Pie and Pastry Bible (181 page)

The most accurate and well-marked heatproof measuring cups I have found are made by Oven Basics, available in some supermarkets. When shopping for liquid measuring cups, look for ones that are level, not slanted. A cup of water, read below the meniscus (the curved upper surface), should weigh close to 8 ounces to be acceptable. In addition to measuring liquid, these cups are ideal for pouring hot sugar syrups and caramel. The handles remain cool to the touch and the spouts control the way the liquid pours. I use my 1-cup measures the most, but the 2-cup and 4-cup ones are often useful as well.

Foley stainless steel measuring spoons (not the oval ones) and Tupperware heavy-duty plastic are my favorites. I especially like the Tupperware spoons, because they include odd sizes such as
teaspoon, 4 teaspoons, and ½ tablespoon (½ teaspoons). I have found other brands of measuring spoons to be somewhat smaller than these two types.

BRUSHES

LARGE SILK BRUSH
These large soft brushes, made in France, are unequaled for dusting excess flour from dough, such as puff pastry, without damaging the pastry (La Cuisine, page 675).

Large silk brush

PASTRY BRUSH OR FEATHERS
Natural or nylon bristles, or feathers, work well both for brushing off excess flour from doughs and for glazing them (gourmet stores and the King Arthur catalogue, page 675).

Pastry brush

ARTIST’S BRUSH
A small number 9 artist’s brush is the perfect implement for brushing glaze on small pieces of pastry such as leaves and other decorations (art supply stores).

Pastry feather

RULER
An 18-inch-long transparent ruler is the perfect ruler for cutting even strips of dough for lattice crusts and other decorative pastries (art supply stores).

FLOUR WAND
I use this device whenever I roll dough. It is essentially a coiled oblong spring with a handle that, when expanded, picks up flour, and, when waved over the dough, dispenses the finest dusting of flour over it (King Arthur catalogue, page 675).

Flour wand

KNIVES AND CUTTERS

BENCH SCRAPER
Metal bench scrapers are excellent for cleaning counters without scratching. They’re also great for gathering up dough, keeping the edges of the dough even, and cutting dough. Plastic scrapers are also useful for other purposes because of their flexibility, such as scraping a bowl or scooping up filling. My friend Corby Kummer of the
Atlantic Monthly
showed me an excellent use of the scraper: He scrapes the outside of the pastry bag from the top toward the bottom to move all the filling toward the tube.

PIZZA CUTTER
The heavy-duty variety, with a large 4-inch wheel, offers steady, even pressure for cutting dough and is ideal for cutting croissant, puff pastry, and danish dough (La Cuisine, page 675).

ADJUSTABLE PASTRY DIVIDER
This is essentially a series of cutting wheels attached to an expandable gate that can be set at specific intervals, making it possible to cut identical parallel strips of dough quickly (La Cuisine, page 675).

FOURTEEN-INCH SERRATED KNIFE
A serrated knife with a long blade is invaluable for cutting tarts and pastries. Albert Uster Imports (page 675) carries a knife of this variety called a “wavy-edge slicer.”

TART KNIFE
My favorite pie and tart server is an antique George Jensen blossom-pattern one, because it is so exquisitely lovely. But most of the time, I use my Wüsthof thin-bladed triangular tart knife, because it is ideal for cutting as well as serving. For a pie, a thin, flexible pie server such as the “Ultra-Flex Spatula” is ideal because it can bend and angle between the pie pan and the crust (King Arthur catalogue, page 675).

Bench scraper

Pizza cutter

Adjustable pastry divider

14-inch serrated knife

Tart knife