Not too much romance here, but essential for any functional kitchen. Buy the heaviest pans possible. Also, you should consider buying a non-stick silicon sheet: they make baking very easy!

The importance of high quality knives can't be stressed enough! Buy the best you can and expect to spend some serious money. It is better to buy a couple of excellent knives and slowly add to your collection rather than buying an entire set of low quality knives. Start with a chef knife and paring knife. You will also want to buy a sharpening steel.

Traditionally, a springform pan has been defined as a round pan, that with the aid of a clamp, has removable sides and bottom. Generally used for cheesecakes, these pans allow cakes or tortes to be easily extricated from the pan.