Baking Illustrated

Packed with 350 recipes and 500 illustrations, Baking Illustrated brings you inside America's Test Kitchen, where the test cooks and editors have exhaustively examined every ingredient, technique, and piece of equipment that is critical to your baking success. Have you wondered how long you can keep that can of baking powder in your cabinet or what brand of chocolate will yield the best brownies or flourless chocolate cake? Or puzzled over the key to making pizza crust that is thin and crisp or cookies that bake evenly? An authoritative and one-of-a-kind reference, Baking Illustrated pulls back the curtain on the seemingly complex world of baking to give you the answers to these and thousands of other questions. The recipes here range from quick breads and yeast breads to pizza, cookies, cakes, pastries, crisps, and cobblers to all manners of pies and tarts. And they include Americam home classics that have delighted families for generations (including Southern Cornbread, Pecan Sandies, and Sour Cream Coffee Cake) as well as more contemporary favorites (such as Rosemary Foccacia, Orange-Almond Biscotti, and Chocolate Truffle Tart). Also included are recipes for timeless European baked goods such as croissants, Black Forest Cake, and baguettes. Every recipe has been exhaustively researched and tested with hundreds of ingredients and techniques to bring you the absolute best recipe along with detailed and precise explanations for everything from why you should use unsalted butter to what is the best oven temperature and why either one matters. Also tested are every kind of baking equipment available, from mixers and food processors to the humblest spatualas and loaf pans, and the results of the experiments are described throughout so you can benefit from their trial and error. A master baking class between two covers, Baking Illustrated takes the guesswork out of baking and will expand your repertoire without every losing sight of your ultimate goal: making those family favorites that will taste better than you ever imagined.