Goldman - The Bakers Four Seasons: A year of baking by the Season, the Harvest, Calendar and the Occasion

The Baker's

Four Seasons

Marcy Goldman

Baking by the Season, Harvest, and Occasion

The Bakers Four Seasons

Baking by the Season, Harvest, and Occasion

First Edition

Copyright 2014

Text and recipes 2014 by Marcy Goldman

River Heart Press

www.RiverHeartPress.com

Montreal, Canada

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the author/publisher, excepting brief quotations in connection with reviews written specifically for inclusion in magazines, newspapers, and online publications.

Library and Archives Canada in Publication

ISBN 978-0986572494 (Print edition)

ISBN 978-0-9865724-1-8 (eBook edition)

Goldman, Marcy

The Bakers Four Seasons/Marcy Goldman

1.Baking l.Title

Printed in the United States of America

Cover Photo: Free Form Apple Tart, Fall Chapter, Ryan Szluc

Book Cover Design: Damon, Damonza.com

Book Interior Design: Benjamin Carrancho, Damonza.com

Book Indexer: Karen Griffiths

Author Photo: Wanda Malfara

Other Books by Marcy Goldman

When Bakers Cook, 2013 River Heart Press (Print, eBook)

A Passion for Baking, 2014 River Heart Press (Print, eBook)

A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking, 2007 Whitecap Books (Print, eBook)

The New Best of BetterBaking.com, 2007 Whitecap Books (Print, eBook)

A Passion for Baking, 2005 Oxmoor House (Print)

Love and Ordinary Things, 2014 River Heart Press (Print, eBook)

Marcy Goldman is a cookbook author, master baker, and host of the baking website,

With love to my sons, Jonathan, Gideon and Benjamin

With affection and appreciation to my caring circle of friends and readers. I am honored to share the seasons with all of you.

Table of Contents

A Note from the Baker

To Everything There is a Season

(Ecclesiastes)

Welcome to The Bakers Four Seasons and welcome to my kitchen. Were about to embark on a journey as old as time because this baking adventure is all about time as it unfolds by the seasons. Through recipes and companion notes, youll taste the seasons, enjoying and sharing the flavor palate of the harvest on each and every page.

The four seasons are an integral part of a special clock and its Natures gentle tick-tock pulse that frames our lives. As a baker, I am especially attuned to the seasons, for they speak to me in a visceral way. Through my five senses, particularly those of taste and smell, the seasons remind me of my calling as a baker and writer. Unlike like wheat from the chaff, I cant easily separate what and who I am from the recipes I create and share. Similarly, I cant separate the seasonal offerings from those on my table; both are part and parcel of each other; the former is the impetus for the latter.

How do I measure the seasons? I measure them in vistas of wheat, mountains of apple peelings, vanilla raindrops, followed by dustings of walnuts and the mellow warmth of a chocolate dew. I gather and hold the seasons and revel in my appetite for life. I take it all in swigs with a gusto born of well-being and a deep-rooted appreciation. Im sure its the same with you.

On any given day in any given season as I stand at my kitchen sink window, I glance outside. In winter, the trees are clad in white and offset a pair of red cardinals who visit me daily. In spring, I cherish the sight of the lilac blossoms and am thrilled to witness the return of Canadian geese. In summer, theres a frenzy of rhubarb in the corner garden, the tall pink shoots asking to be part of a tart and sweet pie. In autumn, Im captivated by the maple trees as they turn from green to red, enjoying the pervasive scent of apple in the spicy harvest breeze. In fall, I confess, I get giddy just thinking of the huge baking season ahead! Nothing brings me back to the kitchen quite like the first frost of September when I happily anticipate both familiar, beloved baking and the new recipes Ill create.

It doesnt really matter what month it is, my kitchen and heart rev in synch, just by looking around me and always finding a culinary resonance. Theres this song I hear; its music born of love and memories. The tune weaves its way into my rolling pins and cookie cutters; the sweet refrain whispers in canisters of flour, sugar and fragrant spice jar and the seasons themselves are a four-part melody, caroling at our doors, asking us to join in.

Like Demeter, the goddess of grain, those of us who are culinarily attuned hear that that clarion call, courtesy of the harvest at hand. We respond baking by the season something weve always done. Baking-in-season was a trend that began in California, as part of the 1970s culinary movement and it soon spread all over the continent. But baking (or cooking, for that matter) by the harvest is not new. Good chefs, home or professional, have long relied and made the most of ingredients that are fresh, local or native. The Slow Food movement, the Green movement, the economy and global climate change have only emphasized the wisdom of this approach. More than that, seasonal baking is not about being a foodie; its far more real, innately authentic, intimate and close to our hearts than that. When we head to the kitchen, its just second nature for us to think in terms of the seasons.

How to Use This Cookbook

This book is divided into four major seasonal chapters, starting with Fall, as it is the prime baking season and features so many holidays and occasions. Still, as you turn the pages, all recipes being equal and totally tempting, you can mix and match recipes, no matter what the season. Feel free to take inspiration from one season to the next, changing the spices, or adding a different fruit, nut or extract.

In addition, in each chapter, as an overview of whats ahead, I offer some notes on the baking themes for each season. This is to put you in the mood! Youll also notice an emphasis on seasonal perfume wherein I describe the scented notes of each season. Ive long dabbled in perfumes and potions and this will be more apparent when you read about the Fragrance Notes of the season and then later on in the bonus Chapter Nine, a collection of my favorite tea and coffee blends. Chapter Ten is where youll find Baking Techniques you are sure to find most helpful.

Little and Big Baking, Recipes: both small and grand

Ive also sub-divided each season into little or big (which includes special occasion and holiday) baking. I did this because I feel we all generally know when we want or need to bake something small-ish or need something larger, especially if we are hosting or want something for a larger gathering. Little baking includes things like muffins, cookies, scones, and other casual baking. Big baking includes crowd-pleasing recipes for entertaining or holidays, such as luxurious cakes and tortes. These are not only larger recipes but recipes that are meant to celebrate whatever the occasion with their more elaborate appeal. In short, these are traditional or innovative showstoppers.

One note about the seasonality of this book: never feel contained or limited to bake what you want, when you want it! A Pumpkin Cheesecake doesnt need to wait for Thanksgiving to be appreciated, nor does a decadent chocolate torte, befitting Easter or Passover, need be held back from those who pine for chocolate at any time of year.

The Baking of Fall

When asked what their favorite season is, most people will vote for summer or spring but a disproportionate number of bakers will always choose fall. Short and sweet, fall provides the best baking months of the year. Fall is bakings homecoming queen, the princess of B&B, old-fashioned baking. Its the homey baking you grew up with (or wished you did!). Harvest-oriented, fall is all about the hunker-down flavors of nuts, spice, honey, brown sugar. Its all things gold and amber: butterscotch, toffee and caramel with healthy lashings of cinnamon. At midpoint, fall segues from autumnal hospitality baking to the gateway of the festive holiday season. When you think of fall, think muffins, cookies, after-school sheet cakes, hefty scones, hospitable slicing cakes; then switch gears and think of the majesty of the Thanksgiving dessert bounty.