Baking

Starred review from July 20, 2009
This workhorse of a guidebook (a sequel title to Cooking
by the James Beard–winning author), is a worthy baking school between covers. Jam-packed with instructional photos accompanying a carefully created modular approach that aims to “teach you to think like a baker,” the work features over 300 recipes, mostly classics based in the French tradition. The five chapters—Cakes; Pies, Tarts and Pastries; Cookies; Breads, Quick Breads, and Bread-based Desserts; and Custards, Soufflés, Fruit Curds and Mousses—include a comprehensive overview, sidebars on techniques and recipes designed to teach techniques that can be used in more than the recipe listed. While you won't find innovative recipes, all the basics are here—classic puff pastry dough, sheet cakes, chocolate chip cookies, baguettes—along with classic, fanciful treats such as frangipane tart, madeleines, Grand Marnier soufflés and chocolate croissants. While not glamorous, this is a comprehensive title.

October 1, 2009
Cooking and baking require two different sets of culinary skills. Professional chef and culinary teacher Peterson ("Essentials of Cooking") understands the differences between the two, and here he distills four decades of his own experiences as a cook learning to bake into a master class on the subject. The recipes included are for tried-and-true classics found in any good French bakery, but where Peterson really excels is in the clear step-by-step instructions for creating each delicious treat, showing cooks how to build on the principles learned in one recipe for further culinary projects. Anyone who wishes to acquire a solid foundation in baking (and is willing to put in some serious time in the kitchen) will find this practical guide invaluable. VERDICT There is no shortage of excellent baking titles, including Flo Braker's classic "The Simple Art of Perfect Baking" and newer treasures such as Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home to Yours", but libraries will still want to make room for Peterson's practical, useful introduction. [This is a sequel to Peterson's 2008 James Beard Award-winning "Cooking".Ed.]John Charles, Scottsdale P.L., AZ

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2009
A two-time James Beard award winner provides a viable candidate for his third award. Peterson, author of Cooking (2007) and Sauces (2008), long considered the chefs go-to, now tackles all things bakingwith 300 recipes and 2,000 photographs. He admits that the art was not a first or natural love and, at the same time, he admires its precision and end results of a product that pleases. Yet not one page even hints at this attitude; instead, every page provides a gem: a tip for success, a non-fail recipe, or a series of sequential photographs highlighting the best how-to. Divided into five sections (Cakes, Pies/Tarts, Cookies, Breads, and Custards/Mousses), the book includes plenty of informed narrative (for instance, there are really only six types of basic cakes) and, in shaded areas, details with the right stuff to ensure sweet endings, such as the use of stabilized whipped cream versus regular, the best way to beat a quantity of whole eggs, and how to unseize a chocolate mixture. Blending the science of ingredient combinations and temperatures with the art of baking is truly his forte, from which anyone, novice or pro, can profitably benefit. Encore!(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)