Book Description
Make the cake?
Yes, you can.
If you love to bake and are willing to plan ahead, you can make a spectacular wedding cake—and you don't have to be a pastry chef to do it! Let prominent wedding cake expert Dede Wilson guide you through every layer of the process—from choosing among flavors and styles to baking, assembling, and decorating your way to a beautiful and delicious cake. This accessible cookbook not only gets you ready for the big event, it helps you lend a truly personal touch to the celebration.
"If you want to make your own wedding cake, Dede Wilson is the perfect guide. She helps you bake with confidence every step of the way to a delicious personalized result."
—Donna Ferrari, BRIDE'S magazine
Customer Reviews:
bought as a gift.......2007-10-04
Bought this as a gift for someone in africa. I usually try to go by other reiviews when I purchase anything online, whether it's something for me but also & especially if it's a gift for someone else. Pictures looked good. Not sure if it is reasonable to expect these cakes to be made by anyone other than somebody with prior know-how. Check out the "See Inside" for details and assess for yourself if it seems to be something anyone could do.
Cake Book.......2007-10-01
This was not what I was expecting. It is for a beginner. Very basic. It does have good ideas for a beginner. And it does show that a person with no decorating abilities can make their own wedding cake. It just won't be real fancy. Which is what I was looking for.
Fantastic Find.......2007-09-03
These recipes are perfect! Not only do the recipes hold up during the course of making the cake, the taste is out of this world. I made a beautiful wedding cake thanks to this book. As a chemist and former chef, I highly recommend this book!!
You gotta get this book!.......2007-08-17
Every now and then you find an author that really speaks to the baker. I have over 200 cookbooks in my possession and rarely have I come across one that is as detailed as Dede Wilson's. This author takes you through step by step instructions and basically ensures your success. Many author's will only give you some of their secrets, but thanks to this author she shares everything you need to know about making wedding cakes.
If you are looking for a "excellent" book on wedding cakes, you gotta get this book.
Wedding Cakes You Can Make.......2007-08-16
I love this book. It answers a lot of questions I had. It's clear and easy to understand. It will be a favorite for many years to come.
Book Description
The Perfect Wedding Cake is an inspirational guide for the bride and groom on how to choose a wedding cake that reflects the style of their wedding. It covers everything they need to know, including how to select a cake design and baker, when to cut and serve the cake, and how to choose delicious flavor combinations and a cake to complement the season. For those who want to bake their cake at home, the book includes basic but delicious cake and frosting recipes created by a leading pastry chef that can be executed in a home kitchen.
Thirty-five full-color photographs of gorgeous wedding cakes showcase a wide variety of inspirational styles and types-from traditional tiered cakes to contemporary alternatives such as jewel-like single-serving cakes-created by some of the most respected chefs working today, including Sylvia Weinstock, FranÁois Payard, Gail Watson, and Ron Ben-Israel. An extensive resource guide of the top wedding cake bakers in the United States completes the book.
Customer Reviews:
Good.......2007-06-27
I ejoyed the contents of the Perfect Wedding Cake. The pictured illustrations were excellent. I was happy with my purchase
Good Book!!!.......2006-11-11
If you want a different wedding cake.. this book its a good option for you!! .. have a lot of pictures and tips for a great cake. Im happy with my book.. and of course with my cake too. :-)
The Perfect Wedding Cake.......2006-06-16
As an experienced cake decorator looking for new ideas, I was not impressed with this book. The examples were a bit staid. I would not even recommend it for new bakers since there are no explicit guidelines for making the decorations, constructing the cakes, etc. I would recommend The Well Decorated Cake by Toba Garrett. The instructions are simple and easy to follow even for the novice. And the recipes are wonderful. I have tested almost every one and had great results the first time.
Not impressed.......2003-07-02
Sadly, I was extremely underwhelmed by this book. It is just a collection of some above-average cake decorating. There are no instructions on how to make the sugar paste flowers or decorations. A better book would be Margaret Braun's Cakewalk. This book, however, is great for beginners or clueless brides. For us pastry folks, I recommend you pass on it.
Coffee Table Book.......2003-06-15
Nice coffee table book for wedding planners and cake decorators.
Average customer rating:
- Fantastic book!
- a simple and easy book for the everyday baker
- Lightened Desserts Done Right. Buy It.
- Reduced Calorie Desserts
- Another winner from Nick Malgieri
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Perfect Light Desserts: Fabulous Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and More Made with Real Butter, Sugar, Flour, and Eggs, All Under 300 Calories Per Generous Serving
Nick Malgieri , and
David Joachim
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Desserts
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Quick & Easy
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Low Cholesterol
| Special Diet
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Low Fat
| Special Diet
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Low-Fat Diet
| Special Conditions
| Diets & Weight Loss
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
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Chocolate and Vanilla
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A Baker's Tour: Nick Malgieri's Favorite Baking Recipes from Around the World
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Tartine
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Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate
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King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking: Delicious Recipes Using Nutritious Whole Grains
ASIN: 0060779292
Release Date: 2006-10-17 |
Book Description
Everybody loves dessert, but nobody loves the calories. Perfect Light Desserts offers recipes for desserts rich enough to satisfy any sweet tooth -- but with sensible calorie counts.
Master baker Nick Malgieri and healthful food expert David Joachim have joined forces to create 125 exceptional desserts without the usual quantities of fats and sugars. The focus is on flavor and texture achieved through balanced ingredient combinations and superior baking techniques. Not a single recipe has more than 300 calories per serving.
The results are nothing short of spectacular, with desserts that range from devil's food cake (complete with fluffy icing) to a lemon custard highlighted with a colorful raspberry sauce. Old-fashioned American favorites such as hermits mingle with sophisticated treats like rum raisin semifreddo and white chocolate raspberry tartlets. Best of all, while these desserts are low-calorie, they are high in flavor. Moist coconut poppy seed coffee cake, juicy blueberry pie, and fudgy brownies don't taste like “diet desserts”; they simply taste great.
All of the recipes here achieve great flavor without resorting to artificial sweeteners or synthetic substitutes. The recipes use moderate amounts of real butter, sugar, flour, and eggs in perfect proportions. Every recipe includes a complete nutritional analysis as well as serving and storage notes. Everybody loves dessert, and now no one has to go without it.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic book!.......2007-02-14
I have by now made six of the recipes in this book, one of them (the brownies) three times. Most cookbooks that I keep have an eight in ten success record. This book, however, is ten out of ten. The brownie recipe is one of the best I've ever tasted and certainly the best I've ever made. The fruitcake ended up being the highlight of a recent holiday potluck. The coconut poppy seed cake was the perfect birthday cake, and the reason I'm reviewing the book at this moment is that I handed a slice of spice cake to a co-worker who praised it for a good three minutes.
I always knew Malgieri was a great baking book author. I didn't realize how great until just this moment. I haven't had a failure yet from this book, and I can't even say that about classics like "The Joy of Cooking." Bravo, Mr. Malgieri!
p.s. Buy this book if you want to make some scrumptious, lower fat and calorie, desserts.
a simple and easy book for the everyday baker.......2007-01-06
I am a starter baker, so my husband bought this book for me as a Christmas present. I love the concept presented here by Nick Malgieri - real ingredients (real butter, real sugar, etc), less the amount, and still delicious desserts. I have tried two recipes so far, and both have turned out well (even though the tart crust contains only THREE tablespoons of butter, a minor miracle indeed!). What I also like about this book is that the ingredients and the equipment are simple and common in local supermarkets. None of the recipes requires fancy, exorbitantly priced rarities from the other side of the world. In addition, the recipes cover a range of dessert genres: chocolates (with an entire section devoted to it), cakes, tarts and pastries, ice creams, cookies. Nick also teaches you the basics of ingredients and baking techniques, along with helpful tips - so the book is educational as well (my husband was reading it for fun the other day!). One thing that this book doesn't have, but that I would've appreciated having, is prep time. Otherwise, no complaints from me. I look forward to trying all the recipes in 2007!
Lightened Desserts Done Right. Buy It........2006-12-29
`Perfect Light Desserts' by baking teacher extraordinare, Nick Malgieri and veteran cookbook author David Joachim is a classic meld of baking technique and substitution cooking, fitting the skills of the two authors. There is probably no other baking writer's work on a `healthy' baking book I would expect more from than Malgieri, since I always go to his books first whenever there is a specific kind of recipe I wish to make. He doesn't always have what I want, but every time I use his recipe, the results exceed my expectations. I have even found better recipes in his book, especially `How to Bake' than I have in books which specialize in the subject I am searching.
David Joachim's contribution is utterly appropriate, as his latest opus was `The Food Substitutions Bible', being an encyclopedia of what ingredients, as in lower calorie for higher calorie, can be swapped for what.
The authors' introduction shows their technique is entirely in the direction I would have hoped. They use no `non-fat' ingredients and no artificial sweeteners, although they do use `lowered' fat products. Just as I am fond of Rachael Ray's take on fast cooking without relying on prepared convenience foods, these authors fill their book with low calorie and low fat recipes by concentrating on those recipes which tend to be lower in the bad stuff to begin with.
There is little mystery to how the recipe slimming is done. First, as stated above, the authors choose recipes that are not high in sugar and fat to begin with. Second, high fat ingredients such as dairy products are replaced with `moderate' fat substitutes or dairy products with extra body such as buttermilk or yogurt. Third, fat is replaced with vegetable products such as applesauce. Fourth, rich icings are removed, so bulking up with rich stuff is an option. The classic examples of all these techniques put together would be a cheesecake recipe replacing cream cheese with ricotta and a carrot cake which makes heavy use of vegetable textures to begin with. Both these examples are also classic cases of picking good recipes to begin with. The ricotta cheesecake is not a diet faddy invention, it is based on an old Neapolitan recipe.
The authors claim to have maintained reasonably sized portions. I suspect a good symptom of the Americans' inflated notion of portion size is that these portions seem just a bit on the small size. When I am not in `dieting' mode, I would not imagine getting 8 portions from a 9-inch fruit pie or even less 16 portions from a 10-inch Bundt pan cake. But, the portions all seem to be of reasonable size, and most of the time, the calorie count for the portion is actually well below the target of 300 calories per portion.
One corollary to the fourth technique above is that there are very few double crusted pie recipes in the book. And, the pie crust recipes are all for a single 9 inch piecrust or maybe a 10 inch tart crust. Virtually the only caveat I have about the book is that unlike some of Malgieri's other books, this is not a serious tutorial on baking techniques. This is not to say there are no good guidelines and lessons here. Just the opposite. It's just that you will do much better with this book if you are already a fairly adept baker. The recipes for the pastry crusts, for example, assume you know most of the tricks of the trade in making a nicely flaky crust with a food processor. I am not overly fond of using the food processor and I do fine with my old-fashioned dough cutter. But, since these recipes use less butter and even less water, I suggest you go along with the recommended food processor technique, as this will work better on the smaller quantities.
On the other side of the coin, I find things in this book that I would expect and do not find in a lot of other books. My favorite is a little table showing when many popular fruits are in season. Unless you are a strict carbophobic, it is clear to both me and the authors that fruit is one of the very best ingredients for healthy desserts.
One thing to take very seriously is that this is not a book on baking in general, but only on DESSERTS. This means there are no recipes for lower calorie biscuits, breads, muffins, or breakfast pastries. But, you do get a generous helping of recipes for vegetable bulked breads.
It is no surprise that the book starts with chocolate, as that seems to be everyone's favorite dessert ingredient (except for my mother, probably because she spent several decades working in a candy factory). The very best news about chocolate is that not only is it not, in itself, fattening, it is literally good for you, just like tea and (dare we hope) coffee. The bad side of chocolate is from the level of sugar added to cut its natural bitterness. The authors accommodate this by using sugar-free baker's chocolate plus complex sweeteners or use Dutch process cocoa power, which is less bitter than unprocessed cocoa powder. My only regret here is that while there are many fine chocolate recipes, a classic chocolate layer cake is not among them. The authors redeem themselves by giving us a `healthy' recipe for chocolate chip cookies (sorry, no nuts). Even better is the even healthier oatmeal raisin cookies. Now why didn't I get this book before Christmas!
Reading this book in December makes one regret that all the best berries and stone fruits are out of season. Just Wait!!!
Reduced Calorie Desserts.......2006-10-27
Malgieri certainly is a fine baker, as his extensive cookbooks demonstrate. Here he teams up with healthfood writer Joachim to provide dessert collection with reduced caloric recipes, each said to be under 300 calories. Each recipe has nutritional breakdown.
They achieve this by reducing or eliminating amount of sugar, butter and eggs. They do not use articial sweeteners or egg substitutes or whole grain flours. One can try and substitute some of this out if glycemic index is important.
There are some fine recipes in this collection with nice large format, paper stock and color photos galore, along with Source recommendations, Ingredients & Equipment discussion. I'm into the likes of Gratin of Summer Berries (with a magnificent sabayon topping); Honey and Hazelnut Biscotti; Earl Grey Panna Cotta; Strawberry Meringue Tart; Chocolate Banana Custard Tart.
Another winner from Nick Malgieri.......2006-10-26
I always trust his books. They have been better than any other baking books I have used. I was a litttle put off that with so few calories the desserts would be good. No need to worry. The brownies alone are worth the price of the book. This is a wonderful book to have right before the holidays.
Average customer rating:
- Best cake cookbook I have ever used!
- Show Stopping Cakes
- Great Receipes
- some recipes are for experts only
- best cake receipes
|
Perfect Cakes
Nick Malgieri
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Cakes
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Desserts
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
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How to Bake: Complete Guide to Perfect Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Tarts, Breads, Pizzas, Muffins,
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A Baker's Tour: Nick Malgieri's Favorite Baking Recipes from Around the World
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Cookies Unlimited
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The Cake Book
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Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers
ASIN: 0060198796 |
Amazon.com
Covering cheesecakes, chocolate cakes, fruit cakes, rolled cakes, filled cakes, meringue cakes, nut cakes, coffee cakes, sponge cakes, and pound cakes, not to mention frostings, fillings, and glazes, Nick Malgieri's Perfect Cakes is a "product of a lifetime of collecting and baking." Malgieri is a much acclaimed cookbook author (Cookies Unlimited), pastry chef, and baking instructor, so he's had a lot of practice presenting recipes in a way that makes them easy to follow. The informative chapter on ingredients and equipment will get you started. Ingredients and baking equipment for each recipe are listed in a yellow box; steps are clearly numbered and storage instructions follow every one.
The recipes come from home bakers who are aunts, grandmothers, friends, and friends of friends, as well as food writers and professional bakers; some also come from Malgieri's kitchen, of course. The delectably moist Orange Poppy Seed Cake is as easy a recipe as you can hope to find, and don't miss his Aunt Virginia's Sour Cream Coffee Cake. The 19th-century Morris Cake is simple yet elegant, and the truly unique Green Tea Pound Cake comes from Paris's Mariage Frères. Beware the decadent Chocolate Pecan Caramel Cake. Whatever the celebration or occasion, there's nothing like a perfect cake--and you're sure to find it here. --Leora Y. Bloom
Book Description
When it's time to celebrate, it's time to bake a cake! When it's time to be creative, it's time to bake a cake! When it's time to find comfort in the kitchen, it's time to bake a cake. From weddings to birthdays to something nice for yourself and your family and guests, nothing marks a special occasion better than a freshly baked cake.
Now renowned baking teacher Nick Malgieri, author of Cookies Unlimited, Chocolate, and How to Bake, shares his flawless recipes and professional techniques for creating a perfect cake every time. From simple to extravagant, the recipes are presented with the same clear, uncomplicated instructions that have made Nick a favorite among firsttime bakers and experts alike. You'll find more than two hundred recipes for all types of cakes, from homey favorites such as Sour Cream Coffee Cake and Classic Angel Food Cake to luscious classics such as Dark and White Chocolate Cheesecake to international showstoppers such as Zuppa Inglese and Chocolate Raspberry Bûche de Noël. Nick shows how to get the best results every time you bake, ensuring that your cheesecake will never crack, your pound cake batter will never separate, and your génoise will always be tender and light.
When the time comes to decorate or fill your cake, there's a wealth of creative ideas, from working with marzipan to piping icing to flavoring ganache and buttercream. Also included are tips on selecting the most flavorful chocolates, fruits, liqueurs, and other ingredients. Tempting color photographs throughout the book will inspire anyone to head into the kitchen. Novice bakers will be reassured and experts challenged with Perfect Cakes, a comprehensive collection of perfect recipes and expert guidance.
Customer Reviews:
Best cake cookbook I have ever used!.......2007-08-06
Every recipe I have tried in this book has turned out "perfect". The texture and the flavors have all been out of this world. I highly recomend this book to anyone with a passion for cakes!
Show Stopping Cakes.......2007-06-18
The cakes come out picture perfect and taste fabulous. I agree with the other reviewers that a certain level of baking experience is needed in order to understand his directions. Beginners could find this book intimidating. Some of the cakes are time consuming and expensive. I would not use those recipes for commercial baking but they make great party desserts. The kind of desserts that build a baker's reputation
Great Receipes.......2007-05-14
Great receipes. Wish that it had pictures for all the cakes receipes.
some recipes are for experts only.......2006-05-24
I tried his chocolate souffle roll. I know that folding melted chocolate in egg whites is no childs play but I expected a chef of his level of expertise to give better tips. The cake went poof on me. I couldn't roll the souffle !! but it tasted so good that i served it anyway. Thats the good thing about chocolate.
i tried his blueberry cake...yum.
best cake receipes.......2006-03-19
I love this book. Every recipe I have tried from this book has come out fantastic and delicious. The chocolate cake is the best I've had and every time I make it everyone says it's delicious. I have given this book as a gift to friends since it's the only cookbook I've ever found in which every single recipe is a good one.
Book Description
For those in the know, The Simple Art of Perfect Baking is a must-have cookbook, a kitchen classic. Now back in print with a durable hardcover - it's a book that gets turned to again and again - this handsome edition with all-new color photographs is ready to advise the next generation of bakers. Flo Braker's meticulously tested recipes give home cooks the confidence they need to create light-as-air cakes, fluffy frostings, creamy fillings, and flaky pie crusts. In addition to her step-by-step instructions, the author shares culinary know-how such as the most reliable doneness test and decorating tips. From basic Puff Pastry and Classic Sponge Cake to elegant Dutch Souffle Torte and Cranberry Pecan Tart, perfect desserts are at hand now that Flo Braker is back on the scene.
Customer Reviews:
Flo Braker is the foremost baker in the Unite States.........2007-09-01
what is there to say. Flo's recipes simply work. i have always lamented that cookbook authors do not recommend that first all important recipe that you attempt when first using their book. and, for that
matter, numbers two and three, also. if the first thing i attempt is not successful i am pretty much finished with the book. but, if the first one was a 'go' then i am more lenient in rating the entire volume. one very, VERY important thing in any baking book is instruction on how the flour in the book's recipes was measured. there are several different methods but if you don't know EXACTLY how the author measured her flour the chances of success are slim. Flo, and before her, Maida Heatter, are two of the very few who give this information. YEA, FLO !
Four recipes all failed.......2006-06-27
I am getting rid of this book. I followed the recipes exactly but got very poor results. The eclair batter was too thin--the eclairs were flat and impossible to fill. The pastry cream recipe should be called "pastry sauce"--also thin, never set up. The almond paste pound cake recipe fell. The white cake recipe had a very nice texture but shrinks a great deal as it cools. Overall I was very disappointed with this book. It gave me the worst results of any cookbook I have tried in recent memory.
Cake Bible.......2006-05-14
This is a wonderful book for experienced and inexperienced cake bakers alike! I learn something new from each recipe I try. I especially love her conceptual approach to baking, by explaining the whys and hows of why we would use a scale versus a measuring cup or why you may want to brush your cakes with a flavored syrup, she really opens your eyes to concepts that I've blown off in the past simply because no one had taken the time to explain why this works over that. It's just so insightful and such a good read that I find myself using this book like a reference book, so it's my new Cake Bible.
Baking in a whole new light..........2005-10-25
I love reading books on baking. Just when I think I know it all I'm always learning more. This book is no exception. Great, easy to follow recipes for the baker ready to move onto the next level. Buy this book!
Great recipe paired with quality instructions on basics.......2005-03-10
This is an absolutely wonderful cookbook. Not only are the recipees delightful, but it contains detailed instructions, and carries you through enough basic techniques and undestanding of ingredients that will help you beyond this book. The recipes range from simple to complex. She also includes recipees for various sauces, syrups, icings, purrees, etc etc that can be mixed and matched to create different cakes with different presentations. This book, however, is primarily about cakes. While it does have a small section on pies and tarts, it is not extensive in that area. If you are looking for an all-encompasing baking book, this may not be the book to purchase. However, if you like cakes, (like me!), this is a great book to read and to work through.
Average customer rating:
- I love this book
- Help! My book is now lined with post-its!...
- Very good baking book
- A great book for beginner and expert alike.
- Authoritative
|
How to Bake: Complete Guide to Perfect Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Tarts, Breads, Pizzas, Muffins,
Nick Malgieri
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Bread
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Cakes
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Muffins
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
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Perfect Cakes
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A Baker's Tour: Nick Malgieri's Favorite Baking Recipes from Around the World
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Cookies Unlimited
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Nick Malgieri's Perfect Pastry: Create Fantastic Desserts by Mastering the Basic Techniques
-
Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers
ASIN: 0060168196 |
Book Description
How To Bake is as necessary and essential as a good oven; it is the most comprehensive and accessible guide to baking available in English. In a single, illustrated volume, Nick Malgieri, one of America's preeminent bakers and baking teachers, leads cooks through the simple art of creating an international assortment of delicious sweet and savory baked goods.
Here are the best recipes for breads, including such quick ones as Buttermilk Corn Bread, Irish Soda Bread, Classic Southern Biscuits, and Currant Tea Scones, as well as such delicious yeast-risen breads as Italian Bread Rings, Swiss Rye Bread, Challah, and English Muffins. Malgieri also offers recipes for savory treats like Old-Fashioned Chicken Pie, Pepper and Onion Frittata Tart, Cheese Quiche, and Rosemary Focaccia; and for sweet pastries ranging from puff pastries--Apple Turnovers, Banana Feuilletés with Caramel Sauce, Brioches, Strawberry Savarin, and Croissants--to pies and tarts, cobblers, and cookies of every stripe--drop, bar, rolled, and filled; brownies, macaroons, and rugelach. Cakes, too, are here, from layered to rolled, from angel to devil's food.
The recipes in How to Bake are clear and methodical. Master recipes explain all the steps to making a classic dish. They are frequently followed by creative variations so that the baker's palate and skills will always be accommodated and challenged. Start out with a simple spice cake, for example, and transform it, under Malgieri's reassuring guidance, into a lavishly decorated celebration cake.
In addition to an exhaustive and tempting selection of recipes, Malgieri offers clear, detailed instructions, interweaving techniques and helpful sidebars: how to make a pastry bag out of parchment paper; what baking pans to buy; mastering pie and cake toppings; learning to decorate a cake so it looks as if it came from the bakery; and scores of other helpful tips. All this is punctuated with precise explanatory illustrations and thirty-two pages of luscious color photographs to inspire and guide the baker. How to Bake is a one-volume "bible" for bakers.
Customer Reviews:
I love this book.......2006-08-24
This is a great cookbook for anyone. Whether you are just starting or are a seasoned baker. The recipes are fantastic and I haven't made one in the book that my family hasn't loved. Check out the Potato Pizza--it is a favorite for my kids. The instructions are very clear in the recipes and the option to use a food processor or a mixer are also available as well as if you are doing it by hand. This is my right hand in the kitchen. I love it!
Help! My book is now lined with post-its!..........2006-05-03
...and "dog-ears" and whatever else I can use to sve the pages of great recipes!
This was a required book for my baking class at school. It is the only school text book I actually wanted to keep after I completed the class!! The bread recipes are great. I now see all the baked breads in the supermarket and specialty stores and smile knowing that this book has helped me to be able to make the same stuff at home for a fraction of the cost. In class we had to learn the recipes without using a Kitchen Aid or food processor. Now that I am baking at home, I feel no guilt in using my machines finally. Even a more complex bread recipe is not that much of a challenge any more for me. I've also made some of the cake recipes. I am sure there are many other books out there about baking but this one is a great place to start. It made me actually want to bake when I started off just using it to complete one of my many required culinary classes.
Very good baking book.......2005-10-01
Whenever I'm going to bake something, I at least take a look in this book to see how he did it. I use this book for the bread and pie recipes mostly. I've not tried any of the cookie recipes, but I have tried a few of the other desserts, and they've been very successful. The best recipes that I've found are the sourdough bread recipe, and the quick puff pastry recipe. The puff pastry never fails to turn out perfectly as long as I follow his directions.
Another thing I really like about the book is that it is laid out well so recipes are easy to follow. He also offers lots of variations at the end of each recipe, which I like because I like to start from a basic recipe then give it my own flare.
A great book for beginner and expert alike........2005-07-25
I like Malgieri's practical, no nonsense instruction. This book is a great teacher as well as a good cookbook. It is equally good for beginner and expert. His recipes are achievable and delicious. He explains and teaches so that one is not left in the dark as to any of the "how tos."
Last Christmas, I gave countless loaves of panettone...all met with great appreciation and raves. I fear it is now an expected tradition for me. His challah is one of my favorites and was my first attempt at this beautiful braided bread. I am hooked. It is interesting as each time I make it, I think "this isn't going to rise" but each time it rises beautifully.
My only critique is that I wish he'd included comments on oven spring. Some rise like crazy in the oven, some do not. All in all, it's a good book to have.
Authoritative.......2004-07-06
Having studied with Chef Malgieri, I know first hand the detailed work that went into his master work, How to Bake. I've used many of these basic recipes in both home and professional kitchens; I've made many my own. The book is methodical. It is geared toward intelligent cooks. I believe it is critically important when dealing with recipes on this level to acquire as much background information and perspective as possible, to learn the ins and outs of ingredients, to understand the moods of your oven, take altitude into careful consideration, and, in all ways, treat recipes as beginnings rather than ends. You can find recipes anywhere. The deep perspective and commitment to teaching of How To Bake is something much rarer.
Food writer Elliot Essman's other reviews and food articles are available at www.stylegourmet.com
Book Description
Don't unplug that bread machine. Lora Brody's back with a guaranteed winner: Pizza, Focaccia, Flat, and Filled Breads from Your Bread Machine. As sales of this amazing machine continue to mushroom, demand for new and exciting recipes continue. Lora's new book fills the bill. Using the machine to make doughs for more than two hundred varieties of breads, pastries, and baked dishes, Lora expands the scope of the bread machine in ways that will appeal to bread machine devotees as well as new converts. Choose from such innovative recipes as Porcini Mushroom Focaccia, Ploughman's Pizza, Blue Corn Bread Sticks, and Macadamia Lavosh.
Try Lora's newest creation: Quitza, a cross between her favorite dishesquiche and pizza. For anchovy lovers there's finally a pizza with enough anchovies. For those with solid-gold palates there's a recipe for caviar pizza. Have a hankering for crackers? Try Pesto Crackers, Spicy Beer Cheese Crackers, or Cheddar Crisps. Also included are invaluable hints on buying and storing ingredients and on troubleshooting, as well as a mail-order guide for ingredients and equipment.
Customer Reviews:
Lots of good stuff in here!.......2000-01-24
I bought this book because I absolutely love focaccia, but am forever spoiled by the ease of the bread machine. This book brings the two together beautifully! I made the Pesto Focaccia first, because I make my own pesto every summer and freeze it, and this was a great way to make use of it. It turned out really well, and it feels good to hear "Oh my gosh, this is great!" when you try something new! I can't wait to try some of the stuffed pizza recipes, they sound wonderful. The recipes are well written, instructions are clear, and there are a couple of very helpful sections in the beginning that go over equipment, ingredients and "Secrets for Success". There are also lots of hints throughout the book, in fact, there is one after almost every recipe. I also liked the fact that the book is spiral bound, yet hardcover. It lays flat for easy reference, which I found convenient. The only drawback is the lack of pictures. I am a sucker for a cookbook with LOTS of pictures, and I really missed them in this one.
Husband begs for me to keep trying recipes from this book!.......1999-10-08
This cookbook has turned out to be a favorite of ours, and my husband frequently says Why don't we try another recipe out of "Pizza Bread book"....we have enjoyed ALL the things we have created from this wonderful book! I think any new bride who has a bread maker should have this book! thank you Lora Brody for your wonderful recipes!
Husband begs for me to keep trying recipes from this book!.......1999-10-08
This cookbook has turned out to be a favorite of ours, and my husband frequently says Why don't we try another recipe out of "Pizza Bread book"....we have enjoyed ALL the things we have created from this wonderful book! I think any new bride who has a bread maker should have this book! thank you Lora Brody for your wonderful recipes!
Good Book-Use Only One Recipe, Though.......1999-03-20
The Rustic Sourdough Focacia is great (though I make it in a baking pan instead of a cookie sheet - it's just too loose and thin otherwise)! Add some camelized onions to the top to make it even better.
This book made Friday our PIZZA NIGHT!.......1997-11-23
Being stuck in Dallas without a large quantity of great Italian food is not good. With this book my husband has learned to make great crusts. With some fresh tomato sauce, mozzarella and pancetta our friends say, "I think that this is the best pizza I've ever eaten!"
Book Description
Nick Malgieri teaches bakers the hows and whys of pastry through basic techniques, from handling dough to poaching fruit, from piping meringue to caramelizing sugar. After outlining the proper equipment and basic ingredients, the book teaches readers to create a basic cream puff pastry, flaky doughs, sweet doughs, and cookie doughs. Step-by-step instructions are accompanied by photographs or line drawings for added clarity.Among the more than 200 recipes are Triple Orange Cake, Peach and Raspberry Cobbler, and Cranberry Pecan Pie, plus fondants, creams, caramels, glazes, syrups, and sauces for finishing and a chapter on decoration. Nick Malgieri's
Perfect Pastry is the faithful companion to novice and advanced bakers alike.
Customer Reviews:
Highly Recommended Text for Both Tarts and Tortes.......2004-07-04
Nick Malgieri is one of the two or three most commonly referenced baking writers in modern American books on pastry (what the French call patisserie, as opposed to bread baking or boulangerie). The others by my informal survey are probably Maida Heatter and Flo Braker, with Lindsey Shere a close third or fourth. Before reading this book, `Perfect Pastry', I was at a loss to see the basis for his influence. His more recent book `How to Bake' is a great book of recipes for cakes, cookies, pies, tarts, bread, pizzas, muffins, and the like, and I use it as my `go to first' book when I want to try something new, and I have never been disappointed by the recipes I found therein. But the book is nothing but recipes. There are none of the whys and wherefores I always rate so highly in books such as the outstanding `The Secrets of Baking' by Sherry Yard. In `Perfect Pastry', I have found much which justifies the high regard in which Nick Malgieri is held by his colleagues.
Before I can intelligently rank this book, it is important to spell out where it fits into the world of books on patisserie. There are at least two different scales along which a pastry book may fall. The extremes of the first scale range from `strictly recipes', which you will find in books by Gale Gand and David Lebowitz to very high in teaching and explanation content as in this book and Sherry Yard's `The Secrets of Baking'.
The second scale ranges from highly specific content such as `cookies', `cakes', `pies', `fruit desserts', `chocolate', or even `cupcakes' to very general books. `Perfect Pastry' is intermediate between the general and the specific, as it covers pies, tarts, cake sponges, cake decorating, and cake filling, but it does not cover much about cookies.
Malgieri's concentration on pastry, cake sponges, and cake icings and fillings in this volume is a very, very good thing, as he covers this subject and allied matters such as ingredients to a depth I simply have not seen elsewhere. This book comes in a very close second to Sherry Yard's book as my favorite source of instruction on pastry. Yard's book may win by a nose because it is more fun to read and some explanations have a greater depth than you will find in `Perfect Pastry'. On the other hand, Malgieri's book covers a somewhat broader scope. His discussion of ingredients such as fruits and nuts alone is worth the price of admission. The third excellent pastry book I have recently reviewed is Flo Braker's `The Simple Art of Perfect Baking', which shares many of the excellent qualities found in `Perfect Pastry' with which it shares the distinction of being recently reissued with new editions. Malgieri, Braker, and Yard all approach pastry with some variation on the `master recipe' approach.
It is instructive to see how each of them teaches genoise. Malgieri takes the most general approach when he classifies genoise as one of the several different kinds of sponges that may be built into cakes. Braker separates cakes into butter and sponge cakes. Yard presents genoise as one of her basic master recipes, as a model for the general technique of foaming. No three recipes are the same. Malgieri's plain genoise is the simplest and least rich, with no butter, but slightly more sugar than Braker. Yard provides an option to use from two to eight ounces of butter. All use cake flour. Both Yard and Malgieri give weights for all major solid ingredients in English units. Braker gives weights for the same ingredients in metric units. My opinion on this is that if you are just starting out to weigh baking ingredients, go metric. It is much easier to scale recipes up or down using metric measurements. In their descriptions of the basic genoise method, all three are slightly different, but Braker and Malgieri's methods are more similar to one another than they are to Yard's description, although I am certain that all three methods will produce superior results. Braker's method is the wordiest, covering details on how to sift dry ingredients and crack open eggs. She is also the most helpful in giving you notes to be well prepared to execute the procedure in an effective manner. Malgieri's description covers baking in both round layer pans and in sheet pans, very important for genoise, as one of it's principle uses is in rolled desserts such as jelly rolls and Yule logs. Malgieri gives the most precise instructions on how to detect if the baking is done for both round and sheet pans.
Sherry Yard gives only four (4) applications, with some variations, of genoise rounds or sheets. Braker and Malgieri both give about 23 different variations. There is a fair amount of overlap, as both cover the usual chocolate and fruit applications, but there are also differences. If your heart is set on making a Yule Log, then you will need Malgieri's book. The organization of the recipes is somewhat different. Braker has all 23 together in a single chapter, while Malgieri's appear to be intermixed with other types of sponge cakes.
If you want an excellent book for learning a lot of different pastry techniques at a very reasonable price, get `Perfect Pastry' by Nick Malgieri in paperback. If you want a lot of well-esplained recipes for many of the same pastries, get Flo Braker's book. If you want a really good read about understanding pastry making, plus excellent recipes, get Sherry Yard's book. If you are a compulsive baking book collector, please get all three.
It is evident that of the three authors, Malgieri is the professional teacher. His book is the best text for baking techniques, Braker gives the best standalone recipes, and Yard is the deepest and most fun to read.
`Perfect Pastry' is highly recommended.
An intensive overview and great kitchen companion.......2002-04-04
Nick Malgieri has done it again. I have nearly all his cookbooks and they are all winners. In "Perfect Pastry," he gives not only superb, basic recipes (and some that are not so basic), but he concentrates on imparting his many years of experience to the reader via techniques and calm, sure guidance.
Having trouble making flaky piecrust? Malgieri calms you down and gives you the tools to start fresh. Want a fresh spin on a brioche? Malgieri has them here in spades. I haven't tried every single recipe in the book, but I've made many of them and have yet to be disappointed.
What really shines through here is Malgieri's intelligence and his people skills. It's clear that his experience as a pastry teacher at Peter Kump's cooking school in Manhattan gives him a voice of authority and a sense of purpose and confidence. He is a master at relaying information in a manner that is not only clear and concise, but that makes it sound--well, not easy, perhaps, but definitely doable. This kitchen classic is aimed at every cook from beginner to professional chef. If you enjoy baking, you could hardly ask for a better book of recipes or a better culinary reference on the topic.
I use this book frequently!.......2000-06-08
When I get ready to bake something, I generally consult this book first. It is organized well and provides all the basic techniques (as well as some advanced ones), that I need for probably 75 percent of the baking projects I do. Even if I don't use Nick's recipes I use the techniques that are in the book. The techniques are explained well, with good pictures to support the text (or vice versa). I also can make my own creations built on the building blocks in this book. I even take the ideas, recipes, or flavor combinations from other sources and modify them so they use Nick's techniques or proportions or components.
98 percent of everything I've tried from this book has worked and tasted good (usually very good or excellent). This is a cookbook classic.
A summary of the basic techniques for foolproof pastry.......1996-11-28
Perfect Pastry by Nick Malgieri works becuase you feel like you are looking over his shoulder. Nick's books give you the basics of "why" and "how": How to make perfect whipped cream, chocolate, pie fillings and cakes. "Why" the techniques work so that you may apply them to all of your baking for the the rest of your life.
An essential work for those who are serious about baking.
Book Description
Originally published as A Piece of Cake, this baking classic is now back in print, thoroughly revised, and beautifully redesigned.
Author of The Perfect Pie and renowned baking authority Susan Purdy has spent a lifetime mastering the art of baking perfect cakes–those mysterious delicacies that are not too dry, not too dense, and never stuck to the pan. Revealing her secrets for the complete range of easy to elegant recipes, The Perfect Cake gives every home baker an extra helping of confidence.
With Purdy at your side sharing her precise troubleshooting tips and clever shortcuts, layer cakes, sheet cakes, sponge cakes, angel-food and chiffon cakes, tortes, and jelly rolls become wonderfully feasible. Helping readers skillfully create everything from a simple pound cake to Old-Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, Black-and-White Cheesecake, or Hazelnut Torte, The Perfect Cake features easy decorating pointers that are sure to impress on special occasions. Providing a selection of more than 150 exceptional recipes, this is the book that will keep even the novice from ever resorting to mediocre mixes again.
Customer Reviews:
Easy as A Piece of Cake.......2007-04-12
Susan Purdy explains cake making for the home baker. I truely appreciate her providing the recipes with weights. Makes baking much easier. She also provides several pages of many conversion tables that I found very useful. Recommend this book for the new and experienced baker. Bake and enjoy, your table companions will appreciate your efforts.
Cakes Get Rave Reviews.......2007-02-20
I spotted this book at the local library and it inspired me to bake a birthday cake for a coworker. The carrot cake was a hit and I heard, over and over, that it was "the best carrot cake I've ever eaten in my entire life!" Requests followed for the next birthday and once again, I heard, "This is best cake I've ever had in my entire life." Past attempts have received compliments, but never to this extreme. I certainly couldn't take the credit for Purdy's recipes, tips and variations. As previous reviewers have written, Purdy goes beyond the recipe to explain (simply) the chemistry behind things. I learned that the processing of the cocoa makes all the diverence in achieving the red velvet color of the cake of that same name. The only negative comment that I could possibly have is to say that I was disappointed to not find a recipe for a German Chocolate cake. I've checked this book out repeatedly from the library and now plan to buy my very own copy!
It Really Is a Piece of Cake!.......2005-04-23
I borrowed this from the library and have renewed it twice. I'm ready to buy! My son and husband fought over the last slice of the 1-2-3-4 Cake and want me to make it again. I prefer to bake cakes from scratch; they prefer that "light, airy" texture of boxed cakes. This cookbook convinced me to sift the flour - and it made the difference. I like the detail given; it's not just do this, do that. I got an understanding of why the steps were included. A really terrific cake-recipe book!
Wow! This book rules..........2005-01-04
The recipes in this book are just plain yummy! Simply delicious cakes that are not too hard to make. Try the chocolate buttermilk cake--it is DIVINE! Mmmmm...so good:)
Pretty Good Cake.......2004-05-20
The aeration process advocated for shortening type cakes really turns out a light fine textured cake. In addition to great extra cake recipes this book also marches pretty much in lock step with the Betty Crocker Red Book basic tutorials such as for egg, cakes and the ingredient sub list, which is something that I really like.
Book Description
Black and White Creme Brulee. Alsatian Apple Strudel. French Macaroons. Chocolate Eclairs. These are the delicious creations that we never dreamed we could make at home. In The New French Baker, you'll find surprisingly simple yet extraordinarily delicious recipes that re-create the lucious desserts, bakery breads, regional specialties, and eye-popping cakes found in French pastery and bread shops.
The 200 recipes are revelations of taste -- try Upside-Down Caramel Custard, Hazelnut Praline Torte, Normandy Sourdough Apple Bread, and Coffee-Walnut Cake. The remarkable thing about these recipes is that anyone can make them. The results are sophisticated enough to please the professional, but the directions can be followed by even the most inexperienced of bakers. With The New French Baker, learn the basic techniques that enable you to make wonderful cookies, puddings, tarts, breads, cakes, pastries, ice creams, and sorbets.
Finally, a French baking book adapted to the American kitchen.
Customer Reviews:
For experienced as well as unexperienced bakers.......2006-05-18
I borrowed this book from a library, used it extensively over the last three months, and finally bought it. It is worth every penny.
This book consists of the following sections:
The baker's elements
The classics
Pastry shop cakes and pastries
Regional specialties
Neo-classics
Rolled yeasted pastries
Cookies
Chocolates
Simple chocolate desserts
Ice creams and sorbets
Savory pastries
Breads
The basics
Sponge and meringue bases
Doughs
Creams, fillings, toppings, and glazes
Sauces
Preserves and flavorings
At the end come techniques, equipment, terminology, glossary, and mail-order sources.
I am quite an experienced baker, but I did improve my general baking skills thanks to this book. Whether within specific recipes or in "The basics" section, all instructions are clear, precise, and on an excellent level of specificity. Sheila Linderman also explains "whys," and she does it with an understanding of the American audience. For example, she warns against burns caused by hot sugar, or she explains very precisely how to fill certain types of pastry with cream and to which degree, or how exactly achieve the crust typical for French breads. I followed her instructions on timing, temperature, baking stone, and steam production precisely, and I produced THE bread which I had never achieved before, even following instructions of Shirley Corriher. The drawings are very helpful and take the guesswork out of the process.
Eating habits are part of a culture, and the author discusses some of French traditions concerning, say, bread, so that they are understanddable for an American reader. I appreciate that she offers solutions on how to adjust French baking to American habits and specifies that those adjustments will not compromise original flavor.
I also appreciate the authors subtle sense of humor which adds to the pleasure of both reading and working on recipes.
The only improvement for which I could wish would be more photographs of the finished products, but then the book would had been more expensive.
I recommend this book very highly.
Almost the entire patisserie and a boulangerie, too.......2003-01-08
This is a very ambitious book, blending the art of the French pastry baker with a bit of regular bread baking as well. The book is weighted towards the pastry, with everything from the traditional apple tarts, fruit tarts, napoleons, pithiviers, palmiers to regional sweets like clafouti (fruit baked in a sort of custardy pancake) to ices, sorbets, chocolates, petit fours. The breads include walnut bread, which is nice, as that is a distinctive European bread not often seen in the US, and crusty French breads made with the poolish or starter method.
There are some stupid mistakes; for example, insisting that pineapple inhibits gelatin from jelling because it is high in citric acid. Nope. It's bromelain, an enzyme that cuts the gelatin and prevents it from solidifying. Even more stupid, the next paragraph has the fact that papaya DOES contain an enzyme that inhibits the jelling of gelatin (right! so why get pineapple wrong?) And then the book omits the fact that kiwi and fresh figs also contain enzymes that wreak havoc with anything thickened with gelatin.
This book assumes you know something about baking pastry and breads; with so many different subjects, the book cannot be fully instructive on the difficulties arising in bread baking or the dangers you face when making millefeuille or croissants. But if you want a very comprehensive tome, with many many recipes of exotic cakes, tortes, tartes and sweets, you might find this a highly useful volume.
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR FRENCH PASTRY MAKING.......2001-12-04
The tips and techniques in this book alone are worth the purchase. It is a book for the beginner-intermediate student of pastry making. The writing style is on par with Dorie Greenspan, who wrote "Baking with Julia" - both authors are highly engaging and give excellent step-by-step instructions.
The author shows us how to roll croissants, line dozens of tartlette tins quickly and easily, make a quick brioche loaf. This is accomplished with balls of dough placed into a loaf pan and proofed. This inspired me to create a braided look by staggering the balls of dough in the pan. I have used this technique several times producing such gorgeous loaves I didn't think was possible. I hope the author will forgive me for revealing my own modification to the recipe, but I want to show the many useful techniques and inspiring possibilities of this book.
As for the lack of photographs - note that the publisher makes up for it by giving it the most professional binding of all - the book's pages are sewn, not glued. This means the book opens flat, without cracking at the spine. Professional textbook quality.
I agree, good but not great ...........2001-06-15
THis says French baker but it doesn't really show you how to make the heavy duty stuff. However it accomplishes its intended purpose very well -introducing novices to the subject. I still found many techniques from piping chocolated designs, to rolling crossaints. Illustrations very, very good. Pictures, thumbs down. There are about 5 or 6 for 200 recipes. That is definitely an area the publisher should improve on. If you are not familiar with french pastry you have no idea what the result is going to look like. I also was not too excited about her sorbet and ice cream recipes, I felt she could have done better in that department. You dont' really need a French style cookbook to learn how to do a Raspberry sorbet. I also felt she should give us more authentic, and traditional recipes instead of phyllo-doughing everything in sight. Overall though, I will recommend this book, it is a fine edition to your library if only for the spectacular plum tart, one of the few recipes pictured in the book.
For those who are interested in real French pastry making, please check out Healy-Bugat, The art of the cake. It is a masterpiece.
Absolutely the Best!.......2000-09-01
My sister, Summer and I are French so we adore pastries and other baked goods. The talent for baking, however, has been bestowed upon me, as Summer busies herself with piloting our plane and decorating our homes. Since we are both French, we know, without a doubt, that the recipes in this book are truly authentic as well as delicious! I bake the fancier ones for Summer and I to serve at our parties in Provence, but we adore the buttery croissants every morning ourselves. Not everyone is lucky enough to be French, as we are, but with this book, everyone can at least enjoy the delicious taste of authentic French baked goods in their own home!
Presented by.........................Winter!
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