Equipment

Left: Measuring cups 

Right: Measuring spoons

• Measuring cups are used for measuring dry ingredients like flour and sugar. 
• Measuring spoons are used to measure small amounts of both wet (e.g. vanilla essence) and dry ingredients (e.g. baking powder, baking soda, salt)

Measuring jugs 

• Measuring jugs (cups) like these are used for measuring liquid ingredients like milk and water. 

Left to right:

Wooden spatula

Plastic and silicon spatulas

Thermometers (Regular & Candy)

Electronic weighing scale 

• Silicon (Preferred) and wooden spatulas are good for handling recipes that need to withstand heat. Plastic spatulas are great for general use (i.e. folding, mixing, scrapping batter off bowls)
• Thermometers are handy to have, called for in some recipes, and essential in bread or candy making 
• An electronic weighing scale (ideally accurate to the grams) is extremely important! It ensures that you use the accurate quantity of each ingredient as required in each recipe. The measurements for the recipes in this site are given (almost all) in grams, so it is really a crucial item for your kitchen.

Left to right:
Wire cooling rack
Offset spatulas
Ice-cream scoops

• A wire cooling rack is important for some recipes that call for leaving the pan/cake/cookies to "cool on a wire rack". Sometimes this is important as it prevents what you are making (e.g. cookies) from becoming soggy from the vapor, and it helps to speed up cooling and crisping.
• Offset spatulas are important for frosting cakes, spreading cream or lifting cakes/pies.
• Ice-cream scoops are real time savers for dividing batter into smaller portions. Ideally, have a bigger one for cupcakes, and a smaller one for making drop cookies. With these, you can fill up a tray in 5 minutes instead of 10-15 minutes. It's much cleaner and neater too!

From left to right:
Cake leveler
Wire whisks
Rolling Pins

• A cake leveler is used for leveling off the "dome of a cake. This is so that in a layered cake your layers will be even.
• Wire whisks are extremely handy for quick mixing of light flour mixtures or batters, or for beating eggs. If you are feeling lazy, in many cases which call for "sifting the flour together", you can skip the sifting and instead whisk the items together in a big bowl vigorously for about a minute.
• Rolling pins are used to roll out dough 

Left to right:
Masher
Cake tester
Pastry brush
Strainers/Sifts

• If you have to choose from many kinds of masher, the one in the picture (above) would be the optimal choice. Its shape is the best for mashing. You can use it to mash bananas, potatoes and etc. quickly. If you do not have a masher you can always use a fork to mash what is required.
• A cake tester is used to run though the center of the cake/cupcake if it is done. If it turns out clean, the cake is done.  
• A pastry brush is used to apply coatings/glazing such as egg wash, apricot gel, water and etc.
• Strainers/Sifts are used to remove large particles or chunks from a mixture. Sometimes a recipe calls for sifting the mixture to produce a lighter and airier product. In a recipe's ingredient list, look out for the sequence which the word "sifted" appears. For example, "100 g flour, sifted" means that you measure out 100 grams of flour, after which you sift it. "100 g of sifted flour" means that you sift the flour, then measure out 100 grams of it. You have to take note of this as sifting flour usually reduces the amount of flour. 

Left: Kitchen cloth
Right: Pattern scraper

• When i bake i always make sure i have 1 or 2 kitchen cloth beside me to clean up the work surface/wipe my hands. You'll find that it is more efficient to wipe your hands at times rather than keep running to the sink if you accidentally get your hands smeared with batter. A wet kitchen clothe put under a bowl on the table top is also used to prevent the bowl from slipping (with the friction) when you do not have a free hand for holding the bowl. 
• A pattern scraper is used to create patterns on the surface of cakes.

Left to right:
Disposable pipping bags
Pipping tips & coupler
Tip brush

• Disposable pipping bags are used by to pipe shapes using the batter. They are important for cake or cookie decorating. There are also reusable kinds readily available, you may use depending on your preference.
• Pipping tips are used for to create shapes and patterns like flowers and leaves, outlining, writing messages or spreading batter on a surface

Left to right:

Aluminium foil

Baking/Parchment paper

Kitchen roll

• When using aluminium foils, always have the duller side facing out (dull surface absorbs heat) and the shiner side facing in (shiny and smooth surface reflect heat back into the food)
• Baking paper, also known as parchment paper is used to line pans. It is to prevent baked goods from sticking to pans, enabling an easier release.  

Silpat baking mat

• Reusable baking mats are a great alternative to baking paper. They can be used up to a few thousands of times if properly taken care of. A reputable brand used by many professional chefs is Silpat by Demarle. It is great for making macaroons and cookies.