The Simple Art of Perfect Baking

This is an absolutely wonderful cookbook. Not only are the recipees delightful, but it contains detailed instructions, and carries you through enough basic techniques and undestanding of ingredients that will help you beyond this book. The recipes range from simple to complex. She also includes recipees for various sauces, syrups, icings, purrees, etc etc that can be mixed and matched to create different cakes with different presentations. This book, however, is primarily about cakes. While it does have a small section on pies and tarts, it is not extensive in that area. If you are looking for an all-encompasing baking book, this may not be the book to purchase. However, if you like cakes, (like me!), this is a great book to read and to work through.

Flo Braker's `The Simple Art of Perfect Baking' is being reissued after serving as a manual to millions of home bakers for almost 20 years as well as a model to emulate by important baking authors such as Gayle and Joe Ortiz of Gayle's Bakery and authors of `The Village Baker's Wife'.It is important to note that while in English, `baking' suggests pastry, cakes, and breads, this book is truly only about what the French call patisserie. It is even more accurately described as primarily a book about cake baking, with approximately a quarter of the book dedicated to pastry. Everything said about the book must be understood to be referring to only torts and tarts.On average, I think books on baking seem to reach a generally higher level of quality than comparable books on savory cooking. One reason is probably that you can't fake it in baking. A small misstep in measurement, equipment, or procedure can lead to something entirely different from what you intended.Of course, Braker makes the humorous, but very sound suggestion to never throw away your mistakes. You never can tell when you may have happened onto the recipe for something very worthwhile to eat. Above all, don't tell your guests that their dessert is the result of a mistake.The baking enthusiast's book buying is also simplified by the presence of a few very highly respected names such as Maida Heatter, Nick Malgieri, Lindsey Shere, and Flo Braker. To this distinguished list, I must add Sherry Yard, author of the great `The Secrets of Baking'. I do not have the pleasure of having read or reviewed books by Maida Heatter or Lindsey Shere, but I am quite familiar with cake and pastry books by Nick Malgieri, Gayle Ortiz, Sherry Yard, and several others. In this company, Flo Braker deserves all the acclamation she has received.Any foodie worth their salt knows that the big distinction between baking and savory cooking is measurement, but few probably know why this is true or are fully aware of the consequences of ignoring precision. Not the least of Braker's accomplishments is to teach you how to be precise, teach you how avoid mistakes in measuring, and impress on you the importance of weighing instead of measuring by volume.The most valuable aspect of this book is it's `modular' approach to recipes. While there are hundreds of different cake recipes, all of these hundreds are presented as distinct variations on two basic types, butter cakes and foam cakes, with sponge cakes further divided into genoise cakes, sponge cakes, angel food cakes, chiffon cake, meringues, and dacquoise. To make this highly effective approach even more agreeable to the amateur, the author does not burden us with a single master recipe for, for example, genoise, followed by a dozen paragraph long variations whose expansion into a full recipe is left to the reader. Every single one of the twenty-three (23) genoise cake recipes are spelled out, including notes on why a brown sugar genoise has different ingredients and i

Flo's book is excellent and when I'm looking for a cake that has a different twist but excellent quality this book is where I turn. Flo features a lot of recipies that use almond paste or ground almonds which is rare. However it gives cakes a different swing without being weird. She also provides weight of the ingrients which gives you accurate measurment for her recipes. I think she needs a website. Her books sweet minatures is also great. She is very creative and I would buy any of her products.

As a professional baker, I have had several opportunities to use this highly informative book-and every time it was incredibly successful. The recipe for the chocolate angel food cake (low-fat!) is worth the price of the book. Flo explains baking in precise terms, but very understandable & user-friendly. She is an excellent teacher as well as a great writer. Highly recommended! Her other book on miniature pastries is a classic that is coming back into print