The Fearless Baker: Simple Secrets for Baking Like a Pro


Erin Jeanne McDowell - 2017
    “I’m not a baker,” they tell her. But in fact, expert baking is not at all unattainable, nor is it as inflexible as most people assume. The key to freedom is to understand the principles behind how ingredients interact and how classic methods work. Once these concepts are mastered, favorite recipes can be altered and personalized almost endlessly.   With the assurance born out of years of experience, McDowell shares insider tips and techniques that make desserts taste as good as they look. With recipes from flourless cocoa cookies and strawberry-filled popovers (easy), through apple cider pie and black-bottom crème brûlée (medium), to a statuesque layer cake crowned with caramelized popcorn (difficult), and “Why It Works,” “Pro Tip,” and make-ahead sidebars with each recipe, this exciting, carefully curated collection will appeal to beginning and experienced bakers alike.

BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts


Stella Parks - 2017
    Whether down-home delights like Blueberry Muffins and Glossy Fudge Brownies or supermarket mainstays such as Vanilla Wafers and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, your favorites are all here. These meticulously tested recipes bring an award-winning pastry chef’s expertise into your kitchen, along with advice on how to “mix it up” with over 200 customizable variations—in short, exactly what you’d expect from a cookbook penned by a senior editor at Serious Eats. Yet BraveTart is much more than a cookbook, as Stella Parks delves into the surprising stories of how our favorite desserts came to be, from chocolate chip cookies that predate the Tollhouse Inn to the prohibition-era origins of ice cream sodas and floats. With a foreword by The Food Lab’s J. Kenji López-Alt, vintage advertisements for these historical desserts, and breathtaking photography from Penny De Los Santos, BraveTart is sure to become an American classic.

Miette: Recipes from San Francisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop


Meg Ray - 2011
    Miette's pretty Parisian aesthetic enchants visitors with tables piled high with beribboned bags of gingersnaps, homemade marshmallows, fleur de sel caramels, and rainbows of gumballs. This cookbook brings the enchantment home, sharing 100 secret formulas for favorite Miette treats from chef and owner Meg Ray. More than 75 gorgeous color photos capture the unique beauty of Miette desserts and shops. Scalloped edges on the book block enhance the preciousness of this fetching package. Just like the adorable cakes, cookies, clairs and tarts for sale in Miette's case, this book is irresistible!

Ovenly: Sweet and Salty Recipes from New York's Most Creative Bakery


Erin Patinkin - 2014
    As self-taught, curious cooks, Agatha Kulaga and Erin Patinkin have a straight-talking approach that is never too fussy and always encourages experimentation. Above all, they believe that cooking (and eating!) should be an adventure.With tips and anecdotes, exquisite photos, and pantry and kitchen tool essentials, Ovenly contains experimental yet perfected recipes for the most inventive and out-of-this-world breakfast pastries, desserts, and snacks.

Butter Baked Goods: Nostalgic Recipes from a Little Neighborhood Bakery


Rosie Daykin - 2013
     Butter Baked Goods is a gorgeously illustrated cookbook, packed with delicious recipes perfect for celebrating a special holiday with family and friends, or just everyday life. Inside you’ll find everything from cookies, scones and s'mores to chocolate cake, peanut butter and jelly cupcakes and apple pie . . . not to mention the coveted recipe for Butter’s famous marshmallows!  Butter Baked Goods began as a tiny bakery in Vancouver. Opened in 2007 by Rosie Daykin, the bakery is a pink-and-pistachio slice of heaven, its counters piled high with cake stands overflowing with irresistible baked goods. Not long after opening, word got out about the bakery’s marshmallows and Butter Baked Goods became known as the home of the very best gourmet marshmallow in North America, a delicious treat that can now be found in over 300 stores (and counting) across Canada, the U.S. and Japan. The recipe for Rosie's famous marshmallows is just one of the gems tucked inside the pages of this beautiful book.    Every recipe in Butter Baked Goods has simple instructions written in an accessible and easy-to-follow style. Everyone can create Butter's delectable treats—from grandmothers who have been baking all their lives to teenagers making their very first cupcakes. Rosie's baking is not about trickery, flamboyance or hard-to-find ingredients, but about great-tasting, homemade treats to celebrate life's milestones: birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, baby showers, bridal showers; or that gloomy, rainy afternoon when you need a little pick-me-up. Butter Baked Goods showcases nostalgic home baking at its very best.

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook


Deb Perelman - 2012
    It’s as simple as that. She isn’t a chef or a restaurant owner—she’s never even waitressed. Cooking in her tiny Manhattan kitchen was, at least at first, for special occasions—and, too often, an unnecessarily daunting venture. Deb found herself overwhelmed by the number of recipes available to her. Have you ever searched for the perfect birthday cake on Google? You’ll get more than three million results. How do you choose? Where do you start? What if you pick a recipe that’s downright bad?So Deb founded her award-winning blog, smittenkitchen.com, on the premise that cooking should be a pleasure, and that the results of your labor can—and should be—delicious...every time. Deb is a firm believer that there are no bad cooks, just bad recipes. She has dedicated herself to finding the best of the best and adapting them for the everyday cook—the ones with little time to spare, little money to burn on unpronounceable ingredients, and little help in the kitchen. And now, with the same warmth, candor, and can-do spirit her blog is known for, Deb presents her first cookbook—more than 100 new recipes, plus a few favorites from her site, all gorgeously illustrated with hundreds of Deb’s beautiful color photographs.The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook is all about approachable, uncompromised home cooking: stepped-up comfort foods, stewy dishes for windy winter afternoons, an apple cake that will answer all questions: “What should my new signature dessert be?” “What is always welcome at a potluck?” “What did Deb consume almost single-handedly a week after having a baby?” These are the recipes you bookmark and use so often they become your own; recipes you slip to a friend who wants to impress her new in-laws; and recipes with simple ingredients that yield amazing results in a minimum amount of time. Deb tells you how to host a brunch and still sleep in—plus what to make for it!—and the essential items you need for your own kitchen. From salads and slaws that make perfect side dishes (or a full meal) to savory tarts and pizzas; from Mushroom Bourguignon to Pancetta, White Bean and Swiss Chard Pot Pies; from Buttered Popcorn Cookies to Chocolate Hazelnut Layer Cake, Deb knows just the thing for a Tuesday night, or your most special occasion.

Robicelli's a Love Story, with Cupcakes: With 50 Decidedly Grown-Up Recipes


Allison Robicelli - 2013
    No fondant. No red velvet. Upscale bakery Robicelli's has become a buzzed-about, in-demand purveyor of decidedly adult cupcakes. Nixing cutesy, pastel-colored dollops of fluff for real ingredients and rich French buttercreams, the husband and wife team have reinvented the cupcake craze for a more sophisticated palate, making each a small piece of the greatest cake ever made. Now their extraordinary recipes are available to the home cook.Now their extraordinary recipes are available to the home cook, including: The Laurenzano (fresh fig cake topped with goat cheese buttercream, fig balsamic gastrique, and crisp prosciutto flakes)The Brooklyn Blackout Cake (chocolate cake with chocolate custard buttercream, dipped in homemade fudge and rolled in chocolate cake crumbs)This book captures not only the Robicelli's unique take on baking but also their edgy, unapologetically hilarious take on life, including how they survived severe economic setbacks to launch the country's hottest cupcake brand-- a venture begun with thirty dollars in borrowed quarters.Offering both cupcake recipes and a recipe for life that calls for a stash of "emergency cake," Robicelli's: A Love Story, with Cupcakes is a baking book like you've never seen before.

Home Cooking


Rachel Allen - 2009
    From school run to bedtime, Rachel has suggestions that even the fussiest eater will love. Treat your loved-ones to nourishing, delicious food with this indispensable, inspirational recipe collection full of wise words, clever hints and tips and, above all, Rachel's irresistible recipes.CHAPTER BREAKDOWN– Breakfast & Brunch– Lunch– Sunday Lunch– Supper– Snacks and treats– Baby Food– Desserts– Sweets– Basics– Plus handy sections explaining meal planning, home freezing, healthy eating and much more!Rachel Allen was brought up in Dublin and at the age of eighteen left to study at the prestigious Ballymaloe Cookery School. Today, she not only teaches at the school, she also writes regular features for national publications, presents highly acclaimed television programmes which have been broadcast internationally and in her spare time authors bestselling cookery books.

Sweet


Yotam Ottolenghi - 2017
    In his stunning new baking and desserts cookbook Yotam Ottolenghi and his long-time collaborator Helen Goh bring the Ottolenghi hallmarks of fresh, evocative ingredients, exotic spices and complex flavourings - including fig, rose petal, saffron, aniseed, orange blossom, pistachio and cardamom - to indulgent cakes, biscuits, tarts, puddings, cheesecakes and ice cream.Sweet includes over 110 innovative recipes, from Blackberry and Star Anise Friands, Tahini and Halva Brownies, Persian Love Cakes, Middle Eastern Millionaire’s Shortbread, and Saffron, Orange and Honey Madeleines to Flourless Chocolate Layer Cake with Coffee, Walnut and Rosewater and Cinnamon Pavlova with Praline Cream and Fresh Figs.There is something here to delight everyone – from simple mini-cakes and cookies that parents can make with their children to showstopping layer cakes and roulades that will reignite the imaginations of accomplished bakers.

Bringing It Home: Favorite Recipes from a Life of Adventurous Eating


Gail Simmons - 2017
    Gail Simmons is a beloved figure in the food world who has been a popular judge on Top Chef, the number-one rated food show on cable television since its inception. In Bringing It Home, Simmons shares her best recipes and food experiences. From her travels, exploring global flavors and keeping detailed diaries, to her Top Chef culinary adventures with the world's most notable chefs, she is always asking: "How can I bring this dish home to my own kitchen?" Her goal is to make fabulous recipes using accessible ingredients and smart, simple cooking techniques for successful family meals and easy entertaining. From Bloody Mary Eggs to Christmas Brisket Fried Rice; from Summer Vegetable Salad with Charred Lime Vinaigrette to Banana-Cardamom Upside Down Cake with Salty Caramel, there is a recipe for everyone in the family. Simmons also shares ingredient tips, cooking techniques, and many informative "Snippets," as well as personal and behind-the-scenes stories that will appeal to fans and food lovers everywhere.

Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters: More Than 100 Years of Recipes Discovered from Family Cookbooks, Original Journals, Scraps of Paper, and Grandmother's Kitchen


Marilynn Brass - 2006
    It's these dishes that give us comfort in times of stress, help us celebrate special occasions, and remind us of the person who used to bake for us those many years ago. In Heirloom Baking, Marilynn Brass and Sheila Brass preserve and update 150 of these beloved desserts. The recipes are taken from their vast collection of antique manuscript cookbooks, handwritten recipes passed down through the generations that they?ve amassed over twenty years. The recipes range from the late 1800s to today, and come from a variety of ethnicities and regions. The book features such down-home and delicious recipes as Brandied Raisin Teacakes, Cuban Flan, Cranberry-Orange Cream Scones, Chattanooga Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, and many more. Accompanying the recipes are stories from the lives of the families from which they came. The Brass Sisters have taken care to update every recipe for today's modern kitchens. More than 150 photographs showcase the scrumptious food in full-color detail. Finally, the Brass sisters encourage each reader to begin collecting his or her own family recipes in the lined pages and envelope at the back of the book.

The Perfect Cake: Your Ultimate Guide to Classic, Modern, and Whimsical Cakes


America's Test Kitchen - 2018
    

Trophy Cupcakes and Parties!: Deliciously Fun Party Ideas and Recipes from Seattle's Prize-Winning Cupcake Bakery


Jennifer Shea - 2013
    It’s also the go-to place for anyone looking to throw a phenomenal celebration, and now their recipes and party secrets are yours in this essential guide for every occasion--from luxe soirées like a sparkling engagement celebration, or an exotic Moroccan-themed bash, to crafty kids' parties, such as a bike parade and picnic, or a forest fairy tea party. Inside are recipes for Trophy's most prized flavor--red velvet!--as well as their popular everyday flavors like salted caramel and triple chocolate, and unique ones such as piña colada, and a gluten-free orange almond rose. You’ll also get the basics on how to dream up party themes, create DIY crafts, as well as decorating and entertaining ideas, and insider baking and frosting tips, all from Trophy founder Jennifer Shea.

The Cake Bible


Rose Levy Beranbaum - 1988
    As a writer for food magazines, women's magazines, and newspapers, including The New York Times, Rose Levy Beranbaum's trademark is her ability to reduce the most complex techniques to easy-to-follow recipes. Rose makes baking a joy. This is the definitive work on cakes by the country's top cake baker.The Cake Bible shows how to:Mix a buttery, tender layer cake in under five minutes with perfect results every timeMake the most fabulous chocolate cake you ever imagined with just three ingredientsFind recipes for every major type of cake, from pancakes to four-tiered wedding cakesMake cakes with less sugar but maximum flavor and textureMake many low- to no- cholesterol, low-saturated-fat recipes

Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe


Joanne Chang - 2010
    From Brioche au Chocolat and Lemon Raspberry Cake to perfect croissants, Flour Bakery-owner Joanne Chang's repertoire of baked goods is deep and satisfying. While at Harvard she discovered that nothing made her happier than baking cookies leading her on a path that eventually resulted in a sticky bun triumph over Bobby Flay on the Food Network'sThrowdown. Almost 150 Flour recipes such as Milky Way Tart and Dried Fruit Focaccia are included, plus Joanne's essential baking tips, making this mouthwatering collection an accessible, instant classic cookbook for the home baker.