Synopses & Reviews
"This is a very serious, knowledgeable, and important book that is at the same time exciting and great fun."
from the foreword by Jacques PepinThe Secrets of Baking is a comprehensive primer that guides the cook through the world of baked goods and other desserts, from time-honored classics of the French patisserie to the inspired and fanciful creations that made Spago the famous restaurant it is today. At the same time, it advances a radically new understanding of these recipes, one that will give the baker greater flexibility and confidence in the kitchen.
Instead of grouping desserts into traditional categories (pies, cakes, cookies), Sherry Yard arranges them around crucial master recipes. Starting with these recipes simple, basic guidelines for making caramel, chocolate sauce, lemon curd, pound cake, and brioche, to name just a few Yard shows the cook how to create dozens of variations. Knowing how ingredients interact opens the door to a multitude of baking possibilities. For example, cream puff dough forms the foundation for eclairs, profiteroles, and the caramel-coated tower the French call croquembouche, but understanding how and why it behaves the way it does allows the cook to create deep-fried beignets, mascarpone-filled cannolis, or simmering-hot dumplings.
This authoritative, friendly bake-shop bible contains fascinating mini-lessons on food science, illuminating bits of baking history, and time-saving tips. Newcomers to the world of baking will feel at ease with such simple, homey desserts as Banana Bread and Mississippi Mud Pie, and elaborate show-stoppers like Chocolate Brioche Sandwich with Espresso Gelato and Blackberry-Lime-Filled Doughnuts with Blackberry Sorbet and Berries will transform amateur bakers into expert pastry chefs.
Review
"Yard...has an easy didactic style that comes across in her spunky text and straightforward recipes. A wide range of recipes makes the book accessible to all level, allowing novices to become comfortable with pastry basics and professional to combine multiple recipes to create more complicated confections." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Immensly appealing...Detailed and clearly written...Yard's book is approachable enough for the novice and even challenging enough for the experienced baker."
Review
"The tone of Sherry Yard's book makes her feel like a new best friend who just happens to be the pastry chef at the most famous restaurant in tinsletown.....she takes the well-codified genre of desserts and sets it down in a new way, using recipes and techniques as building blocks....I'm not a pastry chef, but I find this volume almost empowering" -- Gourmet
Review
"Yard...has an easy didactic style that comes across in her spunky text and straightforward recipes. A wide range of recipes makes the book accessible to all level, allowing novices to become comfortable with pastry basics and professional to combine multiple recipes to create more complicated confections." Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
"A sensational sweet treat . . . A practical paean to premier pastries." Bookpage
"Yard gives us the lowdown on how to make restaurant-glamorous desserts at home. What a treat to be let in on the secrets of one of L.A.'s best pastry chefs." Los Angeles Times
"Immensly appealing...Detailed and clearly written...Yard's book is approachable enough for the novice and even challenging enough for the experienced baker." Library Journal Starred
"likely to be as influential for the next generation of pastry chefs as that of her fellow Angelena Nancy Silverton."-New York Times Book Review
New York Times Book Review Notable Book
"The tone of Sherry Yard's book makes her feel like a new best friend who just happens to be the pastry chef at the most famous restaurant in tinsletown.....she takes the well-codified genre of desserts and sets it down in a new way, using recipes and techniques as building blocks....I'm not a pastry chef, but I find this volume almost empowering" -- Gourmet Gourmet
Synopsis
The Secrets of Baking is a comprehensive primer that guides the cook through the world of baked goods and other desserts, from time-honored classics of the French patisserie to the inspired and fanciful creations that made Spago the famous restaurant it is today. At the same time, it advances a radically new understanding of these recipes, one that will give the baker greater flexibility and confidence in the kitchen.
Instead of grouping desserts into traditional categories (pies, cakes, cookies), Sherry Yard arranges them around crucial master recipes. Starting with these recipes -- simple, basic guidelines for making caramel, chocolate sauce, lemon curd, pound cake, and brioche, to name just a few -- Yard shows the cook how to create dozens of variations. Knowing how ingredients interact opens the door to a multitude of baking possibilities. For example, cream puff dough forms the foundation for eclairs, profiteroles, and the caramel-coated tower the French call croquembouche, but understanding how and why it behaves the way it does allows the cook to create deep-fried beignets, mascarpone-filled cannolis, or simmering-hot dumplings.
This authoritative, friendly bake-shop bible contains fascinating mini-lessons on food science, illuminating bits of baking history, and time-saving tips. Newcomers to the world of baking will feel at ease with such simple, homey desserts as Banana Bread and Mississippi Mud Pie, and elaborate show-stoppers like Chocolate Brioche Sandwich with Espresso Gelato and Blackberry-Lime-Filled Doughnuts with Blackberry Sorbet and Berries will transform amateur bakers into expert pastry chefs.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 376) and index.
About the Author
Jacques Ppin is the author of twenty-one cookbooks, including the best-selling The Apprentice and the award-winning Jacques Ppin Celebrates and Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home (with Julia Child). He has appeared regularly on PBS programs for more than a decade, hosting over three hundred cooking shows. A contributing editor for Food & Wine, he is the dean of special programs at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. Before coming to the United States, he served as personal chef to three French heads of state.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Foreword by Jacques Pand#233;pin xiii Introduction 1 My Bakeshop Rules 4
Ganache 10 From Chocolate Sauce to Chocolate Souffland#233; and Deep, Dark Chocolate Tart
Caramel 43 From crunchy to creamy to clear: Pecan Pralines, Caramel Custard Tart, Oven-Roasted Caramel Anjou Pears, and more
Curd 71 From a basic lemon-curd filling for pies, tarts, cakes, and cookies to Lemon Pudding Cakes and Lime Fondue
Vanilla Sauce 87 From Vanilla Sauce to Crcme Bruland#233;e
Pand#226;te r Choux 114 From Cream Puffs and Profiteroles to Beignets and Cannoli
Pound Cake and Gand#233;noise 136 From Marble Cake to Buttermilk Birthday Cupcakes
Financier 162 The easiest cake in the world
Cookies 176 Variations on a Technique: from crisp sugar cookies to tender powdered- sugar cookies to chewy Snickerdoodles and Triple Chocolate Fudge Cookies
Pie and Tart Dough 205 Flaky and sweet crust s : from Almond Pie Dough to Chocolate Short Dough
Brioche 223 Coffeecake, Sticky Buns, Panettone, Challah, and more
Laminated Dough 264 From Puff Pastry to Classic Croissants to rich Apple Turnovers
Fruit 293 From Blackberry-Merlot Sauce to Roasted Voodoo Vanilla Pineapple
Master Combinations 306 The pantry of the imagination: from Thumbprint Lime Meltaways to Frozen Hot Chocolate Tower
Baking Terms 326 Basic Tools 336 Ingredients 348 Suppliers 375 Bibliography 376 Index 377