Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours [Hardcover]

Kim Boyce (Author), Quentin Bacon (Photographer), Nancy Silverton (Foreword), Amy Scattergood (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2010

Baking with whole-grain flours used to be about making food that was good for you, not food that necessarily tasted good, too. But Kim Boyce truly has reinvented the wheel with this collection of 75 recipes that feature 12 different kinds of whole-grain flours, from amaranth to teff, proving that whole-grain baking is more about incredible flavors and textures than anything else.  

When Boyce, a former pastry chef at Spago and Campanile, left the kitchen to raise a family, she was determined to create delicious cakes, muffins, breads, tarts, and cookies that her kids (and everybody else) would love. She began experimenting with whole-grain flours, and Good to the Grain is the happy result. The cookbook proves that whole-grain baking can be easily done with a pastry chef’s flair. Plus, there’s a chapter on making jams, compotes, and fruit butters with seasonal fruits that help bring out the wonderfully complex flavors of whole-grain flours.

Praise for Good to the Grain:

“Boyce started playing with a variety of flours when she took a break from restaurant kitchens and wrote her first cookbook, Good to the Grain, a whole grains baking bible that won a coveted James Beard Foundation Award this year.”

—O Magazine

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kim Boyce is a former pastry chef (at Spago and Campanile). She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, who is a chef at Spago, and two daughters. While at Campanile, she helped Nancy Silverton with her Sandwich Book (Knopf, 2002) and has cooked alongside chefs like Mario Batali, Claudia Fleming, Lidia Bastianich, Alice Waters, and Anthony Bourdain. She has contributed to Bon Appetit and has been featured in the Los Angeles Times on numerous occasions (both as subject and contributor).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang; 1st Printing edition (March 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584798300
• ISBN-13: 978-1584798309
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking by Ingredient > Rice & Grains

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

424 of 435 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Baking "with" whole grains, but not "of" them May 2, 2010

By Alicia

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is gorgeous, and a great choice for those who are trying to add variety to their baking and sneak in some whole grain goodness. I admit to being disappointed though when I got it and realized that the majority of recipes call for a significant amount of all-purpose white flour. After all the glowing reviews I had hoped that somehow (miraculously!) someone had finally figured out how to make these delicious treats without it. She addresses this head-on at the start of the book and talks about the compromises she's had to make to retain the texture and loft of the baked goods, but I hadn't seen it mentioned in any reviews so I wasn't aware of it when I purchased it online. I'll still enjoy it, and look forward to happily making many of these delicious recipes. I'll just make them less frequently than if they were "of" whole grain rather than "with" whole grain.

84 of 86 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing cookbook, batting 1000 so far. March 9, 2010

By M. Curnutt

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am so impressed with this cookbook. I've posted pics of some of the things I've tried out of it so far -- the whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, the Spelt Flour Currant scones and the Sweet Potato Muffins (with buttermilk, yogurt and medjool dates). All 3 recipes I followed pretty much to the T, and all 3 came out just fantastic. Really, really good stuff. I can't wait to try more of these recipes. It is so fun to work with the different flours, and apparently Kim put a whole lot of care and precision into making sure that each of these recipes works just right. I'm very, very happy with this purchase and can wholeheartedly recommend this cookbook to anyone interested in trying out baking with new types of flour. A+

50 of 54 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes you feel like a REAL baker! April 4, 2010

By Cottage Wood Hill

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love this book! I just know it's going to change my life. I've never been confident about baking, er, I should say I never was, but I am now. I heard Kim interviewed on the radio and when she was talking about all the different flours it really opened up the whole idea of baking to me. I had no idea there were so many interesting possibilities with all these different grain flours.

I bought two copies of her book and gave one to a baker friend. I've had it two weeks and have made five things: cast-iron flatbread, corn gruyère muffins, cheddar biscuits, sand cookies, and tonight the olive oil bread. All of them have been fantastic. I made the flatbread and asked my boyfriend to make some kind of fajitas with it, and he did and we were in heaven. We took Kim's suggestion on the muffins and he made chili to go with them. A couple of nights ago I made the sand cookies at midnight and making them without a bowl or utensils was like a meditation. Only your hands and it really looked and felt like sand. Was a wonderful experience and would be fun for kids learning how to bake.

Tonight I made the olive oil cake with rosemary and bittersweet chocolate. Was crazy good, like a cross between bread and cake. I really can't stand super sweet things so this was perfect. My housemate, who has tried all of them, said it was the best so far, and she has been raving the whole time. She gave me notice she was moving out before I got the book but said I was making it really hard to leave with all this baking I'm doing! Oh, and I forgot to mention that before I started on the first recipe, I went out and bought all the flours she uses in the book, so I would be prepared. I'm just so excited to keep baking, and to try the next recipe. She is really creative and has clearly put a lot of thought into this book.

I have so much anticipation for each recipe because they are all consistently wonderful. As soon as I finish one, in my mind I say, "Ok, which one will I make next?" I'm possessed with the new desire to bake, and all my friends love it. My only criticism would be that she doesn't mention how many each recipe will serve, but I do love the way she clearly puts out the ingredients and separates them into "wet mix" and "dry mix". I'm totally hooked and can't wait to make ALL the recipes, and then buy her next book!