Be A Pro Home Baker with These Confectionary Books

Baking was popular pandemic leisure, and the pattern shows no signs of stopping down, even when home chefs reunited with their kitchens or discovered a fun new interest in recent years. What's not to like about that? 

The reassuring precision, the (relatively) quick gratification, and the delectable result. There are the best baking cookbooks for everything, whether you want to make a multi-tiered cake or an artistic tart, need a baking recipe book for finally generating that sourdough starter, or want to break the code on the ideal chocolate chip cookie. 

Continue reading for a list of cookbooks chock-full of recipes and techniques that will help you bake the perfect soufflé.

1. Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts

The beauty of baker Alice Medrich's creations, which are delicious and accessible, lies in their simplicity. The book is a must-have for anyone with a sweet craving who doesn't have time to whip up extravagant sugary concoctions. 

It includes a variety of quick-to-make puddings, pies, and cakes (plus over 100 no-fuss, no-bake delights). Medrich also consists of a section on "the dessert maker's basic pantry," which lists the goods to keep on hand in the pantry, fridge, and freezer and all the desserts you can whip up whenever the whim strikes.

Lukas Volger, recipe developer, editor, and cookbook author, most recently of Snacks for Dinner, says it's a favourite for baking and gifting. "She has this way of reducing a recipe, technique, or notion," he says, "to make it sound logical and straightforward and elegant, seductive, and entertaining." 

"It delivers on the 'simple' promise without producing poor, overly-simplified dreck." Volger has tried many of the dishes in the book and declares them all a success. "I prepare her almond cake, a financier-style cake that comes together in minutes in the food processor," he explains.

2. The Art of Fine Baking

 "As thorough a treatise on the art of baking as you will find in the English language," James Beard said of Paula Peck's The Art of Fine Baking. For a reason, the 1961 book is considered a masterpiece. The complete collection of primarily classic French recipes—from petits fours and gâteaux to cakes, frostings, fillings, and decorations—will appeal to both novices and seasoned pros. 

For more sophisticated, technique-driven desserts like Mille Feuille and pâte à choux, all feature simple instructions and illustrations.

"Coming back to this antique book before the Christmas season has become a tradition for me," says Atsuko Fujimoto of Portland, Maine's Norimoto Bakery, "for Dresden Stollen in particular."

3. Cheryl Day's Treasury of Southern Baking

Cheryl Day's instant classic Treasury of Southern Baking has over 200 unique recipes. The self-taught baker, New York Times bestselling cookbook author, and owner of Savannah's Back in the Day Bakery celebrates the American South with classic, from-scratch baked delicacies and heartfelt anecdotes. 

In addition, the book is full of valuable hints and ideas, such as blanching peaches to make peeling them more accessible. "Chef Day will never lead you astray with this jewel," says Food & Wine Best New Chef Paola Velez of Day's book, adding, "I'm so thankful that she shared it with the world." 

So, we're bookmarking flaky buttermilk biscuits, salted peanut honey pie, peach cobbler, and Apple Brown Betty, to name a few savoury and sweet recipes.

4. Baking: From My Home to Yours

Dorie Greenspan has collaborated on publications alongside Julia Child and Pierre Hermé, but Baking: From My Home to Yours is where the baking legend shines brightest. Greenspan includes delightful anecdotes from her own life and plenty of trustworthy recommendations for navigating ingredients, tools, and recipes and more than 230 recipes, like Perfection Pound Cake and lemon tart.

Camille Cogswell, Food & Wine Best New Chef, the proprietor of the soon-to-open Walnut Family Bakery outside Asheville, North Carolina, uses it frequently. "I always know that when I'm searching for some guidance, Dorie is my most trusted source," she says. "She's a terrific instructor, and her recipes are incredibly well-tested."

5. The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book

When it launched in 2009, the Brooklyn-based pie business became an instant hit with its incredibly delicious, nostalgic-with-a-twist pies in flavours like salted caramel apple and lemon chess. 

Emily and Melissa Elsen, the proprietors, and sisters, published a cookbook with 60 recipes divided by season for these and other dishes. The Elsen sisters emphasise fresh, in-season ingredients, so lavender blueberry pie is available in the summer, and rhubarb custard pie is available in the spring. In addition, the methods section is beneficial, providing instructions on making the flakiest pie crust and adding ornamental accents.

Andrea Cote, the pastry chef for RPM Restaurants in Chicago, says, "The recipes are incredibly malleable, so I utilise them as bases and change them." "For example, instead of using eggs in the fruit fillings, produce compotes or purées that can be used as an ice cream topping or a layer in a parfait."