Anyone with a sweet tooth and an interest in baking will find Food52 Baking: 60 Sensational Treats You Can Pull Off in a Snap a delightful kitchen staple that can transform a fledgling novice to a seasoned master (pastry) chef.
Put together by the Editor of Food52, a community website that lives on the cooking manifesto “How you eat is how you live”, this book presents different recipes from cakes, cookies to fruit desserts which are no fuss (most of them are pretty straightforward and simple), family tested (these are recipes by grandmothers, mothers, and home cooks), and great meal enders (or starters if you’re like me who prefers to eat her dessert first).
If you’re a newbie home baker, this book gives you a good line-up of baking basics which will help you bring those recipes from mere paper instructions to real sweet goodness whose aroma will make your home feel more festive even without a special occasion to celebrate. Afraid of overmixing the batter? The no-secret tips are outlined to you under “Essential Baking Techniques” – and because we’re talking about the basics, this book even teaches you how to melt chocolate (page 109), how to easily separate eggs (page 109), and how to accurately measure flour (page 25).
If you’ve graduated from the basics and have moved on to the “intermediate” stage, say you are working on your cake’s aesthetic, then you might want to check out part on “garnishing, presenting, and packaging” in which how to assemble and frost a cake (page 123) is included.
These recipes have been published in the website so you can actually head over to the Food52 website and view them. However, if you want a one-stop resource material – or you’re just an avid cookbook collector and loves high resolution photographs of delightful desserts – then this book should be added in your collection.
While this is essentially a compilation of recipes, what separates this book from the others is the attention that the editors and artists put into the layout, the use of high-quality photographs, and the background stories which come with each recipe.
Food52 Baking is not just a hodgepodge of dessert recipes; it is a book that documented living tradition, family history, and people’s personal journeys in the kitchen with flour, butter, sugar, eggs, and cinnamon as trusted allies.
Of course, the best way to test this book is trying out a recipe or two so this author worked on the six-ingredient peanut butter and jelly sandwich cookies (page 33) and the brown sugar shortbread (page 37). These are two of the simplest recipes in the collection chosen for the main purpose that the ingredients were already available in our pantry.
The result is another story to be shared in this blog on October 23 (Friday) as part of our virtual celebration of National Cookie Month. Needless to say, the kitchen was a mess and we showered the book with flour, peanut butter, and some vanilla extract. But it was fun and the family enjoyed the sweet treats thereafter. Who wouldn’t right? (Update: Click here for the cookie story. Yes, we really did it. No kidding!)
Baking at home is made easier, simpler, and tastier with this book and I can’t wait to progress in my baking quest and try out other recipes. Next on my list? Magic Espresso Brownies, the photo of which is the one you see in the cover. And… oh! I’m thinking about the trying out the Chocolate Dump-It Cake too!
Happy baking!
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Blogging for Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
