Bake Smart: Sweets and Secrets from My Oven to Yours

by Samantha Seneviratne

New York Time's "The Best Cookbooks of 2023"

Bon Appetit's "The Best 23 Fall 2023"

Eater's “The 16 Best Cookbooks of Fall 2023”

Tasting Table's "27 Cookbooks We're Looking Forward To In Fall 2023"

NY Mag's "The Best Fall Cookbooks, According to Our Kitchen and Dining Writer"

Simply Recipe's "These 12 New Cookbooks of Fall 2023 Make the Best Gifts"

Oprah Daily's "The Best Cookbooks for Holiday Pie Inspiration"


Critically acclaimed baking expert and media star Samantha Seneviratne dispels common baking myths and fears—and shares 100 of her favorite irresistible recipes.

Star baker Samantha Seneviratne wants to tell you the baking secrets of industry You can soften butter in a microwave in seconds, without melting it. Don’t bother sifting flour. No stand mixer? No problem—you can mix it by hand. Test the doneness of a cake without toothpicks (who actually has those?). Make a custard with a dump and stir method. Tempering schmempering.

Break free from common baking myths, fears, and unnecessarily fussy procedures, with Bake Smart, filled with Sam’s tips and warm reassurances plus 100 stunning, mouth-watering recipes that are surprisingly achievable for any home baker. Chapters are organized by main baking ingredient (Butter; Sugar; Eggs; Flour, Nuts & Cocoa; and Yeast), each starting with a quick intro to break down the fundamentals of baking, as well as core recipes—like Basic Custard, Any-Nut Frangipane, and Rough Puff Pastry—that are easy to master and return to again and again.

And each chapter includes recipes for delicious, modern-yet-timeless

Stuffed S’more CookiesLemony Hibiscus DoodlesRaspberry Rye Balsamic TartBurnt Caramel Basque CheesecakeCaramelized Banana Cream Cornflake TartPassion Fruit and Pineapple Upside Down CakeGianduja RugelachMaple Tahini Chocolate Skillet CakeBig and Fluffy Lemon and Orange BunsChocolate Sesame Swirl BreadLinzer CookiesApricot Cardamom Buns

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 7, 2023

Reviews

[Miss✧Pickypants ᓚᘏᗢ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baking nerds, you will dig this book! Can you use salted butter instead of unsalted? Yes, you can! Can you use cottage cheese, buttermilk and sour cream interchangeably? You're thinking surely not but yes, you can! Recipes are well written yet seem long, but only because the author is trying to impart as much detail as possible. There are pictures for most but not all dishes.

At first I found the blue arrows pointing out of the recipes to the tips for successful execution annoying, but after the first chapter they didn't bother me anymore because the info they pointed to was actually helpful. There are some master recipes at the start of the book, and while I am still not a fan of referenced recipes within a recipe, it didn't seem like there were many that pointed back to them.

Overall, I liked this one more for the tips and techniques I learned than for the flavor combos of the bakes. Tips now in my toolkit include shaping cookie dough into a rectangle before chilling so it can be cut into equal pieces instead of scooping, and flipping the bottom of springform pans over so you don't have to contend with lip.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting recipes, instructions clear and contain tips for some of the ingredients. Unfortunately for me, the recipes and some of the ingredients are not a good match.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the very best recipes. I wanted to eat the pages.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rating may change based on how well baking turns out. The recipes sound amazing. The instructions seem straightforward. Why this isn't rated higher at the moment is because the page layout is far to busy. I miss the simple and straightforward layout of her prior volume and my new baking Bible The New Sugar and Spice.

[Deborah Cleaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an accessible casual introduction to baking. Not simple recipes but thorough explanations that simplify yet amplify an approach to baking that will ease the tension of the usual admonition not to ever deviate from baking recipes. She gives bakers permission to enjoy the process of baking while making challenging bakes.

[Miss Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - not the best format

Good tips, notes, and explanation for things work and why.

Gooey Cranberry Crumb Cake
Fried Blueberry Mini Pies 16
Toasted Coconut Oat Cookies
Guava Bars
Lemony Hibiscus Doodles
Downy Pumpkin Bundt with Maple Cream
Rhubarb-Lime-Ginger Slab Pie a la Melissa
Basic Custard
Vanilla Bean-Roasted Stone-Fruit Eton Mess
Chocolate Cherry Cream Cake
Coconut Lime Layer Cake*
Cream Cheese Ice Cream with Dates
Fresh Kiwi and Vanilla Bean Cake on Croute
Any-Nut Frangipane*
Raspberry Pistachio Bostock
Cinnamon Swirl Potato Bread
Ginger Brulee Doughnuts
Rhubarb and Cheese Kolaches*
Pretzel Cheese Buns
Sticky Banana Monkey Bread

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. I've tried 3 recipes from this book and all were tasty. Fluffy orange and lemon buns. Eclairs filled with her chocolate cremeaux instead of the pistachio cremeaux simply because my son prefers chocolate. And frangipane brownies. Each of the recipes required adjustments. A little more flour, a little less sugar, a few splashes more cream. In other words, these recipes are not tested to perfection and require a knowledgable baker to tweak. But there's a lot of possibility in the recipes so I'll keep baking from this book.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book so much I put it in my Amazon cart an started following the author on instagram. Such great pictures! Some of the recipes have a long list of ingredients and or a lot of instructions. With that being said I don’t care. For this I would bake it anyway. This cookbook is well worth a look see.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great pictures and I can tell many of these treats would taste amazing. Less stars because most of them are time-consuming. I made the carrot cake buns and they were delicious, but were truly best eaten they day they were made like she said, and who wants to spend so long on something to not be able to eat it all week?

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

She has a warm and comforting tone in writing. The recipes are easy to follow. She clearly discusses the differences in creaming butter and the reason you should mix the dry ingredients separate (guess I've missed that in previous cookbooks).

[Steve Portigal]

Good looking cookbook; much of it too fancy for my taste but a handful of things I want to try; a few things I want to eat but might be a bit too much work for me (but I guess having a stretch goal is a good thing, isn't it?)

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some excellent recipes here including these I'd like to tackle:
p. 15: Chocolate, banana and oat cookies
p. 22: Chocolate Cremeux Slice
p. 54: All the chocolate cookies
p. 56: Chewy chocolate chip cookies
p. 116: Cinnamon and cardamom spiced churros

[Pamela Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divided into categories such as flour, eggs, yeast with traditional desserts such as a pumpkin bundt cake and new to me flavors like maple tahini chocolate skillet cake. I plan to try the peanut butter and chocolate snack cake because I love 9x9 size and the icing looks sooo good!

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some yummy sounding treats, lots of baking tips. Some are too fussy to make, others I want to try (like the coconut oatmeal cookies).

[Cheska · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a little too fancy for my taste. There were may be less than a handful of recipes that caught my attention.

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creative recipes. I enjoyed it.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fair member of recipes I’d like to try out and excellent sections about the importance and use of various baking elements (butter, flour, yeast, etc)

[Ambur Taft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will definitely buy for the collection! 🤤

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made the Masala Chai shortbread, Toasted Coconut Oat, and Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies and all were really tasty. I’ll probably have to buy this book. 🍪

[Honest Mabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am just going to buy this.

[Dray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book in a field that’s hard to excel in.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would eat just about anything in here. Beautifully photographed.

[Ady]

This book is very comprehensive. I would not say that this is a book FOR beginner bakers, but the information needed to successfully bake any of the recipes is laid out. I would call this a baking cookbook that is suitable for intermediate bakers, but adventurous beginners could easily be successful and experienced bakers could find some delicious, well-written recipes.