Customer Reviews

The Art and Soul of Baking

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If it would have been possible to wish a "10 Star" rating on this tome of baking, it would have been done. Trying to figure where to start to describe this giant gastronomic baking tool is the second wish I had, because there is so much packed into this, it isn't possible to include everything within its covers.

Sur La Table is a long-respected and well-known center of sincere kitchen ware. Part of their evolution has been to have cooking/baking classes as well as accompanying books that their faithful customers have asked for over the years. This book is absolutely one of their best yet.

Having met Chef Cindy Mushet on her Sur La Table baking/promotional tour, she is the real deal. Very simple, very honest, very practical and very ready to share anything that has to do with baking. Hence, the perfect pairing of chef and company.

If I had to wrap up everything she taught that night into a nutshell, its that you HAVE to measure everything as the recipe states, using the appropriate measuring tools for solids and liquids. Having said that, all the recipes have all their ingredients measured. Having tried that concept on a couple of the recipes already, everything has been 100% perfect. For a budding chef and/or beginner, guess-timates don't seem to work because that will inevitably lead to some failure, but with Cindy, its "measure, measure, measure". Roger that.

The book contains 454 solid, heavy pages of knowledge about everything, and along with the recipes, are the steps needed for that category of foodstuffs. The photography of Maren Caruso is superb, and it helps convey that which Cindy can express in words. For time and space constraints, I'll mention the type of recipe categories within rather than all the recipes, though you could go through the "Learn More" section of this book on the Amazon page. The Foreward is written by another great baker, Alice Medrich, who herself taught many a class at Sur La Table over the years. Her kindness in describing Cindy proves a far greater opinion of her talents.

The Introduction gives a quick overview of each chapter and what to expect within.

CHAPTER ONE
"The Bakers Kitchen" is my bible and/or encyclopedia; you only need to be familiar with this to get the foundations of success in which to build your skills. How to read recipes, how to measure (!), weights and equivalents (with their ounces per cup), mixng equipment, pans and their volumes, and all the other ktichen tools that you might use, are listed in this section.

CHAPTER TWO
"The Bakers Pantry" is self-explanatory; the foodstuffs that you will need and use as well as how to use them, are given fair attention and description. Spices and herbs, as well as the sweeties used in baking, are also included.

Throughout each subsequent chapter of recipes and excellent teaching, there are "what the pros know" sidebars, which are little hints and tips to make your experience easier. There is also clear, sharp photography of the steps you should be expecting while en route to your dish destination.

CHAPTER THREE
This is such a great chapter on "Yeast Rolls and Bread". Breadmaking is not easy especially if you are beginning; knowing what to do with yeast and how to coax it to "grow" and turn your flour and water into something magnificent, is described with terms such as "poolish" and "bigs". The "gluten windowpane" is another great visual and worded sidebar to teach you whether your bread is ready. The recipes include dinner rolls, rustic breads, pizza dough, coffee cake, buns, etc.

CHAPTER FOUR
"Layered Pastries" is just that; layers and layers of light and fluffy pastries that will absolutely melt-in-your-mouth when tastebuds meet dough! How to layer, fold, etc are shown both in print and word and eventually lead you to phyllo recipes, coffee cakes, puff pastries, baklava and the like.

CHAPTER FIVE
"Quick Breads" are the equally-appreciated cousins of raised breads and those include scones, biscuits, muffins, and cornbread.

CHAPTER SIX
"Pies, Turnovers, and Dumplings". Ah yes.......the elusive perfect piecrust!! Well, no longer a problem if you follow Cindy's directions. Apple, banana, pumpkin, etc pies get a show as well as pot pies. Tarts, turnovers made with chocolate, creams, fruits, and other meats and cheeses will beg you to bake them!

CHAPTER SEVEN
"Tarts" has all the shortcrusts, tartlets and such that contain fruits as well as veggies and cheeses. Try the absolutely incredible "Potato, Onion, and Gruyere Cheese Galette"; it was absolutely out of this world! (The crust was so flaky and just a joy to relish with each bite!)

CHAPTER EIGHT
"Fruit Desserts" usually needs no introduction. Crisps, cobblers, and shortcakes were part of the repetoire.

CHAPTER NINE
"COOKIES"!!! These can be a challenge if you don't know how to handle the dough, whether its being warm enough or chilled enough, etc. Biscotti, tuilles, brownies, and bars are all here for the offering.

CHAPTER TEN
"Cakes" makes its luscious presentation; I noticed that there was a bit more in this chapter than most because of the complexities of the different types of cake batters possible. The basics of yellow and chocolate were given along with fancy and more high-end flavors, in addition to Cakes little cousins called cupcakes.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
"Custards, Bread Puddings, and Cheesecakes" makes the omplexities of creams and custards more understandable. Flans, puddings, pot de cremes, and the likes of bread puddings are all addressed. My favorite is "Cheesecakes" and you can make them as dense or fluffy as you want.

CHAPTER TWELVE
"Souffles, Meringues, and Pate a Choux" is a great chapter but one that requires time and patience. They are light and sweet and worth it. There are custard sauces, honey-lavendar creams, eclairs, gougeres, and cream puffs.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
"Basic Recipes and Finishing Touches" is an appropriate and lavish chapter in which to end this book. To create something is an accomplishment but to create a presentation to wow people is an art and Cindy will be your "ar-teest" in residence. Frostings, buttercreams (and how to fix them if they break), icings, curds, sugared flowers, and sauces are part of this amazing chapter. I thought that the crowning touch of this chapter was making "spun sugar" which is actually quite easy and an spectacular way to make a presentation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (from both Cindy and the CEO of Sur La Table)
INDEX

Enjoy, all compliments of Sur La Table and Cindy Mushet.

This beautiful cookbook is amazing. It is just packed with great information. It is 440 pages full of tips, instruction, gorgeous photographs and fabulous recipes. This cookbook covers everything from the basics to information even experienced bakers will find of use. The information and instruction is presented in a very non-intimidating, approachable way. This cookbook covers yeast and quick breads, pastries, pies, cookies, cakes, tarts, fruit desserts, custards and puddings, plus souffles, cheesecakes and more. Each section begins with helpful information about ingredients followed by techniques and instruction. The recipes include time saving tips called "getting ahead" and storage tips. The recipes are all followed by possible variations. I am not a novice baker but not a pro either. I feel this cookbook will give me the skills needed to tackle even the most ambitious baking project as well as the more basic baking. This cookbook is truly empowering!

As others have noted, this is a truly beautiful book that does justice to the content. There is generally enough information that a relative novice can feel comfortable putting together the recipes. There is a "however..." In some cases, details are omitted. There is sufficient information in the pie crust instructions, for example, to blind bake a pie shell. If you have to fully bake the shell, neither the general or specific crust recipes indicate how long the shell needs to be in the oven.While a small oversight, for a pie crust, there's just no way to test to see if the shell is done.

One clear strength of this book and one which sets it apart from many others, is the level of instruction. The detailed information about ingredients, even the basics like types of flour, sweeteners, etc. is very helpful.

I've had this book for 6 months and I love it so far. I bought it so I could amp up my baking skills. I was surprised by the amount of valuable information in here. It has excellent practical tips for preparing ingredients for foolproof baking. No more over-melted butter or cold eggs for my baked dishes!
There is such a wide variety of recipes in here with sufficient depth in each category. Every recipe has advice on making ahead, storage and variations.
I'm the reckless sort that tries new recipes for parties but this book has not let me down so far. I just tried the Clafoutis recipe yesterday and it worked out perfectly. Their whipped cream recipe has the perfect cream-sugar-vanilla ratio.
The detailed instructions have given me a better understanding of the science behind each of these recipes. I feel a lot more confident while baking and this makes me want to be creative in this space... which is exactly what I was hoping for when I purchased this book.

I really like this book for what it is; a good generic baking book with lots of tips coupled with a number of good recipes spanning many categories. It's strong on technique and tips, but perhaps a little lacking in the breadth of the included recipes. I think it's aimed to be part instructional and part inspirational, and perhaps marketed for the intermediate baker. If you aspire to move on from Betty Crocker, this would be a good place to start. However, it suffers in a couple areas that potential purchasers should be aware of.

Any book covering such a broad swath is going to be challenged by bakers that may be looking for more in specific categories, and so it is with this effort. Each section covers specific dessert types as you might expect, but the purchaser looking for an expansive selection of, let's say, layer cakes is going to find a section limited to just 12 basic cakes, only about a third of which are layer cakes. There are short sections on how to alter the recipes, but the selection offered in this major category is pretty limited at best and disappointing in a 450+ page magna opus. They do better in the pies and tarts categories, but in the end you can't get away from the fact that this is a pretty generic book. While Sur La Table doesn't present it as anything but, I suspect a great many purchasers will assume it offers more focus on jaw dropping desserts than it actually does.

While this is a profusely illustrated book I think they could find a better use of the photo block-ins than to litter the pages with endless stock shots of eggs sitting in stainless steel bowls, unwashed muffin tins, whisks captured in dramatic black and white and other motifs designed to cast the book as "gourmet". Not all of the numerous recipes included in this large volume have a photo of the end product and I'd forego the atmospheric pics for one good color shot of each recipe, finished and cut as the writer envisioned it to be. A great many cooking books are deficient in this area, so perhaps I'm more sensitive than others about this failing. I mentally gave this 4 stars for what it actually is; a nicely written and inclusive general baking book covering a variety of pies, tarts, cookies, cakes, etc., dragged down by the lack of specific photos for all of the recipe results, as well as a somewhat cluttered and confusing layout. At the same time the limited number of recipes I've tried have rendered very good results and, while I'm sure there are some mistakes in the numerous recipes (no baking book is immune from this), I've not found one yet. Additionally, the included instructions and tips are worthwhile, even for seasoned bakers.

While I only gave this three stars I'd still recommend it to someone looking for an instructive baking book that splits the difference between a cooking school text and a coffee table picture book. If they added in a few more selections to certain categories, stopped continually referring back to "master recipes" and instead repeated the complete instructions so that users would have a thorough understanding of the complexity and time involved, and then cleaned up the photos to present color images of every baked item, this could be a 5 star product. Perhaps Sur La Table will see fit to issue an updated and revised edition.

I got this book a few months ago and read through it, great first impressions, but I don't like to write a review until I try out some of the recipes, which I finally got to do last weekend.

This book has a nice balance of beautiful photos (though, in my ideal world every recipe would have a picture), recipes and information.

I love the fact that most of the ingredients (teaspoon measurements do not) had weight measurements which is my preference for baking.

I made the chocolate maple pecan sticky buns, chocolate chip cookies (my baking book litmus test), peanut butter thumbprints & devil's food cake. The method for the bun dough was a little different than I've previously experienced but it still worked well (I did have to hand knead to bring the dough together correctly & rising times were significantly longer), and tasted great. Some pretty basic recipes to start with, but since everything got the thumbs up from the family, I'll be making further forays soon!

The book is a little heavier than my preference for browsing & cooking, as it doesn't fit into my kitchen book stand, and therefore sometimes have to weigh down the pages to keep it open.........but you can't have it all and expect it to be light and compact, too :)

Helen

This book has something for everyone who enjoys baking or wants to learn how to bake. There is a great deal of explanation in each chapter, which should help a new baker feel more comfortable or offer tips to someone who is more familiar with baking.

Every chapter starts off with a primer and overview of that chapter's subject. For example, the chapter on yeast breads discusses subjects like differences in types of yeasts and proofing. There are also tips scattered throughout each chapter that pertain to the individual recipes.

Another great feature of this book is that almost every recipe has variations at the end. Some just have one or two variations, while others, like the pastry cream recipe, have several. I also appreciated that there were storage tips. For example, the lemon curd recipe told how to store it and gave an approximate number of days that it could be stored in the fridge.

Also, there are quite a few pictures throughout the book. Most of the pictures show the final product. However, some of the pictures depict technique, such as the picture showing how to fold laminated doughs and the pictures showing how to make spun sugar, and are far more helpful than just a written description would have been.

I've had dessert-type cookbooks before, but never one like this one. Wow! This is 454 pages of valuable information; Cindy Mushat definitely didn't scrimp or take shortcuts when writing this book. After reading the first two chapters, I had already learned many things about baking that I did not know before, from simple things like which flour is best to use to more specific things like what a popover pan is and why I might use one. Each chapter begins with very informative pages on the emphasis of that chapter (breads, pastries, quick breads, pies, tarts, fruit desserts, cookies and bars, cakes, custards, and soufflés). There are plenty of photographs throughout the book that are helpful also. One other feature I particularly like is the abundance of professional tips, "What the pros know." They are scattered throughout the book, right where you need them the most. I received this book right before the holidays started, so I've had the opportunity to try some recipes too. Each recipe has a page to itself with excellent step-by-step directions that are easy to follow. Plus, this book is simply beautiful and classic in its design. It's so attractive, it could be a coffee table book! This cookbook will benefit anyone, from the beginner to someone who has baked for years - a must-have resource for any baker.

One of the best cookbooks I own....and I own quite a few. Highly recommended for excellent presentation and fantastic recipes.

I love the in-depth detail in this book. The step by step instructions are absolutely invaluable. I'd been trying to make Danish Pastry for my husband for a year and although everything turned out deliciously I was still confused about many of the small steps. I used Jacques Pepin, Jacques Torres, Martha Stewart and Julia, even viewing some videos. Everyone, without exception left out some small step. They all gave precise instructions for the first go round but not the second and third. Guessing was driving me batty. When I received this book it was the first thing I looked up. Hallelujah. Precise, Step by Step instructions WITH photos. Shock. I wished I'd had it the entire previous years during all my trials and tribulations. It answered every single question I had had. The only reason this is a four star review is because I'm not enamored of the recipe selection. If you are buying a book for the tutorials though, leave all the other "professionals" behind and buy this book!