Black Girl Baking: Wholesome Recipes Inspired by a Soulful Upbringing

by Jerrelle Guy

**2019 James Beard Foundation Book Award Nominee**


"Black Girl Baking has a rhythm and a realness to it." - Carla Hall, Chef and television personality

Invigorating and Creative Recipes to Ignite Your Senses

For Jerrelle Guy, food has always been what has shaped her—her body, her character, her experiences and her palate. Growing up as the sensitive, slightly awkward child of three in a race-conscious space, she decided early on that she’d rather spend her time eating cookies and honey buns than taking on the weight of worldly issues. It helped her see that good food is the most powerful way to connect, understand and heal.

Inspired by this realization, each one of her recipes tells a story. Orange Peel Pound Cake brings back memories of summer days eating Florida oranges at Big Ma’s house, Rosketti cookies reimagine the treats her mother ate growing up in Guam, and Plaited Dukkah Bread parallels the braids worked into her hair as a child.

Jerrelle leads you on a sensual baking journey using the five senses, retelling and reinventing food memories while using ingredients that make her feel more in control and more connected to the world and the person she has become. Whole flours, less refined sugar and vegan alternatives make it easier to celebrate those sweet moments that made her who she is today.

Escape everyday life and get lost in the aromas, sounds, sights, textures and tastes of Black Girl Baking.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction

315 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 27, 2018

Reviews

[Oyinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 122 of 2021

Maybe 3.5?

I don't normally read cookbooks, but I read this one for the Reading Women 2021 challenge prompt - cookbook by a woman of color.

This was very enjoyable and I love that she grouped the recipes into the senses they appealed to for her - sight, sound, taste, and smell.

I LOVED the pictures of the food, because they were so appetizing and made me want to eat all the meals.

This is a cookbook that's primarily for vegans and people looking for gluten free and egg free alternatives to everyday baked goods, and I like that about the book. However, at the end of the day, it's neither applicable to or accessible to me. Lots of the ingredients mentioned here aren't stuff I'll get at my local markets or even at some superstores here.

I appreciate the fact that she linked almost every recipe to a memorable moment/occasion for her and her family. It was so wholesome. It transported me to her childhood and painted a picture of a happy family.

This is a great resource, and even though I might not be able to make 95% of the full recipes in this book, I loved that she broke down the recipes to include recipes for glazes and fillings, which can be incorporated into other recipes so I might try those out someday.

If you're vegan or into gluten free and egg free foods, this is perfect for you.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the whole presentation of this cookbook. Guy's intros for each recipe are very conversational, the photography is fantastic, and she has a great appendix of tools/ingredients. Most, if not all, of the recipes are vegan or have vegan options. I think this is a great resource for a non-vegan (like me!) if you have need to bake for a vegan-friendly situation.

[Becky R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to just love this cookbook, but it uses so many alternative ingredients and combos, that it wandered too far from the “soul” I was looking for. If you have issues with certain ingredients, maybe like milk, flour, or eggs, this would be interesting to flip through.

[Valerie Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inventive recipes plus healthier reimagining of classics. I made the peanut butter cookies and the chocolate cake with raspberry frosting.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I might have to buy this one. Borrowed this new copy from the library but now, despite all the sticky notes I have placed in it, I have to take it back. The spice combinations and choices of whole wheat and aquafaba and lemon grass and other unusual or"healthier" eating staples make this an interesting and flavourful choice. No More Cookbooks, I said to my family, except maybe this one...

[Amberwench · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Vegan and gluten free desserts that are easy and tasty! A few savory items too, and more than can easily have the sweet ingredients swapped for savory ones. This book is a great addition to the healthy bakers collection.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun, innovative way to organize a cookbook, with personal stories for each food and an honest attempt to improve the health aspect of beloved desserts. I have enjoyed everything I've tried in this book!

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Checked it out on a whim because I thought it would have some decadent layer cake recipes and I always try to preview cookbooks before deciding on purchasing them- I barely took note of the "includes vegan/gluten free options" on the cover. That phrasing told me that the book either 1) has a handful of recipes that are vegan or an entire chapter, or 2) it offers ingredient swaps in the recipe notes. However! The entire cookbook is dairy free, vegan, and gluten free. The recipes were just uninteresting and not very appetizing based on the photographs- if you have to photograph food with dark filters to try and make it look pretty, you're gonna have a hard time trying to persuade people it tastes good, but more importantly, that it's worth their time to make it. It just felt like false advertising. I have nothing against vegan or gluten free baking, I've made plenty of those kind of recipes for friends with food restrictions or allergies, but I don't make them anywhere near often enough for an entire cookbook of them sitting on my shelf. As a lifelong baker with lots of experience, I particularly am not a fan of dairy free or egg free bakes, especially if they're breads/cakes. They cause nothing but structural and rise issues, and if I don't *have* to make it, I simply won't.

VEGANS! You will probably love this book, it seems very creative. If you don't particularly like vegan or dairy-free baking, this book isn't for you. 3 stars because of the variety and because it will definitely appeal to those who love this style of baking.

[Leiv Blad · Rating 5 out of 5]

The introduction alone is worth the price of admission. Jerrelle Guy's story of her childhood and how she became interested in baking is worthy of a memoir. I hope she writes it one day. Oh, and the recipes are great, too.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading cookbooks and this one had interesting recipes and great photos. My palate could never be described as refined and most of the recipes are ones I'd never make for myself, but I appreciate the creativity.

[Melissa Chavez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I've tried has been delicious!

[Anna Richland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another success for my 2020 resolution to diversify my reading away from the rut of white authors. I recommend it as an additional and fun baking book that will take your kitchen in new directions. I don't think this would be a great baking basics/starter book, because a lot of the ingredients are beyond-the-basics, but for anyone who has been baking for awhile (and in 2020, isn't that everyone?), this is a good choice. Beautiful photography and nice quality paper also make it fun to read and plan from. Jerrelle Guy also gives vegan swaps and amounts throughout the book.

My favorite recipe was the Jamaican-Style patty pot pies. At the time, I didn't have the right type of flour (whole wheat pastry flour), so I messed around with substitutions and thus the slight heaviness of the crust is on me. However, I considered the recipe to be a success b/c (1) adding curry powder and turmeric to the CRUST - what magic is that? Why did I never think of that before? It was fabulous. Also, (2) the filling was delicious. I ate it from the pot. I make a lot of curries, and for some reason this was where "add lemon" to brighten the mix of spices just clicked for me. Wow.

My daughter made the cocoa gingersnap cookies, also great, and then our 25 year old oven died dramatically and we went over two months waiting for the replacement, so I derailed on baking. But now that we have a sparkling new oven and I have found whole wheat pastry flour, I plan to make several more of the recipes.

Final review: 4.5 stars, strongly recommend as perhaps your kitchen's third baking book. Would make a very nice gift for a cook who has everything.

[Ryan Juno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buy it and put it in your kitchen. It pushes you to experiment and have fun. It’s not about pushing you to make whatever the author wants. It’s playful and plays around with different diets. Cooking and baking is about playing and having fun!! Plus, the authors writing is so dang lovely.

[Zoë Siobhan Baillie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, I want to make every single thing. Ordered after seeing Jerrelle on High On The Hog on Netflix and the book is even better than I imagined. Lots of vegan, low sugar and gluten free options, and mercifully there are metric measurements as well as cups for this confused British cook.

[Kat Bonham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful book with lots of tasty recipes, updating many foods from Guy's upbringing and giving them a healthier twist. It just wasn't my style of cooking.

[Jessica Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cookbook was okay. I read it all the way through first. I loooove her writing style and how she tells stories! And the pictures are amazing! But too many of the recipes didn’t work out for me.
A poet’s peanut butter cookie was actually really good. Everyone who tried them loved them.
The chocolate, chocolate veneer cake was weird. I think I could taste and feel that it was leavened with vinegar and baking soda and I could feel the weirdness of not using egg.
The orange juice olive oil bread was bright and tasty.
The spinach and feta pockets were a disaster. I know it didn’t help that I made them gluten free but the ratio of crust to filling was way off and the filling was so gross.

So yeah... 50% success rate but the failures were soooo bad I was afraid to make anything else. Bummer.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful cookbook!! All of the recipes are accompanied by a stunning picture and all of the recipes sound delicious! I seriously want to eat all of them! Unfortunately, they contain a lot of food that I cannot eat so it doesn't work for me, but I think it would be a winner for those without food restrictions. It integrates some healthier ingredients and the recipes seem fairly simple with easy to find ingredients. There is a large variety of types of food and I enjoyed how she organized the book, as well as her personal commentary.

[Catie Duckworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guy is an alum of the BU gastronomy program. I appreciate the memoir aspects of this cookbook. The photography is also gorgeous. Some of the recipes intrigue me, but since most recipes are vegan and/or gluten free, much of it just doesn’t appeal to me. They seem good recipes for what they are. The thing I want to point out or challenge is the idea that vegan and/or gluten free baking is “healthier” than traditional baking and that this should be the primary motivation for choosing to eat a vegan or gluten free diet.

[Lauren Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s rare I READ read a cookbook, but I READ this book. Every page. Jarrelle Guy has a masters in gastronomy, and it’s clear through out the book. This book is full of recipes I would back for my nutrition clients. Lower sugar, lower fat, vegan…tons of swaps but still tasty (and still to be eaten in moderation). The tofu chocolate chip cookies are protein packed and an easy way to recruit tofu “tasters”.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jerrelle's recipes are delicious and I enjoy reading the personal stories she puts with each one! We've made 7 or 8 of the recipes so far and have loved all of them. I'm excited to try more! I also appreciate that their are vegan recipes included as well as tips on how to make other recipes dairy free.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was happy to get this out of the library in preparation for it being our baking cookbook club's January slection, and while there were some very good recipes to find within the pages, it was not at the level that I wanted to add it to my own collection. Jerrelle Guy is a very talented person, and has some inspired bakes in here, so give it a whirl and see if it suits you.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well Goodreads ate my review so I guess I am going to try again.

I enjoyed reading this cookbook and hope to try some of the recipes. Each recipe has a personal/family connection which is nice. She's into alternative ingredients for things like milk and gluten and eggs so that could make for some interesting (or difficult?) foods. The book is organized by the senses which, while cool, is not my favorite because it doesn't feel very practical for finding things I want to make.

[Child960801 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the pictures of food and I enjoyed that it was arranged to correspond to the different senses. That was really neat. I liked the little stories the author included with each recipe. This isn't the way I cook, so I probably wouldn't make any of these recipes. However, I think my sister in law might like some of them.

[DC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seems like a great resource for vegan bakers, or folks trying to avoid animal products due to allergies, etc. The photography is beautiful, as is the storytelling. I prefer photos of finished baked goods, and not all the photos show this. The way the book is organized, according to the senses, is creative, but ultimately would not help me find something I was looking for. Of course... there is the index, but sometimes it's nice to browse for "pies" or "something savory." Beautiful book overall.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of fun flavor combos and an interesting combination of vegan/non vegan recipes. However, I don’t see myself making a lot of them. And her attitude toward food when she was younger could be too much for people with disordered eating.

I really love the use of white whole flour in the baking projects—I just picked some up at the market so the first on my list is Honey Cinnamon Raisin Bread!

[Amber Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cool to have a cookbook organized by the senses! Vegan options too. Thank you!! Bonus: my two year old is really into cookbooks right now and loves flipping through this one with all the lovely pictures.

[lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many recipes replace some sugar with applesauce, and there is plenty of aquafaba for the vegans. These recipes are too complicated to try in the heat of summer, but something to look forward to trying this winter.

[Zell Murdy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and innovative recipes, but I was looking for more "soul" and less ingredient substitutions. They seem like they'd be good for people with lots of dietary restrictions, but they're not for me, unfortunately. Pretty pictures though!

[Dray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most cookbooks are nice reads and there are usually a few recipes that grab your attention or present a challenge that you want to try. This cookbook is amazing and almost every recipe was unique, intriguing and sounded delicious. So nice to have vegan options. Yup…a five star book.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the writing, love the recipes. Appreciate that the photos don't show pristinely finished products; things are a little burnt, a little messy. The organization of the recipes by senses was brilliant.