WHIPPING up a big batch of brownie mix or a Victoria sponge cake can be hard work on your arms, not to mention time consuming.
So take the easy option and check out our pick of the best cake mixers.
But first, think about what type of cake mixer you should get.
Hand mixers are affordable and don’t take up much room in your kitchen.
But for things like meringues and dough, they’re rarely up to the task.
Big stand mixers on the other hand can tackle more than just cake mixes – but they’re pretty heavy, take up quite a lot of space and are usually pretty expensive.
We’ve rounded up a selection of the best cake mixers below, including stand and handheld options.
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When you think cake mixer, you’ll most likely think of KitchenAid – and for good reason.
They’ve been a favourite among chefs and serious home bakers for years.
This iconic design comes with two stainless-steel bowls – a 4.8-litre and a 3-litre one – a flexible-edge beater, a flat beater, a whisk, a dough hook and a pouring shield, which stops splatter but also allows you to safely drizzle liquids into the bowl as you mix.
It comes in more colours than we care to list and has a five-year guarantee.
We reviewed the KitchenAid Artisan 5KSM175PS 4.8l here – it’s the limited edition Honey colour but has all the same bells and whistles.
Smeg SMF03 retro stand mixer, £499 from Harrods – buy here
Here’s one to give the KitchenAid a run for its money in the looks department.
We love this sleek retro-style mixer which has a 4.8-litre polished stainless-steel bowl, 10 mixing speeds, several attachments and a recipe book to get you started.
Choose from a variety of colours – and enjoy the quiet. It’s one of the less-noisy models of cake mixer available.
We took the SMF02 version of Smeg’s retro stand mixer for a spin. Here’s how it compared to KitchenAid.
Breville twin hand and stand mixer, £40 from Amazon – buy here
This twin-motor cake mixer does pretty much the same job as the KitchenAid and the Smeg – with 10 speeds, no less – but for a lot less money.
It has a decent sized bowl – 2 litres – a surprisingly powerful 380w motor and a range of accessories including stainless steel beaters, whisks, dough hooks for bread and pizza bases and a spatula.
The mixer detaches so it can be used as a hand mixer, too.
However, for heavy-duty dough mixes and bigger batches, you’ll need something more sturdy.
Kenwood kMix KMX750 Stand Mixer, £269 from Currys – buy here
Like KitchenAid, Kenwood are synonymous with kitchen gadgets – they’re good-looking, reliable and lasts for years.
With a 1000W motor and 5L bowl capacity, this stylish design ticks every box for the avid cake maker.
And then some – in addition to six mixing speeds, it’s got a fold function for making soufflés, and includes a beater, balloon whisk and dough hook.
The kMix is available with a glass bowl, too.
Klarstein Bella Argentea 2G stand mixer, £119.99, Klarstein – buy here
Here’s a good all-round mixer for those of you on a budget.
Like all the high-end, expensive models, it has a large bowl – 5.2-litres to be precise – three attachments, six mixing speeds, a splash guard and a glass bowl, so you can see exactly what you’re doing.
It’ll do everything you could ask of a good mixer.
This powerful hand mixer for cakes is popular and well-priced, with a 300w motor that kneads, mixes and whisks.
This hand mixer includes two beaters, two dough hooks and a balloon whisk, and has five different speed settings.
Plus, it’s pretty affordable too.
Aside from the stand and the mixing bowl itself, every model should come with a dough hook (for kneading), a balloon whisk attachment (for whisking and whipping) and a beater tool (for mixing) as standard.
And as long as you’ve got these three basics, you can pretty much make anything.
If you want more specific attachments and extras for versatility, the following things can also come in very handy:
Stand mixers aren’t small or lightweight, so make sure you have enough kitchen worktop space to store it.
If you’d prefer to keep it out of sight in a cupboard, make sure the model you choose fits both the height (taking into account shelves) and depth of the cabinet in question.
If it’s a heavy mixer, you won’t want to store it up too high or low, as it’ll be tricky to lift, so think about this too.
Stand mixers usually have larger bowls than food processors, so if you only make a batch of fairy cakes from time to time, you probably don’t need one.
But if you’re often making cakes for school fundraisers, baking showstoppers for birthdays or knocking up fresh bread every weekend, look for a mixer with a large-capacity bowl – 500ml or more is ideal.
No one likes cleaning their gadgets after using them, but it has to be done, so look for dishwasher-safe ones to take the hassle out of cleaning by hand.
It’s obvious, but make sure the model you buy has dishwasher-safe parts if that’s how you plan to clean them – washing parts that aren’t meant for a dishwasher in this way can cause the plastic to split.
And even then you should check the recommended washing temperature of dishwasher-safe parts; they can be damaged by putting them in a washing cycle that’s too hot.
For most bowls and attachments though, a simple scrub using a sponge plus warm and soapy water should be enough.
Looking for more great household goods? Read more home products reviews.
Check out our full range of product reviews in the Sun Selects homepage.
In the market for kitchen gadgets? We’ve also rounded up the best juicers you can buy.
