The Art of Fine Baking

Name: The Art of Fine Baking
Author: Paula Peck
ISBN: 0671206117

by Paula Peck

I found that book in a second-hand bookshop in Oregon and I just liked the cover. It had all these beautiful old sweet moulds and stuff on it. I got it for $2 and I took it home and it was just this incredible book – an amazing resource. And I didn’t even notice when I bought it that James Beard had written the preface – a wonderful American, old-school chef who has a cooking school and sponsors an annual award. So this book has Beard’s seal of approval and it’s a great book. It’s old-fashioned cake recipes; not that old – 1960 – but obviously Peck’s influences are older than that. She’s got a great recipe, for example, for seed cake, and a totally different method for doing it. It’s not your grandma’s baking because she’s got this delicate touch. I mean, I’m not saying your average grandma’s not a great cook or that she doesn’t have delicious recipes, but she usually bakes them with a kind of heavy hand. Like even maybe some lard in there, lots of sugar, white frosting. But this is about fruit and fine pastry.

Recommended by

Claire Ptak

"I found that book in a second-hand bookshop in Oregon and I just liked the cover. It had all these beautiful old sweet moulds and stuff on it. I got it for $2 and I took it home and it was just this incredible book – an amazing resource. And I didn’t even notice when I bought it that James Beard had written the preface – a wonderful American, old-school chef who has a cooking school and sponsors an annual award. So this book has Beard’s seal of approval and it’s a great book. It’s old-fashioned cake recipes; not that old – 1960 – but obviously Peck’s influences are older than that. She’s got a great recipe, for example, for seed cake, and a totally different method for doing it. It’s not your grandma’s baking because she’s got this delicate touch. I mean, I’m not saying your average grandma’s not a great cook or that she doesn’t have delicious recipes, but she usually bakes them with a kind of heavy hand. Like even maybe some lard in there, lots of sugar, white frosting. But this is about fruit and fine pastry."

Cakes · fivebooks.com