stand them up to dry.)

A food processor is exceptionally helpful for making pâte à choux paste. It can be made by hand, but it can be difficult. A food processor is more efficient, plus it produces a pastry superior to a choux paste that is beaten by hand. Check out our favorite food processor here.

These broad, slightly blunt blades with handles that span the length of the blade are great for safely cutting butter and are a helpful tool when you're preparing a pastry bag. You can use a metal bench scraper, but opt for a plastic one if you’re worried about tearing your pastry bag. Check out our favorite bench scraper here.

Templates are helpful piping guides, especially when you're getting started. In this class, we’ll show you how to make your own templates. However, if lots of pastries are in your future, you can purchase pre-made template sheets online.

There are many ways to fill a pastry bag, but one of the easiest is by using a tall drinking glass. Cuffing the bag over the lip of the glass allows you to use both of your hands to fill it with choux paste, pastry cream, or whatever else you’re looking to pipe!