I confess: I am a huge KitchenAid fan. When I registered for my wedding, at the top of my list was the KitchenAid Stand Mixer. The woman at Bloomingdale's who walked me through the store, actually tried talking me out of registering for the stand mixer saying, "you should only register for this if you do a lot of baking... and you really need to do a lot of baking." And she repeated again, "... you really need to do a lot of baking to get this stand mixer." I thought to myself, "Honey you don't know who you're talking to, I love to cook and bake!" Little did she know I would go on to culinary school and launch a New Media company and write recipes and publish articles about delicious food.
I've loved my KitchenAid Stand Mixer since the day I got it as a wedding gift. I could never part with it. In fact, when a friend cleaned out a storage unit and found an old KitchenAid stand mixer, to my horror, she was simply going to get rid of it. I immediately said I'll take it! And then I had two KitchenAid stand mixers. I cherish them both.
When the opportunity arose to review KitchenAid's latest 7-Quart Bowl-Lift Residential Stand Mixer, it was like a dream coming true (I had been considering trading my 2 mixers for the bigger 7-quart). The day the mixer arrived, my husband and I anxiously opened the box to reveal a hot metallic, candy apple, red 7-quart stand mixer. This thing is gorgeous to look at. My husband describes the paint finish like that of a classic sports car. It's shiny, smooth, and it just makes you feel like you want to pet it. My girlfriend used it while house sitting to bake a cake for her kids and nicknamed it, "The Red Goddess."
Sadly I have to admit, I wasn't the first person in my household to put The Red Goddess to the test - it was my husband. He is famous for his homemade bbq pizzas and makes his dough from scratch. He couldn't wait to make fresh, homemade dough with a new recipe recommended to us by the owners of Pitfire Artisan Pizza in LA. With this new, sophisticated kitchen tool, making pizza dough just got more inspired and even easier. As he attached the dough hook and assembled his ingredients, he said, "any piece of hardware that has the look of a sports car is fun to cook with!"
Okay, it's my turn to test out The Red Goddess! My mission: Test new cookie recipes for our yearly holiday fondue party. I had never made French Macaroons, and after admiring them and paying too much for the small, delicious indulgence in bakeries, I decided to get to work.
French Macaroons are about 50% meringue and 50% almond flour, so I had my work cut out for me to get the egg whites perfectly beaten. After separating the egg whites from the yolks, I put the whites in the mixer's bowl with a pinch of salt, turned on The Red Goddess's motor to high, and let her whip. I checked my meringue for stiff peaks and I was done in minutes with perfectly whipped egg whites for my French Macaroons. When my friends came over for a taste test they asked, "Is this your first time making these? These are delicious and gorgeous!" But, were they talking about the macaroons or the The Red Goddess?
Next, I whipped up some homemade banana, date pancakes that were divine, and took a matter of seconds. And I loved the extra air the mixer whipped into my batter which made the pancakes lighter and more airy. And by the way, for my party, I made 2 batches of French Macaroons, and the mixer handled the large job just as easily as the small one.
When it comes to baking, using the KitchenAid Stand Mixer is kind of like hitting the easy button. It completes your job with speed and ease. And when your friends see this hot piece of machinery sitting on your kitchen counter, they just might get a tiny bit jealous. I'm just saying...
By the way, all of the accessories are dishwasher safe. Next, I think I'll have to get the meat grinder for the power attachment hub so I can make my own terrines and sausages that my hubby can throw on the bbq. How cool is that! The 7-quart stand mixer retails for $549.
image: KitchenAid