International Association of Culinary Professionals 2001 Cookbook of the Year
International Association of Culinary Professionals 2001 Best Cookbook in the "Bread, Other Baking and Sweets" Category

Regan Daley's first encounter with a vanilla bean was an epiphany. The intoxicating aroma bore no comparison to the bottled vanilla she'd been schooled to depend on. Why had none of the books she'd read prepared her for this? Naturally, a creme anglaise made with vanilla extract could not compare to one infused with the dark seeds of a fat, sticky bean.

Now, with In the Sweet Kitchen, Regan Daley turns dessert making into a sweet kitchen adventrue for expert and beginner alike. With this comprehensive, professional-quality baking reference, anyone can make a fantastic cake, cream, cookie, pie, pudding, and more! The secret is in the technique and the high-quality ingredients.

In the Sweet Kitchen begins with an examination of the necesary tools and techniques of the baker's art, from saucepans to baking pans, crimpers to sifters; from measuring to garnishing, molding to whipping. Included is practical advice on when (and why) to invest in expensive equipment — and when you don't have to.

An astounding guide to baker's ingredients follows. Hundreds of flours, sweeteners, oils, leaveners, and fruits are described in detail — their tastes and textures, along with information on how to select, use, store, and substitute ingredients in recipes. INdispensable charts such as Flavor Pairings inspire improvisation and new taste combinations.

All this is complemented by over 140 of Regan's favorite recipes, both comforting and seductive. Recipes range from the sophisticated and decadent Olive Oil and Sweet Wine Cake and Quince and Brioche Bread Pudding with Dried Sour Cherries to the fun and spontaneous Realy, REALLY Fudgey Brownies and World's Sexiest Sundae.

For bakers in the know, In the Sweet Kitchen will serve as the definitive refernce for ingredients from basic to rare and an incredible collection of dessert recipes. For the novice, it's a practical and reassuring guide to the once mysterious art of baking. Enter these pages and fall in love with In the Sweet Kitchen.

"Daley, who worked as a pastry chef in some of Toronto's top restaurants, has an engaging conversational style, and even the most inexperienced home cook will find her book as unintimidating as it is informative. Professionals, too, will find it a handy reference." Library Journal

"This whopping cookbook is one of the best investments anyone interested in baking could make." Calgary Sun

"I was smitten....[Daley] writes extremely detailed and user-friendly recipes. She's there at your elbow, Julia Child style....Indispensable." The New York Times

"So arrestingly comprehensive that it redefines definitive... No cookbook shelf will be complete without it." Quill & Quire

AH, DESSERT.

It's the ultimate comfort food. A simple crumble, with all its memories of childhood. A slice of still-warm blueberry pie. That chocolate truffle with just a hint of chestnut melting away so mysteriously. Yet many cooks are intimidated by the idea of preparing these delights themselves.

Professional pastry chef Regan Daley maintains that baking is no mystery. Anyone, she insists, can make a fabulous dessert - as long as the ingredients are chosen with care. The components of most desserts are few, so they must be of the highest quality. She knows firsthand how fresh butter or the right chocolate can transform a simple cake. She knows the stunning difference between a silky lemon curd made from the juice of fat lemons and one made from bottled juice, that shortcakes made with bland, pulpy strawberries shipped three thousand miles can't compare with those made with rice, red local fruit and fresh cream.

In the Sweet Kitchen will help you navigate through the world of sweet cooking, providing extensive information on hundreds of ingredients, from vanilla beans to rose water to durian fruit. It explains how to select, store and best use baking elements as common as cornstarch or flour and as unusual as cloudberries or manuka honey. It unlocks the simple secret of truly great desserts - knowing your ingredients:

the best kind of cocoa to use for dark, fudgy brownies

the differences among cream of coconut, creamed coconut and coconut and coconut cream

which vanilla bean is best in poached pears

This ultimate cookbook/reference volume makes it all clear, and also provides hundreds of invaluable tips and techniques Regan mastered during her professional career.

In addition, Regan offers practical advice on equipment: Do you really need a state-of-the-art apple corer? Will using nonstick pans affect the outcome of your baked goods? Indispensable table such as the Baking Pan substitution Chart and the Cake Troubleshooting Chart help you modify your recipes - or figure out what went wrong. And the unique Flavor Pairing Chart is a must for inspiration and a list of great partners.

Regan shares more than 150 of her favorite desserts, both simple and seductive. Thick slices of Toasted Hazelnut Pound Cake are perfect for a picnic; Oven-Roasted Pears with Red Wine and a Gratin of Goat's Cheese make a sensational finale to an elegant dinner party; Pumpkin and Orange Breakfast Cake with a Fresh Orange Syrup is great any time of day. There are homey desserts with special twists - Guava Cheesecake, the World's Sexiest Sundae - not to mention addictive brownies, mouthwatering pies, nostalgic cobblers, mousses, ice creams, quick breads, fritters and more.

This is the essential reference for home bakers and professional patissiers alike.

WINNER Cookbook of the Year

WINNER Best Cookbook in the "Bread, Other Baking and Sweets" Category

"So arrestingly comprehensive that it redefines definitive.

No cookbook shelf will be complete without it."

This whopping cookbook is one of the best investments anyone interested in baking could make."

FOR EVERYONE WHO'S EVER BEEN STUMPED by a problem while baking or has had a question about an ingredient, a piece of equipment or the best technique, here are all the answers in one essential reference, along with recipes to please every baker and results to please every taste.

More than 250 pages detailed the unique qualities of 700 baker's ingredients and how to use them to best advantage.

Short on a certain ingredient? Missing the right-size baking pan? Consult one of the 50-plus pages of extraordinarily informative substitution and troubleshooting charts and lists.

Learn the art of layering flavors, using different forms of the same ingredient in one dessert. Move beyond carrots in baking to experience the larger world of sweet vegetables. Pair flavors to create depth, complexity and inspired variations.

More than 150 recipes from the pastry chef's home kitchen, all flavorful, all sumptuous, all doable.

Regan Daley has worked as a pastry chef in some of Toronto's most prominent restaurants, including the celebrated Avalon (named by Gourmet as one of the best in North America), where her elegant and original dessert creations, such as Valrhona Molten Chocolate Cakes, quickly became household words. She now conducts dessert and pastry-making seminars and is a contributing editor for President's Choice Magazine. She lives in Toronto with her husband and their twin sons. The International Association of Culinary Professionals named In the Sweet Kitchen both 2001 IACP Cookbook of the Year and winner in the Bread, Other Baking and Sweets Category. The book is also the Frankfurt Award Winner for the International Cookbook Review's Best Pastry Book Project. In the Sweet Kitchen is the author's first book.

Dear Reader (XII)

Introduction (I)

TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES (3)

Tools for the Baker (5)

Baking Pan Substitution Chart (41)

A few Tips and Techniques for Better Baking (44)

Cake Troubleshooting Chart (66)

Sugar Syrup Cookery Chart (72)

A Simple Guide to Garnishing (76)

THE INGREDIENTS (89)

Ingredients in the Sweet Kitchen (91)

Flours, Grains, and Gelling Agents (93)

Sugar and Other Sweeteners (119)

Fats (142)

Dairy Products (162)

Eggs (178)

Leaveners (193)

Liquids in Baking (202)

Salt (206)

Flavourings (209)

Nuts, Fruits and Sweet Vegetables (251)

Ingredient Substitution Chart (335)

Flavour Pairing Chart (352)

THE RECIPES (369)

Recipes from the Sweet Kitchen (371)

Cakes and Tea Cakes (373)

Pies and Tarts (443)

Cookies and Bars (483)

Custards, Puddings and Mousses (527)

Ice Cream and Other Frozen Desserts (551)

Fruit Desserts (567)

Quick Breads, Sweet Yeast Breads and Fritters (601)

Garnishes, Sauces and Basic Recipes (631)

Appendices (661)

Bibliography (669)

Index (675)