texasmesquite

Must Have Cookbooks: Baking Illustrated
Kim Kunaniec
SF Baking Examiner -Source: DallasExaminer.com

Baking Illustrated
I am obsessed with cookbooks and have too many in my collection. However, there is one baking tome that I go back to more than any other book and that is Baking Illustrated, by the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine.
Baking Illustrated features both sweet and savory recipes, from quick breads to bar cookies. However, it is not just a recipe book. The formidable, 500-page book is filled with articles and advice to improve your baking success and fix problems that you encounter.
Baking Ingredients and Equipment Explanations
One of the best features of Baking Illustrated is the section about common baking ingredients and equipment. It includes information, tips, and little known facts to help your baking turn out the best it can. Novice bakers will certainly benefit from the straight-forward writing style, while even experienced home chefs can learn something new. The editors have tested many of the ingredients that they discuss to find out exactly what the differences are and how you can use them to your advantage. In their tests, they consistantly put San Francisco's Ghirardelli chocolate at the top of the pack, even above many of the expensive European brands.
Illustrations
Not all of the recipes in Baking Illustrated have photographs, but there is a section in the center of the book featuring some of the most beautiful breads, calzones, cakes and biscuits. Some of the other recipes include sketched illustrations of the steps necessary. One of the most useful sections in the book is called "Common Baking Problems and How to Avoid Them." This begins with a list of things to remember before you start baking, and then illustrates with photographs many of the top mistakes that can be made. Learn how to bake perfect cookies, prevent cracked cheesecakes, frost a layer cake or make flaky pie dough.
Baking Illustrated is comprehensive and easy to follow. Foodies may find themselves reading it like a novel!