Rose Levy Beranbaum - The Cookie Bible

To darling cousin Ada Minette, welcome to our new generation of bakers

Copyright 2021 by Cordon Rose LLC

Foreword copyright Miro and Shilpa Uskokovic

Photography 2021 by Matthew Septimus

Food styling by Erin Jeanne McDowell

Book and cover design by Tai Blanche

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.

marinerbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-0-358-35399-7 (hbk)

ISBN 978-0-358-35424-6 (ebk)

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A decade ago, we were two young, enthusiastic students at The Culinary Institute of America. We loved being in schoollearning, cooking, eating, making new friends. Our most favorite thing to do when we felt grown-up and adventurous and flush with cash from our on-campus jobs was to take the train down to New York City. Wed sightsee a little or just amble down the avenues, dwarfed and oddly comforted by the solid, soaring buildings around us. Wed stop to stare at the person with the floppy hat dipping strawberries in the Godiva storefront. A couple times, we rode the subway to Queens, where there were piles of shrink-wrapped goat and purple stacks of Milka and barrels of sharp feta in brine. And, of course, we ate! As much as, and sometimes more than, our budget allowed. Our day trip would often end with us quite literally holding up our stomachs with our hands as we trot-waddled back to Grand Central.

But no matter what the rest of our NYC itinerary involved, the one nonnegotiable each time was a visit to Strand Bookstore, the famously miles-long purveyor of books on every subject youd care to read about. It was there that we happened upon a pristine copy of The Cake Bible, by one Rose Levy Beranbaum. We were enchanted by the tabulated lists and retro line drawings, reassured by the gushing reviews on the back, and encouraged by the exacting but approachable details in the recipes. We bought the book and spent the rest of the school year baking out of it in our dorm kitchen. We didnt know then, on that chilly evening with our coats tugged tight around us, that within the decade, we would be married to each other, living in NYC, one of us the pastry chef at a legendary New York restaurant, andthe real kickerfuriously exchanging texts with this beloved prophet of baking, Rose herself, while eating Shilpas goat biryani and drinking Roses blood orange sours.

To know Rose is to know the spirit of giving. She gives generously of herselfher abiding friendship, her anecdotes that will make you go ooh and then aah and then howl with laughter. Her uncanny ability to retain and recount every detail brings any story to life. She will give you her hot takes on ice cream machines and lamb sausages, bring you magazines she thinks you will like or first editions or uncorrected proofs of books youll always cherish. But most of all, she gives you her formidable, unmatched knowledge on all things baking. Rose was one of the first authors to recognize and insist that metric weights are imperative for consistently fabulous results. She specifies whether the flour required in a recipe is bleached or not, because she knows, through exhaustive testing, just what influence this will have on the final result. She is persistent, she is unfailingly curious, and she is always, always open to learning more, all qualities we deeply respect her for. This is what makes every book of hers a smashing success; an inordinate attention to the details and science of a recipe.

Weve been lucky enough to taste many cookies from this book as Rose and Woody meticulously tested them through. We went mad for her Strudel Cookies, delicate swirls of flaky dough encircling tart, amber-colored apricots and studded with nuts. Rose brought over a carefully packed box and the next day they were gone, downed with our afternoon tea on the balcony! Sturdy Pfeffernsse, fragrant with ground pepper, cloves, and cinnamon, were all too easy to nibble on. Miro was thrilled to taste Roses version of the caramel-bellied snickerdoodles he serves at Gramercy Tavern: For her Caramel Surprise Snickerdoodles, shes adapted them into a thin sandwich cookie that drips with dark, chewy caramel when you bite into it.

There are dozenshundreds!more cookies in The Cookie Bible that we are absolutely dying to try, from Apricot Walnut Rugelach to Woodys Luxury Brownies, from the niche little Ischler to the familiar comfort of Cranberry Chocolate Chippers. Shilpa, always a sucker for words, quickly shortlisted a few cookies she fell in love with for their names aloneLemon Lumpies and Banana Custard Cuddle Cookies to start. You might laugh at such a child-like way of picking a recipe, but this is a Rose Levy Beranbaum production, and you just know that all the recipes are going to be great. Every verse from this bible is worth preaching about!

With love and cookies,

Miro and Shilpa Uskokovic

April 2020

This book was written in full and sustaining collaboration with my longtime and much valued partner in crme Woody Wolston of team RoseWood, who is now my husband.

The last words my husband Elliott spoke to me, December 2019, in his supremely generous wisdom and love were: Never give up your work. And it is this book that was my survival through his loss and the pandemic that followed.

Our great gratitude goes to the most amazing production team, each and every one of whom is my friend and either a professional or home baker, and it shows: Senior editor Stephanie Fletcher whose sterling judgment and commitment to excellence is the backbone of this book, senior managing editor Marina Padakis Lowry, who stewarded the book to perfection and even contributed a special family recipe, Tai Blanche, art directorthe embodiment of form follows function equals beauty, production manager Kimberly Kiefer, copy editor par excellence and former pastry chef Judith Sutton, and eagle-eyed proofreaders Deri Reed and chocolatier Zach Townsend, as well as to chefs Miro and Shilpa Uskokovic for their heartfelt, eloquent, and insightful foreword.

The stunning photos that grace this book are the result of my much-esteemed colleague Erin Jeanne McDowell whose extraordinary food-styling skill, loving heart, and patience made it possible, despite the time of quarantine, for me to participate in every shot virtually, her right-hand and superskilled assistant Kaitlin Wayne, and photographer extraordinaire Matthew Septimus, who captured the beauty and essence of every cookie.