Yotam Ottolenghi And Helen Goh Share Their Go-To Baking Tools (Both Under $20)

For his latest cookbook, British-Israeli restaurateur and chef Yotam Ottolenghi teamed up with pastry chef (and product developer at Ottolenghi) Helen Goh to create Sweet, a repository of recipes that'll make dessert lovers swoon.

When the pair visited the Chatelaine test kitchen to talk about holiday baking, they also shared their trade secrets: namely, the baking tools they always have on hand.

"The kitchen tool I can’t live without is a little drop spatula," says Goh, noting how this popular tool is also referred to as an offset spatula — these spatulas usually cost less than $10 each.

“I kind of see it as an extension of my hands and it’s small enough, I put it in my back pocket,” she continues. She says it’s perfect for all sorts of tasks, such as cutting parchment paper, smoothing frosting and smoothing cake batter once it’s in the pan.

Unsurprisingly, Ottolenghi’s go-to gadget is all about maximizing flavour while baking.

“I think one of these microplane graters are really, really helpful with baking because we use a lot of citrus zest,” he says.

Microplane graters are smaller and easier to use than box graters. You can find one for well under $20.

“It’s one of those things you always want to make sure you have because a little bit of lemon zest really lifts a cake quite a lot, even if it’s not a lemon cake. Any kind of fruity cake really benefits from a bit of lemon zest,” Ottolenghi continues.

You might want to invest in these tools before diving into Sweet — there's more than enough citrus zesting and frosting between the 110-plus recipes to justify a kitchen tools refresh.

Watch Goh and Ottolenghi show off their baking skills in the Chatelaine Test Kitchen.