Baking and Pastry: Mastering the Art and Craft [Hardcover]

The Culinary Institute of America (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"The Culinary Institute of America holds nothing back in its mission to provide students, professionals, and enthusiasts with everything they need to know about the baking and pastry industry. This updated edition is an indispensable guide." — En-Ming Hsu

"It is not often that a pastry text elicits the exclamation: 'What a fantastic book!' With hundreds of recipes and plenty of photographs, this book is well suited to a variety of eager readers, from first-time students just beginning their journey, to those embarking on a second profession, to the home baker." —Gunther Heiland

"WOW!!! This is the most comprehensive professional baking and pastry book that I have come across in my thirty-five years of working in the industry. It offers a complete array of basic and advanced recipes, with complete information on ingredients and tools as well as the most recent methods and techniques." — Biagio Settepani

"The Culinary Institute of America has outdone itself with this book. This is the first true, completely illustrated text appropriate for all levels of ability to be published in many years. Its 625 easy-to-follow recipes cover everything from simple breads to wedding cakes and range in difficulty from basic to advanced. Congratulations." — Norman Love

"From perfect croissants to elegant wedding cakes, this book will become the essential tool of apprentices and chefs alike. The talent of The Culinary Institute of America staff shines through this masterpiece. They have pulled together reference techniques, recipes, and sources that will assist pastry chefs in their daily quest for perfection." — Gilles Renusson

Exclusive Recipe Excerpts from Baking & Pastry

Croissants

Sunflower Seed Rolls

From the Back Cover

"The Culinary Institute of America holds nothing back in its mission to provide students, professionals, and enthusiasts with everything they need to know about the baking and pastry industry. This updated edition is an indispensable guide." — En-Ming Hsu

"It is not often that a pastry text elicits the exclamation: 'What a fantastic book!' With hundreds of recipes and plenty of photographs, this book is well suited to a variety of eager readers, from first-time students just beginning their journey, to those embarking on a second profession, to the home baker." —Gunther Heiland

"WOW!!! This is the most comprehensive professional baking and pastry book that I have come across in my thirty-five years of working in the industry. It offers a complete array of basic and advanced recipes, with complete information on ingredients and tools as well as the most recent methods and techniques." — Biagio Settepani

"The Culinary Institute of America has outdone itself with this book. This is the first true, completely illustrated text appropriate for all levels of ability to be published in many years. Its 625 easy-to-follow recipes cover everything from simple breads to wedding cakes and range in difficulty from basic to advanced. Congratulations." — Norman Love

"From perfect croissants to elegant wedding cakes, this book will become the essential tool of apprentices and chefs alike. The talent of The Culinary Institute of America staff shines through this masterpiece. They have pulled together reference techniques, recipes, and sources that will assist pastry chefs in their daily quest for perfection." — Gilles Renusson

Product Details

• Hardcover: 944 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (May 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047005591X
• ISBN-13: 978-0470055915
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 1.8 x 11.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #22 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Baking > Pastry
  • #75 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Hospitality, Travel & Tourism

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 68 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit disappointed September 8, 2010

By Toobzymom

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am curious how deep some of the individuals with the rave reviews have actually delved into this book?! Yes, it is 'beautiful' and exhaustive in its recipes and techniques, and in many ways it is an indispensible tool for any pastry student. However, this book is full of errors. The typos, indicating a lack of adequate proofreading, I would not expect in a book of this professional and teaching level, but the greatest transgression is the errors in the recipes themselves - incorrect baking times and temperatures, incorrect quantities - I am only four weeks into a pastry course and we have found numerous errors with recipes that require adjusting. I was truly excited to try most of the amazing recipes, but now am concerned I will be wasting time and money except on recipes we have "pre-tested" in the course I am taking. I must say, overall I am disappointed that the book is not living up to my expectations. Do not judge this book by its cover...sadly, the cover is better than the contents.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Save your money December 8, 2010

By A. Barnes

Format:Hardcover

Used this book for my C.A. Baking and Pastry class. There seemed to be more recipes with errors (or perhaps just bad recipes overall) than good, usable recipes. A few of the recipes were quite good, but I hesitate to risk wasting my money on recipes from the book that were not tested in class (unless I compare them with another similar recipe first, and who wants to go to that trouble?). I heard Bo Friberg's book The Professional Pastry Chef: Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry, 4th Editionis excellent and plan to invest in it for myself for Christmas.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Errors found but still a good book. July 11, 2010

By Ricky E. Daniels

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Found four errors, three mathematical in the recipes. I contacted the publisher and was to hear back but I never did; for example the croissant dough recipe, the flour amount is listed in grams but obviously should have been kg.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book may have started my career July 15, 2011

By Corshi

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I can't recommend this book enough! About a year ago, I didn't know the first thing about yeast breads. I started with Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day, and from there became obsessed with breads and pastries. Feeling completely disappointed in traditional cookbooks (Betty Crocker, Better Homes and Gardens, Joy of Cooking, etc), I looked for a book that had it all. A book that had traditional and professional BAKERY recipes, not grandma or home-shortcut recipes.

This book has it all. For example, to make the perfect blueberry muffin: cream butter and sugar for 5-10 minutes on high with a mixer (yes, that long; Betty Crocker doesn't tell you that), use vegetable oil in addition to this, buttermilk, flour, eggs, etc and various flavorings, and there you are: a bakery muffin. Not a just-okay home-made muffin, but bakery muffin. Don't know how to cream butter and sugar? Flip back a few pages for a whole instruction on the principles of the creaming-mixing method and how to do it. Again, you won't find anything like that in a Joy of Cooking book (besides perhaps a simple "cream the butter and sugar" in the instructions). The creaming mixing method, the blending method, the two-stage mixing method, angel food mixing method, cold and warm foaming methods, separated foam mixing method, combination mixing method, chiffon mixing methods: it's all here. Croissants, pies, breads, simple sauces that will elevate your strawberry shortcakes to new heights, it's all here. In all it's 1,000 or so pages where no space was wasted.

I've studied this book on my own at home for the past year. I've made everything I can. Of course, it's not perfect for the home baker.... Recipes must be scaled down in cases, which may result in a failure of the recipe (pound cake and high-ratio cakes). That's to be expected.

If you want to learn how to bake, and can't afford the education, THIS is it. This book contains what the professional bakers know, and home bakers don't. Of course this book won't be able to supply you with everything you need for your education: take some classes on the hardest techniques you just can't learn on your own, or search for videos on the internet of the techniques. But take the extra effort to really learn the principles and mechanics of baking.

This book has definitely helped place me into my first baker/pastry chef position at a reputable bakery. Perhaps a career I will continue for the rest of my life. There is still much more to learn, but I'll always have this book on hand as my guidance and resource. Read more ›

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars master this book and you will master baking June 5, 2010

By J. Crowell

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

great book with alot of recipes and techniques. Need to understand how to convert measurements as the recipes are weight measurements and are scaled for mass producing. IN other words a single recipe yields 6 cakes not 1 and asks for oz of eggs and pounds of sugar rather than 2 eggs and a cup of sugar. A bit confusing and a little annoying for the homebaker to have to go through and figure out the proper recipe usage in order to attempt one. Otherwise the book is invaluable for anyone who wants professional results in their baking.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't Waste Your Money December 11, 2012

By Lisa H

Format:Hardcover

It's a shame that the CIA has put thier name on this book. It was my text book for pastry school and I agree with the other reviewers that it has horrible recipes in it. A lot of our products did not turn out as they should have. It als lacks pictures of how the items should look. I would recommend if you are selecting a text book for a class to use "How Baking Works" or "Bakewise" at least these books will aid in troubleshooting recipes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Baking and Pastry, Mastering the Art of the Craft March 14, 2011

By Sharon Thompson

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is not your everyday cookbook.. This is for those who want to learn all the whys and wherefores of how receipes evolve.. Basically for students who want to progress in their craft.. I loved it and am still learning something new each day.. Wonderful receipes, tho usually for large batch pies, cakes etc.. I recommend this to people who enjoy learning "more"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT! November 19, 2010

By DSx1

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I highly recommend the purchase of this textbook. Currently I'm a student in a well known Culinary School in Puerto Rico. I've noticed that the chef was using our school textbook and this one. We've tested the recipes out and they had a greater flavor, texture and work really well in comparison to our other textbook. I would prefer this book over On Baking a million times! If you're a culinary student you will love this textbook! =D