Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

`Martha Stewart's Cooking Handbook' is Martha Stewart Omnimedia's first book since Miss Martha has been out of the slammer, and it is her first big book in several years. That, combined with the fact that it's name promises to be a serious manual on baking techniques gives me high expectations for this new title. I am really happy to say the book meets or even exceeds my expectations on almost all points. Like the famous `Boy Scout Handbook' which is exclusively a `how to' book on all the basics, this volume covers virtually all the essential baking techniques, without going into any long explanations on why these are the best techniques. Thus, unlike Sherry Yard's excellent `The Secrets of Baking' or Shirley Corriher's `Cookwise' or Alton Brown's `I'm Just Here for More Food', this book spends no time dwelling on how biscuit baking is very similar to pie crust baking or that cheesecake is not really cake, but a custard pie. Instead, Martha and her very large and expert staff of magazine and book writers, editors, and photographers have assembled and excellent tutorial on most of the basic baking skills. There is another way in which this book is different from most conventional books on baking. It is in the tone I first detected in Martha Stewart's flagship classic, `Entertaining' where she takes the stance of an amateur with good taste and good learning skills, rather than the role of a professional who is showing us amateurs how it's done. This is not to say that we amateurs can't learn a lot from all the baking professionals out there like Peter Reinhart, Rose Levy Beranbaum, Nick Malgieri, and Gayle Ortiz. It's just that Miss Martha sees things from our side of the kitchen counter. This may not explain all the good qualities of this book, but it helps. I think this attitude and the great skill in both describing and picturing techniques means this book is a superb introduction for the beginner, and even for the teen and preteen bakers among us. Lots of books use photographs or drawings to illustrate techniques, but the presence of the pictures is not an automatic path to clarity of presentation. The technique illustrating pictures in this book are simply superb. They seem to leave nothing to the imagination, as when they provide simple pictures illustrating what packed brown sugar looks like, how to measure across the top of a baking pan, and how to prepare the bottom of baking pans with butter, parchment round, followed by more butter. All the photographic experience that has been acquired by doing a monthly magazine has been put to good use. While a purist may object to some elements of this book's organization, it is excellent for a beginner or even an intermediate amateur. Instead of giving us a chapter on quick breads, the book starts with a chapter entitled `Simple Baked Goods' which cover biscuits (five different methods), muffins (four recipes), popovers, scones (four recipes), quick breads (five recipes, including cornbread and Irish soda bread), and cakes (seven recipes). Rather than putting all the tutorial material on techniques in the front of the book, the photo tutorials begin each relevant chapter. So, the first chapter includes lessons on cutting butter into biscuit dough, making and cutting scones, cutting biscuits, and preparing muffin tins. Other specifics appear as sidebars to individual recipes. Thus, the correct method for filling popover pans is shown together with the one popover recipe. The next chapter is on `Cookies'. Just as with the `simple' recipes, the chapter begins with an introduction on good techniques for making cookies, a photo gallery of cookie making tools and tutorials on cookie techniques. Also like the first section, the selection of recipes is very well done. The forty-two recipes certainly don't cover all the ground you will find in a full book on cookies, but a lot of very popular recipes are here. I was particularly interested in the recipe for nut crescents and I was very pleased to find a good representation of exactly now to form the crescents before baking so that the cookies would bake evenly. My favorite subject, yeast breads, is in the next to last chapter on `Yeasted Baked Goods'. Here again, the choice of recipes is excellent, covering virtually all the major bases with at least one or two examples of each major type of European bread, except for naturally yeasted sourdoughs. All recipes use active dry yeast. A professional baker may prefer fresh yeast and some writers are particularly fond of instant yeast, but I first learned yeast baking with active dry yeast and both of the other types have their disadvantages for the amateur. One possible dissonance is the fact that pate brisee recipes (pies, tarts, galettes, etc) and other pastry recipes such as puff pastry and pate a choux are in two different chapters, separated by yeast breads. From a practical point of view, for a `handbook' of techniques, I consider this entirely unobjectionable. One thing I really like about the individual recipes is that in addition to the fact that they seem to leave no important detail out, they also do not introduce a lot of tricks and gimmicks. While I have seen pate brisee recipes with all sorts of different additives to make them work better, Martha Stewart gives us the simplest recipe possible made with flour, salt, butter, and water, period, plus a really nice pictorial tutorial on how to put it all together. Aside from the generally friendly tone and the homey introduction from Martha, there is none of the chatter in headnotes and sidebars you will find in many books. This is all business. I strongly recommend this as a first book on baking techniques and reference for lots of common baking recipes.

I've owned this book for a bit over a year, and it has quickly become one of my favorite baking books (Believe me, I own quite a few). The recipes run the gamut from simple breakfast muffins to rustic cobblers to elegant napoleons. There is even a recipe for a three-tiered wedding cake! Some recipes are quick and easy, while others tend to be very complex and involved, offering options for both the novice and advanced home baker, and allowing the user to grow with the book, trying more difficult recipes as one's skills expand. However, even the most complex of the recipes are laid out and explained clearly. In addition, there are beautiful photos on nearly every page (and most pages have more than one!), showing both finished baked goods and illustrating techniques. I've made quite a few of the recipes in this book and thought I'd share a few of my favorites. There are four cupcake recipes in this book, of which I've tried three. The Maple-Walnut Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream (p. 164) are really excellent. Make more candied walnuts than cupcakes - you'll just want to grab a handful and munch on them while you're garnishing. The Carrot-Ginger Cupcakes (p. 166) were really light and fluffy, although they very mild and not all that carrot cake-y, so that may not be to everyone's taste. But the instructions for making marzipan carrots (with photos!) make them so easy. I've made the One-Bowl Chocolate Cake on p. 168 as both cupcakes and a layer cake, and it's a great go-to basic chocolate cake recipe. The Marble Cake with White Chocolate Glaze (p. 65) is super easy yet impressive - the perfect thing to have with coffee when a friend stops over. Martha's Classic Apple Pie recipe (p. 228) is simple and excellent, and her Pate Brisee (p. 224) is my go-to recipe for pie dough - it works every time. The Tarte Tatin (p. 265) is about as easy as a "company" dessert can get, looking both rustic and fancy at the same time (and it tastes amazing - like candied apples on pie crust; how could you go wrong?) I've made the Fruit Curd Tartlets (p. 258) with both lemon and lime curd (both on p. 390), and while the tartlet molds I used were really small (about 1" - don't do it to yourself!!!) and a huge pain in my [...], everyone loved them and they were gone in a flash. This book makes even difficult, pastry chef-caliber techniques like laminated doughs accessible. I made the from-scratch Puff Pastry on p. 359, and while it took the better part of a day and used a crapload of butter, the difference from frozen, pre-packaged puff pastry was so amazing that I don't ever want to buy it again. I also tried my hand at the Danish Dough (p. 334), and made the Prune Pinwheels and Apricot Bow Ties (p. 336 & 338, respectively). The absolute winner of the book, though, is the Chocolate Babka on p. 352. Coming from a Russian/Polish Jewish background, I've eaten a lot of babkas, but this one was PERFECT. Loaded with chocolate, covered in streusel.... you need to try it. Granted, the recipe calls for 2 rises and with several different components it takes a bit of time to complete, but it also makes three loaves and they freeze beautifully. Eat one, store the other two in the freezer, and you'll have something perfect to bring to a potluck or housewarming at a moment's notice.

Martha Stewart is a gifted cook Very nice book. Well worth the money. Wish I could be her sampler. Love watching her baking classes on TV.

If ever there was an American cookbook you should own, I think this should be the one. I have decided to purchase Martha Stewart baking handbook after visiting her website, looking for birthday cakes ideas. Of course, to be honest, being an admirer of just about everything she makes for many years, the choice wasn't very difficult for me to make. However, now that I have looked through, studied and tried a few recipes myself, I can say in all objectivity that you really don't need to be a fan of Martha's to appreciate the content of her baking handbook. Since January, I have tried about half a dozen recipes so far (and some of them several times already) and every time it has been a big hit. Whether preparing birthday parties, Valentine's Day treats, cupcakes for all occasions or breakfast muffins... I haven't been disappointed. I just love the way things are presented & explained and also that some recipes are very versatile. I also noticed that, so far the ingredients aren't very difficult to find here, in France. It is a beautiful book altogether and when someone in my home sees me taking it of the shelf, they know that "good things" are about to happen in the kitchen. This book makes me want to experiment new things. Now, I am looking forward to trying more new recipes, especially the ones that call for fresh summer fruits. Needless to say, I am very satisfied with this purchase. (Many thanks to you, Lady Martha and your excellent team !)

I describe myself as an avid baker. I'm not a novice but by no stretch do I consider myself an expert. When I get a new cookbook ( yes, I have too many!) there are three things that mean it makes it as far as the bookshelf. The first, is the number of recipes that I like the look of; I hate it when i get get new cookbook and only want to make 1 or 2 recipes from it. The second is the clarity and detail of the recipes - nothing is more infuriating than to be told to put something in a baking tin and bake it; surely the size of the tin makes a difference? The third, and usually the acid test, is how good the end product tastes! This book scores extremely highly on all these, hence a review! The Search facility above will let you browse the contents and a number of the recipes, so I won't re-iterate. I have made at least one item from each chapter to rave reviews. Martha's instruction are second to none; this will be handy for beginners who may not have the experience to know when the right stage is reached. For example, the recipe will ask you to whisk until well combined and also say "approx 3 min" so you know that you are doing it right. There are plenty of handy baking tips to ensure success - even how to measure your ingredients which is the backbone of great baking. Of note, like the majority of American books, the recipes (with the exception of the breads) work with volumes and so you will need a set of measuring cups & jugs and you need to make sure they are not UK measures (which are larger). I got my baking kit when I was in the US but I have seen that my local kitchenware shop stocks the correct sizes. I wouldn't bother trying to convert the measures as I think you will lose the proportions. There is a very handy conversion chart at the back for weights and oven temperatures and UK equivalents for some ingredients (i.e. heavy cream = double cream). The other thing to warn you about is the quantities that the recipes yield. Like our pond-side cousins, they are massive. I have 24 light-as-air yellow butter cupcakes and 6 dozen mexican wedding cookies cooling as we speak, but you may as well only turn the oven on once and bake en-masse. There are suggestions for freezing and keeping, so I think actually while it might save you time, but not your waistline! This is an excellent reference of all things baking and I whole heartedly recommend it for anyone wanting to get into baking.

Una compra genial en todo. El formato quizás un poco grande, pero lo compensa con todo lo que trae. Incluso estando en inglés te enteras perfectamente con las fotos. Pero espero que se traduzca más a esta mujer, que es una crack.

un bel librone, pieno di ricette ognuna correlata da una foto. lei è come sempre una garanzia:) consigliato , anche per chi non ha i misurini americani dato che alla fine del libro c'è una tabella con le convesioni