How to Bake Everything: Simple Recipes for the Best Baking

by Mark Bittman

In How To Bake Everything , the most comprehensive book of its kind, New York Times bestselling author Mark Bittman offers the ultimate baker’s resource—for beginners and pros alike! Finally, here is the simplest way to bake everything, from American favorites (Crunchy Toffee Cookies, Baked Alaska) to of-the-moment updates (Gingerbread Whoopie Pies). The book explores global baking, Nordic ruis, New Orleans beignets, Afghan snowshoe naan. Bittman's recipes satisfy every flavor craving thanks to more than 2,000 recipes and a pound cake can incorporate polenta, yogurt, ricotta, citrus, hazelnuts, ginger, and more. New bakers will appreciate Bittman’s opinionated advice on essential equipment and ingredient substitutions, plus extensive technique illustrations. The pros will find their creativity unleashed with guidance on how to adapt recipes to become vegan, incorporate new grains, improvise tarts, or create customized icebox cakes using a mix-and-match chart. Demystified, deconstructed, and debunked—baking is simpler and more flexible than you ever imagined.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Food and Drink, Culinary

704 pages, Hardcover

First published October 4, 2016

About the author

MARK BITTMAN is one of the country's best-known and most widely respected food writers. His How to Cook Everything books, with one million copies in print, are a mainstay of the modern kitchen. Bittman writes for the Opinion section of New York Times on food policy and cooking, and is a columnist for the New York Times Magazine. His "The Minimalist" cooking show, based on his popular NYT column, can be seen on the Cooking Channel. His most recent book, VB6, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in its first week on sale.

Reviews

[Yaaresse · Rating 3 out of 5]

General information -- 3.5
Recipes -- mixed bag coming out around 2.5-3.0 (Remember that 2.0 is "It's OK".)

Like most Bittman books, it really does seem to cover "everything" under the specified topic. That doesn't mean it covers everything well. That's just too much real estate to cover and too much to expect.

I think it's a good, solid book for information. For cooking from, it's going to be a mixed bag, depending on your expectations and level of cooking experience. Those who are happy just to bake something that turns out OK and taste pretty good will probably be happier than those whose goals are excellence and the best possible texture/flavor regardless of the amount of time/effort needed. I don't think there are many utter failures among the recipes, but suspect there are not that many "bestest" ones either. The majority are going to produce baked goods that are better than 99% of what you can buy at a grocery store. What you're getting in exchange for "the best" is quantity and the experience/control of doing it yourself. There's not going to be much someone wants to bake that isn't in this tome. The result won't get your hailed as a pastry chef, but it's not likely to embarrass you either.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Bittman's style of providing solid base recipes with lots of endorsed variations, suggesting replacements for specialized tools or ingredients, and the lists at the back of the book can help with brainstorming for different situations. However, I have pause with making this my source for learning some of those base recipes when some of the classics I already am familiar with he presents with his own adjustments to the base (tarte tatin with regular instead of puff pastry, for instance), especially when it's an inferior, shortcut variation. There are several recipes in here that I want to try, but this keeps me from wanting to make this my "joy of cooking" go-to reference for baking.

Worth noting that many of the most fundamental recipes are included in his opus How to Cook Everything, but most of the more interesting ones that piqued my interest are new to this volume.

EDIT: Knocking this down a peg. I tried a few recipes that I was really excited about and they didn't really work at all. Googling revealed that many others shared this complaint, including cases where a recipe originally published in the NYTimes had the correct ingredients measurements online, but wrong in the printed book. There are probably 1,000 recipes in here and if I try a few more and find that they're really good I'll consider re-upping. He's lost my confidence a bit though. And with baking you do want to be able to trust your recipes otherwise your only payoff is a whole lot of dishes to clean and something inedible.

[Mairzi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know I am in a minority but I really am not impressed with Mark Bittman recipes and think this book is not very well written, organized or edited. Why would a book that purports to cover "everything" about baking not provide the reader with a table of contents or index in the front of the book. Also if this book is supposed to be teaching baking, many recipes are lacking in specific instructions. One recipe I read says to pour the custard in a baking dish but fails to mention size, shape or depth of the dish. The rugelach recipe I just read mentions in one of its last step to use the "remaining egg" but there is no mention of an egg in any prior step and only one egg listed in the ingredient list. Any beginning baker would be better off consulting The Cake Bible or Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts or any of the excellent books by either of those remarkable women.

[Teawench · Rating 4 out of 5]

first time paging through this book, I didn't think I would like it. in fact, I contemplated returning it to the library without actually reading it. it's not pretty. there are no pictures. I'm glad I changed my mind. The recipes are pretty basic but I've found a lot I want to make. With some variations given, it will take me a while to get through this book. I've been buying cookbooks in ebook format but this one has such good info, I want a hardcopy book.

[Caroline Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve had this book for about a year—I’ve baked a ton of recipes out of here and have enjoyed them—some recipes I make frequently. Great reference book. I’ve read through most of it, and it’s been quite useful.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally took this book to bed and read it cover to cover. Genius.

[Susan Kendrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Already a fan of Bittman's, so a cookbook focused entirely on my carb-y love language? Yes, please.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

No pictures,but that means more recipes packed into a comprehensive book of baking recipes. Bakers will love this book.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, I tend to favor cookbooks with photographs of completed recipes. I enjoy seeing what a finished product might look like, and appreciate the ideas for serving and presentation. So I'm not sure I'd have ever selected this cookbook for myself. While it has plenty of well-done instructional illustrations throughout the book, there is not one single photo of a completed recipe.

That said, I'm really happy to have received this as a Christmas gift! There may not be pictures of finished recipes, but there is such a wealth of information and a breadth of recipes that I know this will be a cookbook I use often both for reference and for baking.

As mentioned above, there are well-drawn illustrations that demonstrate techniques and concepts. There are also well-designed charts and diagrams explaining how to adapt and select recipes; a first chapter full of expert insight into the basics of baking (explaining the differences, for example, in types of flour or chocolate); and an appendix full of helpful lists.

Having baked (at home) for quite a while, I also liked the variations he offered in so many different recipes, so that, once you feel comfortable with a basic recipe, you can have some guidance to comfortably explore twists.

But what I appreciated most about this book was the author's personality, which shines throughout the entire book. In his writing, he finds that awesome balance between being an expert and being approachable. There's also some humor to his writing, and I liked his perspective of baking being something everyone can do, regardless of their starting experience, budget, or other circumstances.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very comprehensive. A few months ago I made blondes from the new Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. They were very good, but the recipe was complicated and took quite a while. More recently I’ve twice made Mark Bittman’s recipe for blondies which is much simpler. Added a couple of his suggested add-ins and they were universally praised. I like that he gives lots of suggestions for tweaking or substituting. Recommended.

[Klara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic cooking reference to have. It includes lots of base recipes and adds plenty of variations to keep things interesting. My only criticism is it lacks color photos, and the illustrations it does have are sparse. The instructions are usually very clear, so this is not a crippling issue when trying something new.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked it, but that's all. The intro sections have good information about ingredients, methods, and all that you would expect from Bittman. The recipes do not. Bittman is not a baker and that is clear here - the recipes don't work out as they ought to. I would recommend the other "How to __ Everything" books but not this one.

[Bita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried 5 recipes out of this book. (borrowed from library) to test out and see if it is a good book to buy.
Only one is really good. Two others were mediocre and the rest just not turned out.
There are lots and lots of recipes there, and they don't seem unreasonably difficult, but most of them were not really something I would ever make.

[DC Ork · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a fan of the Bittman formula and enjoy the format of simple recipes with lots of room for improvisation and experimentation. What keeps me from giving this 5 stars is the lack of weight based ingredient amounts in addition to volumetric. That should be a legal requirement for baking books imho.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

True to the title of this book, Bittman does tell you how to bake everything. The book includes comprehensive instructions about complicated creations and sections for vegans as well as people following gluten-free diet. A great baking reference book.

[the_100 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots and lots of recipes, but the volume based baking recipes were not for me. I can imagine many readers having unpredictable results. Maybe in future editions the addition of weights to the recipes would greatly help.

[Eileen Zhou]

This is the best baking book in the world. Procedures that you think are completed easy and straight to the point. Most of the ingredients can be found easily. I like recipes that do not have dozen of ingredients.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of interesting recipes and variations. I liked the simple recipe notes, but I wish that there were some pictures, particularly of steps related to complicated pastry techniques like making croissants.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I flip through this when I want flavor ideas and when I don't want to be overwhelmed by a fussy recipe. On the flip side, the instructions sometimes aren't specific ENOUGH. Overall, a great resource that I'm glad to have on my bookshelf.

[Dray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Bittman is a force with food and this compendium is no exception. I own several of his books as well as read his columns and he is a great guide. Not only donuts but 5 different kinds of donuts. Pandowdys, custards, cracker etc etc. great baking book.

[R Waterfall · Rating 4 out of 5]

My comfort book haha :) The sheer amount of recipes and variations in this cookbook is kind of overwhelming, but I love looking through it and I've tried several recipes with good success. I like the way the author writes, too.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed, I like the options for recipes. This is a book I'd consider purchasing in hardcover. (I read this on Kindle).
One drawback.....color photos would have made it an awesome book!

[estar* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another ginormous Bittman tome. Lots of fundamental information and tons of recipes with variations to try.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made the chocolate banana bread (a little tough, but I think that was me over baking the cupcakes) and the basic crackers (YUM).

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good recipes, but no pictures.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one I might like to have for my cookbook library, but back to the library it goes.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

The lack of photos is a negative for me.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a very novice baker, there is a lot to learn in this book! Good as reference or honestly, just sit down and immerse yourself in baking and read it straight through.

[Wiebke Kuhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this diagonally as a digital book and have to say that I cannot do digital cook books. So, will have to get a copy of this one.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great resource for a baker. I learned about so many different types of desserts I’d never heard of before. I appreciate that he includes some vegan options!