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Review of 

Baking

From My Home to Yours

by Dorie Greenspan, photographs by Alan Richardson

I swore off buying another baking book. I severely limit sweets- they are just too much fun to eat. But I discovered Baking by Dorie Greenspan and before I knew it the book was home. A few nights ago when I couldn’t get back to sleep I found myself reverently reading the book. It’s fabulous. Weighing in at 4 3/4 pounds and 8 3/4W x 11 1/4H x 2 ½ thick; this is a book that doesn’t lend itself to cookie goo or sugar dribbles. A bit too fancy for my kitchen, but the recipes flow seamlessly and before I knew it I was looking for an excuse to make some of them.

Greenspan has written many award winning cookbooks including Paris Sweets, Baking with Julia, and Desserts by Pierre Hermé. She splits her time between Connecticut and Paris and has been passionate about Chocolate, Paris, and pastries for many years. In this new book we are invited to share her baking notebooks. She starts us out innocently enough with Breakfast Sweets. Nothing hard to make there; just tasty bits to bake, share, and enjoy.  

A Cache of Cookies ratchets up the culinary ante. How can you resist Espresso Cheesecake Brownies? “The flavor combination is impeccable and so is the texture-it’s a treat to start with the very soft sour cream topping, bite down to the velvety cheesecake and finish with the firmer but fudgy brownie.” After reading that description, and many more in the book, I was ready to dash to the grocery store and buy the ingredients.

An interesting technique was mentioned when making slice and bake cookies. Greenspan suggests using a paper toweling cardboard tube that has been slit the long way to mold and hold the wrapped cookie dough. I have never been able to achieve a uniform tube and with this technique I’ll be able to perfect my slice and bakes.

I don’t know about you, but I have always had trouble lining a pan neatly with foil for bar cookies. Again Greenspan comes to the rescue with a fail safe method. She suggests to form the foil over the inverted outside of the pan then carefully slipping it inside and pressing it into shape. What a great idea! Now my brownie corners will be as perfect as the squares cut from the middle. I will never be “foiled” again!

Reading the storyline before each recipe puts you in the mood to create. Greenspan writes not only excellent recipes that are easy to follow but her stories leading into the recipe set the mood. Rugelach is a perfect example of how recipes pass through generations changing each time. At the end of the story line

Greenspan writes,” This is a very old recipe, and I have no doubt that everyone who has made it has added or subtracted a little bit to make it her own  - and my mom-in-law, Mrs. Strauss, and I expect you to do the same.” For me that is the essence of home cooking, the constant tweaking of recipes in each generation to speak to the changing of our heritage.

A Few Fabulous Cheesecakes is a brief chapter with endless possibilities. In reading the introductory pointers I was reminded of previous cheesecakes where the releasing of the springform sent my heart racing as I dipped the pan in hot water trying to find the balance between soaking the outside of the cake and releasing a dry product. Thanks to Greenspan it is suggested that I dust off my never used blow dryer and put it to culinary use by heating the outside of the pan with hot air. In her Playing Around section of cheesecakes, there are many delicious and unique crust and batter ideas.

The pie and tart chapter has a plethora of recipes beginning with eight recipes and variations using apples, to Rosy Poached Pear and Pistachio Tart. Being a pie dough gal who makes five pounds of pie dough for my freezer each fall I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and work my way through Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie, or a new addition to Thanksgiving, Cranberry Lime Galette. I have already earmarked the Soft Chocolate and Raspberry Tart for Valentine’s Day.

There is no dessert without representation. Floating Islands, Tropical Crumble, Caramel Pots de Crème, and Hot Fudge Sauce all entice the daily cook out of drudgery and into the realm of a dessert diva. This is a fabulous book for all levels of cook. I can’t say enough about how easy it is to follow the recipes. There are also informative side bars that include serving, storing, techniques and variations. This excellent cross section of recipes will jump start you back to your own dusty cookbooks and slips of paper for similar ideas.

 Although I keep the bulk of my cookbooks in my study I want Baking out and ready to open for the holidays and beyond.

Read! Eat! Enjoy!

Judith Bishop

www.ingoodtastestore.com

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