From Publishers Weekly
Packed as tightly as a cup of brown sugar, this tome on home baking is sure to become a classic reference. Malgieri (Great Italian Desserts, Perfect Pastry) distills years of teaching and experience into these detailed recipes for virtually every savory or sweet yeast bread, quick bread, muffin, pastry, dough and batter. Recipes are thorough and include descriptions of how batters and doughs are supposed to appear at each stage of preparation. "If it still looks a little curdled, that's O.K.," writes Malgieri, depicting the addition of eggs to a rich, cheesy batter for Parmesan bread. "Hold each peeled peach gently in your left hand over a mixing bowl (if you are left handed, reverse)" begins his 93-word description of how to efficiently slice a peach. Such advice, along with other hints for success and some of the more methodical of recipes, may slow down the more experienced baker, but for a beginner, Malgieri's approach is like panne from heaven. Advice on stocking the baker's pantry, lists of mail-order sources for such ingredients as pearl sugar or pizza yeast and an index nicely finish off this collection of more than 400 recipes.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Author of Great Italian Desserts (LJ 12/90) and Nick Malgieri's Perfect Pastry (LJ 10/15/89), Malgieri is the director of the baking program at Peter Kump's Cooking School in New York City. In his ambitious new book, he presents a good introduction to the world of baking, covering breads, savory pastries, and sweet baked goods of all kinds. Chapters are organized as an extended cooking course, with fundamental techniques included in earlier recipes, more complicated skills in the later ones. Most of the recipes could be regarded as minilessons, and chapter introductions and headnotes provide essential information on a variety of topics. The recipes include standards as well as a decent selection of specialties from other cuisines?in short, a good sampler of baked goods from Irish Soda Bread to Petits Pains au Chocolat. Highly recommended.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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