The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion

September 1, 2003
The company that makes one of the pantry's most recognized baking ingredients--flour--presents this practical and comprehensive baking cookbook. The book begins, of course, with a no-nonsense discussion of measuring flour, a step in the baking process that thwarts many would-be pastry chefs (the authors urge homecooks to use a scale). Recipes are divided into category-based chapters--from breakfasts (with dozens of derivatives of pancakes and waffles), fried doughs, and quickbreads to yeasted breads, cookies and bars, and cakes. Carb-haters, beware: there's not much protein in these pages. Many recipes are tried-and-true formulas for favorite dishes, such as the Simple But Perfect Pancake, Simple Sugar Cookies, and Classic Blueberry Muffins; others are more daring variations on a theme, such as White Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake, and Potato, Dill and Onion Crackers. Detailed and logical explanations of how baking works, plus an in-depth discussion of baking ingredients make this a valuable guide for beginning bakers and an informative addition for pastry aficionados. 16 pages of color photos. 200 line drawings.

November 15, 2003
Experienced home bakers now have a new res ource, and beginning bakers find constructive encouragement in The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion . Long a suppli er of professional-quality ingredients and equipment, the Vermont-based company has now produced a comprehensive guide for amateur bakers. The book's no-nonsense approach appears in the very first pages of its introduction, where practical tables of measurements and weight-volume equivalencies provide data that bakers are sure to consult repeatedly. Recipes outline breakfast traditions including pancakes, waffles, and French toast, followed by other quick breads such as crepes, coffee cakes, muffins, biscuits, and scones. A further chapter covers items rarely made at home, such as crackers. Recipes for yeast breads, cookies, cakes, pies, and pastries survey the high points of the baker's art and technique. Helpful hints scattered among the recipes include the advice to freeze biscuits just prior to baking to increase their flakiness. This encyclopedic work concludes with chapters covering utensils and ingredients. Detailed nutritional analyses for each recipe enhance the book's utility. The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion provenance grants th is book authority, and its comprehensiveness makes it a necessary purchase for every culinary collection. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)

Starred review from August 1, 2003
To anyone who bakes, The King Arthur Flour Baker's Catalogue is a great source of high-quality ingredients and equipment that also features favorite recipes from the company's test kitchens. Now the King Arthur bakers have put together a wide-ranging, hugely informative cookbook/ baking reference, with more than 350 delicious recipes for both sweet and savory baked goods. In addition to chapters on ingredients and equipment-as well as a long introductory note on the specifics of proper measuring (essential when baking)-there are trouble-shooting guides, boxes on topics like "Why Do Popovers Pop?," and miniessays on the history and provenance of various baked goods. The King Arthur Company is located in Vermont, and all the classic New England desserts, like slumps and grunts, and other all-American favorites are here, but so are many recipes from other traditions-e.g., Sardinian Parchment Bread, Indian Roti, Curry and Ginger Crackers, and Lavash. The text and headnotes are highly readable, with an easy, approachable style, and there are dozens of line drawings of equipment and methods, many of them step-by-step illustrations of important techniques. Essential. [Good Cook Book Club main selection.]

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.