Beranbaum - The Baking Bible

Copyright 2014 by Cordon Rose, LLC. All rights reserved.

Photography 2014 by Ben Fink

Illustrations 2014 by Dan Williams

All rights reserved.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

www.hmhco.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Beranbaum, Rose Levy.

The Baking Bible / Rose Levy Beranbaum.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-118-33861-2 (cloth); 978-0-544-18836-5 (ebook)

1. Baking. I. Title.

TX765.B466 2014

641.81'5dc23

2014016319

Print book design by Vertigo Design NYC

Ebook design by Jessica Arnold

v1.1014

This book is enhanced by my collaboration with Woody Wolston.
We dedicate it to our wonderful bloggers, who have formed a baking community that brings us the world.

I was browsing in a bookstore the first time I encountered Rose Levy Beranbaums name on a big display of Christmas cookie books. Intrigued by the ecumenical cooking spirit of a Jewish woman writing about Christmas cookies, I picked it up. The very next weekend I had to bring three different kinds of cookies to a Christmas exchange. I picked Mahogany Buttercrunch Toffee, Cranberry-Chocolate Chippers, and Chocolate-Orange Paradise Bars. With all due modesty, I have to say that my cookies outshined the rest. When I tasted them, I knew I had just bought a book by a master, and every Rose recipe Ive tried since then has confirmed this knowledge. There is simply nobody on earth who writes a better cookbook. There are at least four reasons why.

First, Roses recipes are delicious. And they are delicious without fail. To my taste, her recipes are balanced (not too sweet, not too rich), nuanced (Ive compared Roses recipes with others of the same kind, and invariably I find her versions have a little something extra that makes them superior), and reliable. The only failure Ive ever had with a Rose recipe was my fault; I didnt read the directions carefully. After e-mailing Rose a scathing review of the recipe, and receiving (to my amazement) a thoughtful reply within the hour, I eventually discovered my mistake and had to apologize to her. That recipe, the rosemary focaccia from The Bread Bible , has now become one of my favoritesand I now call it foolproof!

And that brings me to reason number two. Rose is a teacher. She doesnt just offer you great recipes; she also figuratively takes you by the hand and tells you how to be a better baker. Without Roses recipes as the impetus, I would never have bought a scale and learned how to think of flour and sugar in grams, instead of in cups. Immediately after this one change, my baking became better and more consistent. I also started understanding how the amount of protein in flour affects the final product and why eggs should sometimes be at room temperature. Most cookbook authors dont tell you this (and you can make perfectly acceptable brownies without knowing). But once you know, you can move up to the next level, and closer to perfection.

Writing closer to perfection makes me realize that Rose, without your even being aware of it, lifts your standards. My cooking motto (and my motto in other things in life too, to be brutally honest) was good enough is good enough. If one batch of cookies got a little burned, my husband could eat them. If a cake didnt rise enough, I could dump more frosting on it. Thats no longer how I think, thanks to Rose. I check the recipe diligently to see where the oven racks go (something most recipes dont even bother to tell you). I use my instant-read thermometer to determine the temperature of caramel. For that matter, I make caramel.

And finally, Rose makes you believe that if you just follow her directions, there is nothing you cant do. Nothing. When I set out to make every recipe in The Bread Bible , I knew, but tried to put out of my mind, that there were some recipes that would be beyond me. Baguettes and croissants, for example. Thats what bakeries exist for, so a normal person with a normal oven doesnt have to make a foolhardy attempt thats doomed to failure. But it turns out that a normal person can make baguettes and croissants, and can know that the joy of biting into a still-warm croissant that youve created yourself is even greater than the joy of eating a croissant, however delicious, that you brought home in a bag.

The knowledge that nothing is outside the realm of possibility became even clearer when I, along with other Heavenly Cake Bakers, started working my way through Roses Heavenly Cakes . I made perfect buttercreams! Using a pastry bag and tube for the first time in my life, I made ladyfingers! And I made spun sugar!

When I baked the last of the Heavenly Cakes , Ill admit that I couldnt see anything else that Rose could accomplish. Shed done three bibles, for heavens sake, along with a masterful cookie book. Heavenly Cakes won the IACP Book of the Year award. What could she do to top that?

But I should have known that she had more tricks, and more recipes, up her sleeve. When I started to test some recipes for The Baking Bible , it became very clear that Rose was not resting on her baking laurels. Anyone leafing through this book has some wonderful treats in store. The . If, like me, you look askance at the addition of sugar in a pizza crust, relax and trust. Its not too much; it doesnt taste weird; and it blends beautifully with the sage and thyme flavors in the crust. I can see this becoming part of a traditional holiday dinner, but its too good to be relegated to a once-a-year category.

And, as they used to say on late-night TV, Theres more! Cookies, cheesecakes, tarts, cupcakesthere are so many wonderful recipes here, any of which could become your own signature creation and all of which, with the help of Rose, you can make perfectly, on your first try.

Marie Wolf is a Minneapolis-based attorney whose friendship with Rose developed as she led a group of Heavenly Cake Bakers in baking, and blogging about, each and every recipe in Roses Heavenly Cakes. Her new group, the Beta Bakers, was indispensable in testing many of the recipes in The Baking Bible.

This is my tenth cookbook, and never have I felt more supported, appreciated, and blessed than with this talented group of professionals and friends.

Thank you to the production crew:

Natalie Chapman, publisher of the cookbook division, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and true visionary, who gave the book its title and full support.

Stephanie Fletcher, editor, who left no stone unturned in the effort to produce ultimate excellence and accuracy, and who smoothly coordinated this large, complex book and diverse production team.

Pamela Chirls, acquiring editor, supportive and lifelong friend, who gave this book its early vision.

Marina Padakis Lowry, dedicated managing editor, and Jamie Selzer, production editor.

Alison Lew and Gary Philo at Vertigo Design NYC, inspired design, layout, and photography art direction. Alison Lew, cover design.