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The Art and Soul of Bakingby Sur La Table, Cindy Mushet
Price: $40.00
ISBN-13: 978-0-7407-7334-1
ISBN-10: 0-7407-7334-8
Format: Hardcover
Size: 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.
Page Count: 464 pages
“This is a gateway into the world of baking from someone who has not only mastered the art of creating memorable dishes, but also the elusive art of conveying even the most complex of techniques in a style that makes it seem understandable and not too hard to follow.” ––Savor San Antonio http://www.savorsa.com/2010/02/bakers-fire-up-your-ovens/
“It’s hard not to get into the baking mood when flipping through the Art and Soul of Baking book by Cindy Mushet. This book is packed with valuable baking information from cover to cover and it’s so comprehensive that the recipes and techniques can keep help anyone who loves to bake very, very busy in the kitchen. This gigantic book isn’t just a book of recipes, but it’s like an encyclopedia of baking; full of valuable baking tips and methods. The fun recipes and step-by-step, easy to follow instructions and in-depth discussions of the science of baking is wonderful for baker of all levels.” ––White On Rice Couple http://www.whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/parmesan-herb-popovers/#more-10040
“Mushet is an accomplished pastry chef whose writing style is both informative and engaging. Her baking lessons will help even the greenest of bakers understand not only how to make wonderful desserts but help you understand why they taste so good.” ––Serious Eats http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/11/cook-the-book-the-art-and-soul-of-baking.html
About Sur La Table: Founded in Seattle in 1972, Sur La Table provides authentic cooking tools from around the world. Its array of cooking programs is one of the largest in the nation, and its recent book The Art and Soul of Baking with Cindy Mushet won the 2009 IACP Cookbook Award for Baking.
From Steak with Friends: At Home, with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto with Mary Goodbody
Most of us grew up loving macaroni and cheese and I am no exception. But now that I am all grown up, I prefer a more sophisticated version than the one my mom made for me. I add a little truffle oil to kick it into another sphere. If you really like truffles and have some fresh ones on hand, chop them up and stir them into the casserole before baking for even more flavor. On the other hand, you could omit the truffle oil and still end up with an amazing mac and cheese. Serves 4
3 tablespoons white truffle oil
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups half-and-half
¼ pound Swiss cheese, grated
¼ pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated
¼ pound Fontina cheese, grated
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces elbow macaroni
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon of the truffle oil, the breadcrumbs, and the Parmesan and set aside.
In a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk for about 3 minutes, or until the flour blends with the butter. Whisk in the half-and-half, bring to a simmer, and cook for 3 minutes.
Stir in the Swiss, cheddar, Fontina, and mustard. Remove the sauce from the heat once the cheeses have melted. Stir in the remaining truffle oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over medium heat and cook the macaroni for about 7 minutes, until al dente. Drain the pasta and add to the saucepan with the cheese sauce. Stir well.
Pour the macaroni and cheese sauce into a 1-quart buttered baking dish. (At this point you could refrigerate the casserole dish for up to 24 hours.) Top the casserole with the breadcrumb mixture and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the casserole is bubbling hot and the crust is nicely browned and crisp. Serve immediately.
“Despite the diversity seen on modern drink menus, B.R. Guest Restaurants master mixologist Eben Klemm is here to tell us that today’s cocktails remain but a few ingredients combined by even fewer techniques. In his new book The Cocktail Primer: All You Need to Know to Make the Perfect Drink, Klemm shows us how to make these drinks at home using basic knowledge and ingredients. Most cocktail books offer an overwhelming number of drink recipes that do nothing to help the aspiring cocktail enthusiast understand how they will taste. That is why The Cocktail Primer arranges drinks into families of classic cocktail types most people already know and work with. The drink families are grouped by style and technique, from simple to complex, with select recipes from each family.” ––Global Gourmet http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/cookbook/2009/cocktail-primer/
“You can’t miss with this book if you are beginner, and you will also enjoy it even if you’ve shaken and stirred a few drinks in your day.” ––DolceDolce http://www.dolcedolce.com/?cat=211
“You can be part of the cocktail renaissance, function as your own bartender with confidence, and be a sensational host with a few easy lessons from Eben Klemm. After years of teaching bartending for the B.R. Guest Restaurantswhere globally-inspired drinks range from classic to innovative to unbridled, Klemm realized that rather than try to memorize thousands of formulas, all one needs is a solid understanding that all drinks, including specialty drinks, are descendants of very basic concepts. His stated goal is “to tell you to forget about the hundreds of drinks, and focus on the particulars. Understanding and appreciating these will propel you toward a mastery of any other drink you like.” Klemm does not overwhelm readers with the drinks his bartenders devise, nor does he make the head spin with a list of thousands of recipes. Instead he builds on understanding.” ––In Mamas Kitchen http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/Book_Reviews/drinks_wine_books/cocktail_primer.html
“Eben Klemm focuses on the basics in “The Cocktail Primer: All You Need to Know to Make the Perfect Drink“. The master mixologist focuses on about two dozen drinks, grouping them by history, ingredient or technique. After the basics of setting up a home bar, Klemm covers drink families in six chapters. He groups them according to alcohol type (the martini family with its clear white spirits and the manhattans with their dark spirits), by history (simple sours, complex sours) and technique (muddled drinks) and highballs.” ––The Modesto Bee
http://www.modbee.com/life/taste/story/964941.html
“The Cocktail Primer is now my preferred go-to-guide for thinking about, and re-creating great cocktails. It doesn’t seek to be encyclopedic. Klemm imparts the significance of techniques such as pouring, shaking, stirring and muddling. He groups his drink recipes around around a specific spirit. … The Cocktail Primer is an elegantly pared down reference of the essential cocktails you’ll want to create at home. … is a great-looking book. I wanted to sample every cocktail beautifully photographed here. And if you’re looking a great gift for the holidays, I highly recommend this handsome and sleek volume.” ––Stovetop Readings http://stovetopreadings.blogspot.com/2009/12/cocktail-primer-only-source-you-need.html
This addition to renowned culinary authority Sur La Table’s cookbook series, The Art and Soul of Baking (Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC; $40.00 hardcover), guides readers through the world of baking, where the tantalizing aromas of chocolate, vanilla, butter, and cinnamon fill the air and tempt the palate. Whether turning out a rustic olive and thyme bread or crafting a show-stopping triple-layer chocolate cake, pastry chef and baking instructor Cindy Mushet provides indispensable tips and tricks to help home bakers achieve professional-looking—and professional-tasting—results.
Is there a difference between a crisp and a crumble? Why do baking times vary? Can active yeast be substituted for instant? Each chapter of The Art and Soul of Baking begins with a primer that answers even the toughest baking questions, explaining essential ingredients and baking methods. Special “Getting Ahead” tips offer pointers on prepping in advance (biscotti logs can be frozen for up to two months, lemon curd can be made three days ahead), and sidebars tell “What the Pros Know” such as how to fix a “broken” ganache, how to make brownies either fudgy or cakey, and how to bake a soufflé in a coffee mug.
The Art and Soul of Baking is a 2009 IACP Cookbook Awards Winner
Winners were announced at the 2009 International Association of Culinary Professionals Conference (IACP) International in Denver on April 4.
Art and Soul of Baking won in the cookbook/baking category!
Sur La Table teamed with pastry chef and baking teacher Cindy Mushet to bring you the ultimate guide to baking. Beautiful photographs and more than 250 easy-to-follow recipes lead you into a world of alluring aromas and light, flaky pastries. Illustrated asides take you step by step through important techniques, from carmelizing sugar to working with croissant dough. Plus, you’ll find invaluable information on over 100 ingredients and 50 baker’s tools. A true pleasure for anyone who loves to bake.
The cookbook was also nominated for a 2009 James Beard Foundation Award.
Seattle-based Sur La Table has kept its finger on the pulse of America’s cooks since opening its doors in 1972 at Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market. Since then, chefs and home cooks with a taste for adventure have flocked to the culinary mecca. A destination for iconic chefs like Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, Martha Stewart, and Mario Batali, Sur La Table entices aficionados and curious beginners alike with its amazing selection of cookware and tools. With a successful catalog, Web site, cooking class program, and stores from coast to coast, Sur La Table continues to share its passion for the traditions and tastes of the world with people who love to cook and entertain. For more about Sur La Table, see surlatable.com.
Cindy Mushet has been a pastry chef and culinary instructor for nearly 20 years, beginning her career at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA. She has since headed pastry kitchens in restaurants and bakeries from Napa to San Diego and has taught professional training courses at Le Cordon Bleu, the Culinary Institute of America, and the New School of Cooking, among others. She has also taught hundreds of recreational classes across the country.
For five years she wrote and published the highly regarded Baking With the American Harvest, a quarterly baking journal with subscribers nationwide. She also is the author of Desserts: Mediterranean Flavors, California Style and was a contributing writer to The Joy of Cooking, The Joy of Cooking Christmas Cookies, and The Baker’s Dozen Cookbook. Cindy’s recipes and articles have been featured in magazines and newspapers across the country, including Bon Appétit, Fine Cooking, Gourmet, Country Home, and The New York Times. In addition, her recipes were among the few to be chosen for The Best American Recipe books.
Cindy lives in Los Angeles, where she is a patisserie chef-instructor in Le Cordon Bleu program at the California School of Culinary Arts, and she consults regularly with restaurants and bakeries on menu development and staff training. Cindy is a regular guest on KCRW’s Good Food radio show. She has been a spokeswoman for the American Butter Institute and a guest chef at food conferences across the country.
“In The Art and Soul of Baking, Cindy Mushet is like a fine painter, using the broad palette of her expertise to convey a bright spectrum of recipes and solid techniques that will inspire and delight every baker.” —Flo Braker, author of Baking for All Occasions: A Treasury of Recipes for Everyday Celebrations and Sweet Miniatures: The Art of Making Bite-Size Desserts
“Some books have great practical information and some have great recipes, but The Art and Soul of Baking has both—and it’s beautiful. Learning to be a better baker just became easy, fun, and very delicious.” —Dorie Greenspan, author of Baking From My Home to Yours
“Cindy Mushet has put together an impressive masterpiece on baking. With tips and tricks for everything from making the fanciest dough, to deep, dark chocolate brownies, to fruit-studded muffins that will rise above all others, The Art and Soul of Baking is an outstanding collection of recipes and technical advice that will certainly become one of the most well-used books in any baker’s kitchen, as it has in mine.” —David Lebovitz, author of The Great Book of Chocolate
“From baking basics to advanced tips that take baking to a whole new level, The Art and Soul of Baking covers everything anyone needs to know to be a great baker. It should be on all our bookshelves. It is on mine so I can refer to it for a quick reference from ‘What the Pros Know,’ or to make the Morning Buns to start my day off right or the Peanut Butter Thumbprints with Peanut Caramel for an afternoon pick-me-up.” —Emily Luchetti, author of Classic Stars Desserts: Favorite Recipes
“I’ve been using high-quality baking tools from Sur la Table for years, and now I can add its all-purpose baking book to my collection. The photos alone are worth the price, but Cindy Mushet’s easy-to-follow recipe descriptions and nurturing voice make this a book everyone will want to actually use and not just look at.” —Peter Reinhart, author of Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor
“Cindy Mushet has put together an incredible compilation of sweet and savory recipes, full of all sorts of extra information that put this beautiful book in a league of its own. She is more than a great baker—she’s a superb teacher. The tips she shares, in the most straightforward, precise, yet down-to-earth manner, will make anyone who uses The Art and Soul of Baking, whether a home cook or a professional, a better baker.” —Sherry Yard, executive pastry chef, Wolfgang Puck Worldwide
