The Handstand Kitchen® Bake Shoppe Deluxe Baking Set is the perfect starter set for the child who wants to learn to bake! I have been using this product with my 10-year-old son for the past several weeks, and we have been beyond impressed with the quality.

The set includes twenty-five pieces: one silicone fluted cake mold, one silicone loaf pan, six silicone baking cups, four cookie stamps, one silicone spatula, one silicone pastry brush, one silicone mixing spoon, one silicone whisk, one flower-shaped cookie flipper, and eight recipe cards. The cost for the kit at the time of this writing is $48 USD. All the items are sized for children, and my son and I used every tool throughout this review. 

The first thing he wanted to make was banana bread, mainly because we had the ingredients already, and there was no need to wait for a shopping trip! During this baking lesson, we used the mixing spoons, cupcake liners, and the fluted cake mold (which is like a mini-Bundt pan). I taught him to read the recipe, but he did all the measuring and mixing himself. I was a little apprehensive about the baking pans because I was unfamiliar with silicone, but we did not grease them, and our baked items did not stick.

A few days later, the banana bread was gone, and he wanted to bake again! This time, we found a recipe for rolled sugar cookies online because he wanted to try the cookie cutter/presses. Again, I was skeptical about what to expect, but these handy little tools did a fantastic job. We got clean cuts and pressed shapes from our cookie dough, and this was exciting for all the children, not just my baking son. Seeing the hearts, butterflies, teddy bears, and stars in the cookies was so much fun. The presses are deep enough that the designs kept their shape even through baking. We did not make frosting for these cookies, but the stamps are clear enough that we could easily decorate the cookies after baking.

After these two excursions in the kitchen, my son felt confident enough to try something independently. He opted for a pound cake for his first solo recipe, which he baked in the loaf pan. Just like its Bundt counterpart, we had no issues with sticking batter. The shape on the bottom of the pan was perfect for guiding us on how to slice the cake into perfect tiny pieces.

Not all the recipes in the kit are ideal for the included equipment. For example, oatmeal or chocolate chip cookies do not require using cookie presses. Looking at the website, I see that some of the recipe cards included today differ from those we received in our kit; perhaps this is why.

Overall, I have been highly impressed with this baking kit. The tools included are real, food-grade quality. The only difference between them and a “standard” version is the size. Since this kit is designed for children, the size is appropriate. The tools are perfect for small hands. I appreciate the ease with which things come out of the silicone molds, and my son is happy to have his own set of kitchen tools. Since receiving this kit, he has stepped up to become my special kitchen helper, and not just in baking. He has developed into a very responsible young man who can make cookies without supervision and can chop the salad vegetables with supervision. I don’t think either of those tasks would have been something we were comfortable with him doing before having the opportunity to review the Handstand Kitchen® Bake Shoppe Deluxe Baking Set. We can’t recommend it enough!

-Product review by Wendy Robertson, The Old Schoolhouse®, June 2023