Martha Stewart - Martha Stewarts Baking Handbook

THE TASTES I BEST rememberthe vast majority of themare tastes that have to do with baking. For me there is something important about the flavor and texture of the best French baguette, the buttery flakiness of the perfect croissant, the subtle sweetness of the whitest cake, and the dense richness of the ultimate petit four.

Ive long wanted to share the recipes for my favorite baked goods, which have not all been easily accessed or readily available to everyone. We, and I do mean we (a talented group of dedicated bakers) and not the royal we (I), have worked long and hard to assemble the best ones in a comprehensive, orderly, easy-to-use compendium for all of us.

Here, you will find the recipes and how-tos for the popovers you dream about, and for the simple crumb cake that you always want to whip up on Sunday morning, and for the double-chocolate brownie cookies that will make you a bigger hero with the after-school crowd, and for the citrus bars that you could only find on the eastern tip of Long Island in that little bakery thats no longer under the same management.

We, the team, got together and compiled our lists, gathered our desires, dug through our files, and collated everything into what we hope are sensible chapters, organized for easy use, with workable, clear recipes. Not everything youll find on these pages is traditional, and some of the techniques are a bit unusual. But the best results are what we strive for in each one of our recipes, and because freshness of ingredients, exact measurements, accuracy of oven temperature, and careful preparation are tantamount to success, we focused on bringing a new understanding and artistry to the science of baking.

Speaking of techniques and baking essentials, I have always been fascinated with the bakers tools. Starting around the time I first visited Mr. and Mrs. Maus (extraordinary German-born bakers) next door on Elm Place in my hometown of Nutley, New Jersey, I have collected every possible kind of baking tray, sheet, mold, bowl, whisk, rolling pin, frosting tip, pastry bag, icing comb, and pie tin (youll see many of my favorite, most beautiful ones photographed on these pages). The heavy edgeless steel pans I dragged home from Paris many years ago, from the legendary store Dehillerin, are still the very best for baking puff pastry for Napoleons and light-as-air cheese straws. And Mr. Mauss German tin-coated steel kugelhopf molds are the ones I like to use for babkas. And just when you think you have everything, you might discover the custardy excellence of cannels and will want to invest in the copper molds shaped like tall little turbans that are for them and only them. These days I have silicone rubber molds, too, which bake perfect meringues. And I cannot live without my Silpats and rolls upon rolls of parchment paper that cut out so much scrubbing and scraping, leaving you more time to enjoy in the kitchen.

Baking, you will find, as you indulge in this home art, offers comfort and joy and something tangible to taste and savor. As much as any other culinary activity, it can bring countless smiles and much laughter into your home. We all hope that these recipes provide you with years of pleasure.