For the Desserts

At 3.5 inches, these Linzer cookies are bakery size, large enough to sell individually in a pastry case. The set pairs the outer cutter with six interchangeable centers: triangle, heart, star, clover, diamond and circle.The larger window shows off more of the filling, which suits raspberry jam, lemon curd or chocolate ganache. Chill the dough before cutting so the centers come away cleanly.For smaller tray cookies, see the Ateco 4844 2-inch Linzer Set. Learn More

Six holiday shapes come in this set: an angel, a bell, a gingerbread man, a star, a tree and one of the three wise men. Each is about 2.5 inches across, a size that bakes evenly and decorates well with royal icing.The cutters are stainless steel and also cut fondant shapes for decorating holiday cakes. Flour the cutter between cuts to keep sticky gingerbread dough from clinging.For sandwich cookies, see the Ateco 4844 Linzer Set. Learn More

Madeleines get their shell shape and their crisp, golden ridges from the mold, and a nonstick pan is the easiest way to get them out whole. Norpro’s mini madeleine pan bakes 18 small cookies at once, each about 2.25 by 1.5 inches, a bite-size version of the classic French tea cake.Brush each shell lightly with melted butter and dust with flour, even with the nonstick coating, then fill the shells about three-quarters full with chilled batter. The pan heats evenly for uniform browning, and the small shells bake in a few minutes, so watch them closely the first time. A gentle tap on the counter releases them.Norpro also suggests the pan as a mold for chocolate and candy, so the same shells can hold tempered chocolate or set small chocolates for a dessert tray. For other small baked treats, see the Norpro English muffin rings, and the silicone measure, stir and pour cup makes neat work of filling each shell. Learn More

A Scandinavian dough whisk, also called a Danish dough whisk, mixes stiff bread dough that would clog a balloon whisk and bend a spoon. Its open loops of stiff wire cut through flour and water and pass through the dough without collecting it, so a no-knead loaf comes together quickly and cleanly.Norpro’s 12-inch version has a stainless steel wire head on a wood handle long enough to reach the bottom of a large mixing bowl. The looped wire combines wet and dry ingredients without overworking them, which is also why it suits muffin and pancake batters that turn tough when overmixed.Feed a starter, mix a shaggy dough for an overnight rise or stir a thick batter, then rinse the head under warm water. Little dough clings to the wire. Customers baking bread pair it with the Norpro stainless bench scraper for dividing and shaping, and the Norpro wax paper squares for wrapping rolls. Learn More

Most icing spatulas end in a rounded tip. This one tapers to a point, which reaches into the corner of a square pan, the flutes of a tart shell and the seam between cake tiers where a rounded blade cannot go.Decorators use the point to sharpen the edge where the top of a cake meets the side and to touch up small spots of icing. The 4.75-inch blade is taper ground and sits below the handle.For a rounded blade of similar size, see the 4.25-inch offset. Learn More

The longest of Ateco’s plastic-handled offsets handles the jobs where reach and leverage matter. It spreads batter into the corners of a half-sheet pan, frosts 10-inch cakes, and slides under cookies or a cake layer to move them to a cooling rack.Because the blade sits below the handle, your hand stays above the rim of the pan while the blade lies flat on the surface. Ateco tapers the grind for flex near the tip.A wood-handled 9.75-inch offset is also available. For cupcakes and 8-inch cakes, the 7.75-inch is easier to handle. Learn More

Linzer cookies are two rounds sandwiched with jam, the top one cut with a window that shows the filling. This set makes 2-inch cookies, a size that suits a cookie tray or gift tin.The outer cutter takes any of six center shapes, so one set gives six different windows. The centers can also be used on their own to cut small shapes from fondant or dough.For larger, 3.5-inch cookies, see the Ateco 4841 Large Linzer Set. Learn More

Petits fours are cut from a layered sheet cake, and the shapes give a tray its variety. This set has nine: round, half circle, oval, ellipse, square, rectangle, diamond, heart and a kidney shape.Each cutter is about 1.25 inches across and 2 inches tall, deep enough to go cleanly through several layers of cake and filling. The same cutters shape tea sandwiches, canapé bases and fondant accents. A small storage box keeps the set together; dry the cutters before putting them away.For graduated rounds, see the Ateco 5357 Plain Round Set. Learn More

Disposable bags save the most time when a project calls for many colors. Fill a 12-inch bag for each shade, pipe and throw the bag away, with no washing between colors and no risk of a stained reusable bag tinting the next batch.Ateco makes these from clear LDPE with a textured, high-grip surface. The film is rated for hot or cold fillings, and the clear bag shows how much icing is left and whether air pockets have formed.For full batches of buttercream, the 18-inch disposable bags hold more. When disposable bags make more sense than reusable ones is covered in our pastry bag buying guide. Learn More