My KitchenAid: Not Just a Pretty Face

Here it is, my pride and joy, my KitchenAid. Still stuck for names, all suggestions welcome, but I have finally got to use this baby, and I am oh so happy with the results. I’d been lusting after this particular piece of kitchen equipment for a long time, and I can’t quite believe it is now sitting on my worktop in all its red shiny glory. Thankfully, she’s not just about the looks and the first recipe I tried, Chocolate Orange Cupcakes from the second Great British Bake Off book (also available on the BBC Good Food website), certainly lived up to my expectations (I used only milk chocolate throughout the recipe, hence the discrepancy with the original recipe photographs!). 

The KitchenAid standmixer is supremely easy to use, consisting of just two levers, one to lift and set down the head and the other to adjust the speed of the mixer. The bowl is easy to fit into place, and although I have found the attachments a little tricky to fit, I think this will get easier with practice. The pourer/guard attachment that came with my KitchenAid is a godsend, and fits easily over the bowl.

As I added the ingredients and beat according to instructions I became more and more confident with using a higher speed setting. I’ve only gotten up to 5 so far and think if I pushed it any higher the thing might actually take off, its just so fast. I might seriously have to reconsider my January healthy eating regime, because making cake just became dangerously quick and easy. What would have once taken a good 20 minutes of hard graft can now be completed in under 5, and the result is far more professional, smooth and lump-free then I could ever achieve by hand. After baking for the allotted time, the cupcakes turned out uniformly perfect, with a light fluffy texture.

But it was in the making of the buttercream that the KitchenAid truly shined. I do not get on with frostings, and have never been able to get mine to the correct pipeable consistency. That is until now, because with a quick flick of the switch I made smooth and thick buttercream for the first time. So thick it started to ooze out of the seams of my piping bag, but what did make it on to the cake looked professional and stayed in place. I managed to make peaks, peaks I tell you!!

Piping bag fail.

So what can I say except that I am totally and utterly in love with my beautiful red KitchenAid. You’re not just a pretty face after all!!