The King Arthur Baking Company's All-Purpose Baker's Companion

All of the King Arthur Flour book are great.

This volume, subtitled the `All Purpose Baking Cookbook' perfectly fits the criteria I typically apply to a book in order to decide if I want to give it five stars. A book gets three stars if it meets my expectations. A book gets four stars if it meets my expectations in a very successful way. Typically, that means that it has few or no detected mistakes. A book gets five stars if it exceeds my expectations. This book certainly exceeded my expectations.What I anticipated when I opened this book was a dry, technical work steeped in discussions of the effects of gluten and altitude and humidity on bread making, similar to some of the more detailed parts of better books on bread baking. All of these discussions are here, plus others on the finer points of measuring flour and types of flour, but with a difference.The biggest surprise in the book was the light, personal touch of the writing. It all has the tone you may expect in a very good book on regional cooking. And, lo and behold, there is a hint of regionality and local tradition in the selection of materials in the book. In spite of the fact that King Arthur products are available throughout the country (unlike White Lily, for example), the book retains a very New England tone to it's selection of recipes. One prominent example is in the recipe for biscuits, where it advises all experienced Southern biscuit makers to simply skip that page, as since `we don't want to shock you with the way we make biscuits up north'.That doesn't mean the book does not touch on every subject you may expect it to cover. As I said in my opening paragraph, it easily covers much more than what I expected. The very first chapter dealing with breakfast foods covers material not commonly covered in conventional baking surveys. Pancakes, waffles, crepes, French toast and their allies are not covered in either of my favorite general baking books (Julia Child's `Baking With Julia' and Nick Malgieri's `How to Bake'). If that were not enough, it presents recipes in such a way that you can prepare baking mixtures ahead to much the same effect as if you were laying in a supply of Bisquik. One of the secrets is in the use of dried buttermilk. I have seen this product in my local megamart, but have not until now had a clue as to how to use it.The homey, comfortable feeling of the book extends to even that most difficult subject of breads made with wild yeasts (Sourdough, Pain au Levain). The book does not cover every different type of artisinal bread you may find in such books as Carol Field's `The Italian Baker' for instance, and it does not cover such important French specialties as brioche as deeply as Rose Levy Beranbaum's `The Bread Bible', but it does cover them, and so much else as well. Another contributor to the warm feel of the book is the layout. Pages are airy with well positioned sidebars, titles, and tables. Technical information is always at the same place, accessible, but unobstrusive to the browser.In the long r

THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR BAKER'S COMPANION is a delight, both as a book to read and enjoy, and as a cookbook. The slightly oversized pages allow for plenty of room for the well-laid out text. Ink and paper colors make it easy to read. The handful of photos is attractive and inspiring. Line drawings are well rendered and do a great job of illustrating techniques. Each recipe includes a short or not-so-short comment on the recipe from the King Arthur team. The comments are chatty and interesting enough that you may find yourself paging through the book, reading it for pleasure. As a guidebook and manual, THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR BAKER'S COMPANION is excellent. The book is designed to make it easy to scan and plan. Each recipe tells you how much you'll make. Quantities of ingredients are given in both cups/teaspoons and in ounces. When a dish is made in distinct stages (such as crust and filling), both the ingredients and the instructions are separately labeled. Each recipe also -- though you may not want to know! -- gives very complete nutritional information (calories; grams of fat, protein, carbohydrates, sugars, and fiber; mg of cholesterol and sodium; vitamins and minerals). Like THE JOY OF COOKING, THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR BAKER'S COMPANION includes long sections that talk about the basics, in addition to great specific recipes. I am comfortable with the basics of making piecrust. I read their section on basic piecrusts and it was very solid information. I was so inspired that I decided to step out and try a variation, the Long Flake Method. The instructions were very clear and easy to understand and follow. It was like having a master baker there to give you great bits of advice like "Give your chilled dough 10-15 minutes to warm since you made it with all butter." My biggest challenge was believing that my dough should look as it did, as this method calls for visible pieces of fat in the dough. I gave in, followed the directions, and got a wonderfully flaky piecrust. To fill the crust, I used their recipe for The Best Apple Pie. It was delicious. They suggested a bit of rum, which gave this old favorite an exciting new twist. Things were going so well that I also tried their recipe for a streusel topping, and ended up with a fabulous, beautiful apple pie. I got an enthusiastic thumbs up (and clean plate) from my husband and positive reviews from a baker friend that tried it. To address a possible concern you may have: While the King Arthur company sells excellent baking ingredients and tools, you would never know that from reading this book. There are no dicussions of the best ingredients and gadgets and how you can get them from King Arthur. There are no references to brand names, and no ingredients that you can only get from a specialty supplier. The King Arthur team is a class act. (And by the way, I have bought some of their spices. mixes and tools, and all have been excellent.) THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR BAKER'S COMPANION is a book that you can

I identify with this innovative title: "Baker's Companion."And it truly is, organized into thirteen chapters: breakfasts; fried doughs; quick breads; buckles, cobblers and crisps; crackers and flatbreads; yeast breads; sourdough; cookies and bars; cakes; pies, tarts and quiches; pastry and viennoiseries; ingredients; and tools. In addition, there are essential notes on measuring, and high-altitude baking.This being a renown ingredients supplier, one is especially pleased at the outstanding "ingredients" chapter, filled with great history and practical hints on not only flours, but fats and leavens and spices, et al.There is just a plethora of fine recipes here for exploration: especially am I attracted to such as "Croissants de Boulanger"; Strawberry-Lemon Chess Pie; Panzanella; Apple and Walnut-Maple Cobbler; besides all the wonderful breads.Should be invaluable aid to all who enjoy baking, either the serious baker as well as the gourmet chef who dabble in baking once in a while as well.Truly well done and worthy on cooks shelves.

Having loved the original King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook, I anxiously awaited my copy of the new Baker's Companion. And a wonderful 'companion' it is! Novice and expert bakers will enjoy the many tips, descriptions, discussions and suggestions for producing baked goods. At 640 pages, there are a LOT of them too! As a New Englander, I loved the chapter on Buckles, Cobblers and Crisps. I can attest that a warm piece of Blueberry Buckle is just the perfect start to the day.I was pleased to see that nutritional information is provided for each recipe. Surprisingly, there are lots of recipes that don't fall in the category of 'diet buster'. To be sure, there are plenty that do, but a little hedonism once in awhile makes weight watching a little less stressful.The recipes are simple and straightforward. These are creations that many of us grew up with or have sampled. The ingredients are easy to find and the directions are so straightforward that you may want to get the kids to help. Each chapter begins with some background on the topic and may include special tools or techniques and how to use them. This is a great gift idea for newlyweds or for the kids who have left the nest. It answers most, if not all of the questions that arise when you venture into the kitchen to prepare what many people consider the best part of the meal: dessert. But it is not merely a dessert book. Breakfast fare, yeast and quick breads, flatbreads and crackers are thoroughly discussed as well as the requisite chapters on cookies, cakes, pies and pastries.I really appreciate cookbooks that not only provide recipes but instruct, explain and in general, broaden your knowledge of the subject. The Baker's Companion succeeds on all fronts...it is a great reference. I like it a lot...you will too!