In the Sweet Kitchen: The Definitive Baker's Companion

by Regan Daley

The renowned IACP Cookbook of the Year—now in paperback!

What makes a book so special and deserving that it gets chosen cookbook of the year? It's the wealth of information, the experienced voice, the eagerness to share. Celebrated pastry chef Regan Daley unravels the mystery of the baking process, explaining the "how" and "why" behind the components that go into making the perfect dessert, and provides the tools and information home bakers need to create delicious recipes of their own—in their own sweet kitchens.

Regan shows us that anyone, from complete culinary virgins to accomplished dessert-makers, anyone can make a fantastic dessert. The secret is in the ingredients. Her more than 140 original recipes, straightforward enough for any home baker to prepare, focusing on simple techniques with an emphasis on high-quality ingredients, range from the awfully impressive, Guava Cheesecake or Quince and Brioche Bread Pudding with Dried Sour Cherries, to the familiar—Really, REALLY Fudgey Brownies or World's Sexiest Sundae.

For experts, this book will serve as a comprehensive, professional-quality reference of ingredients from basic to rare and an incredible collection of unique flavorings. For the novice, it's a practical and palatable guide to the once mysterious art of baking.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference

704 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Naida · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books out there for baking and pastry.
Hands down a must have for any baker.

I'm a pastry chef and I use this book frequently

[Rhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend ordered a copy of this for herself and announced "Now I will have the secret baking powers you have too!" Indeed, this book does seem to confer a magic ability to produce the most scrumptious desserts. It does so by being filled with information about how to bake, descriptions of nearly every baking ingredient, and finally, recipes for some wonderful and different desserts. Mine is slowly being annotated with all the occasions I've baked these treats for ("11.04.08 Obama wins!" or "08.03.07 cake in the desert"). And I love the comments scattered throughout like "I recommend this cake for breakfast" or "a truly sexy dessert."

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made the most amazing dessert yesterday! It's called, "Sticky Spiked Double-Apple Cake with a Brown Sugar-Brandy Sauce." It was absolutely fantastic! I would give this recipe book 5-stars based on that recipe alone that's how good it was! The book's subtitle is "The Definitive Baker's Companion" & that's just what it is. The first half of the book is devoted to all kinds of interesting information related to baking. There are a few color photos in the center, then, the second half of the book is devoted to recipes. These recipes are innovative. The author has put together tastes & textures in a really creative way. It's like art. I am totally buying this book!

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book as a birthday gift, and, of course, I read it beforehand (Sorry, M--I'm ordering another copy right away)! This is one of the most useful baking cookbooks I've found--and it's well written. The recipes don't start till around page 300--what precedes them is actually the most fascinating part of the book. I especially love the sections on oysters of chocolate and what marries well. I'm baking the white carrot cake today--it has parsnips of all things. Can I count this as a vegetable serving?

[Shira · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book ever for learning how to cook the sweet stuff. I'll admit I started with just the recipes, but over time I have used her flavor pairings chart with great sucess. You can look at a fruit bowl and say, "Oh, I have an apple sitting here, what could I do with an apple? Something interesting..." Oh look, it's right there!

[Beka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-have for any serious baker. The first half of the book is a dictionary of ingredients and an explanation of how they work in a recipe. The second half of the book has recipes that are twists on classics. Though I love the first half of the book, I didn't really care for any of the recipes. They use a lot of expensive ingredients.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is GREAT. The first half is all science-like - how stuff works together to magically transform inside your oven into tasty baked treats. The second half is delicious recipes - pecan-caramel sandwich cookies, anyone? The cover inspired my someday-I-will-get-it tattoo.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holiday season is the time I have to bust out the baking / dessert cookbooks. This, along with Baking by Dorrie Greenspan, is one of my go to sources. Great educational info for those that want to ramp up skills quickly or just get the overview necessary to not bomb the final course.

[Dori · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful pastry/baking resource with helpful tips and delicious recipes for all levels of bakers! I borrowed this from the library, but I'd like to buy it someday for my cookbook "library." Just a terrific cookbook!

[Courtne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I checked this out from the library, and now I plan to buy it. The recipes are great, with easy-to-follow instructions. The best part is the first half of the book, which is basically a crash course on baking, ingredients, tools, etc. Loved it.

[Deborah Cleaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

What?! The very last recipe in the book is a standard pie crust? Organization could use some tweaking. Plus there must have been some way to integrate the information at the beginning of the book into the recipes or chapters where that information was more relevant.

[marycat · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best reference books and some of my favorite recipes for dessert cooking and baking

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful lemon bundt cake recipe! (Though I double the icing amount and add a lot more lemon zest and juice so it's intensely lemon).

[Mary Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love desert cookbooks, and this one is fairly comprehensive. I got tons of requests for the sugar cookie recipe after I gave them out as holiday presents.

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

These desserts are magic. It also contains a recipe for parsnip cake. Parsnips! In a cake!

[Charr Skirvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw this in the kitchen at the Macrina Bakery and thought I would take a look at it. I love it.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book. The first half is a great education in baking and you get to have fun in the second half.

[Mary-Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best baking cookbook I own.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

almond apricot amaretto pound cake. made this feb 2015 (late review i know), but it was so almond-y and i loved the pockets of dried apricot. fyi, it's a massive cake.

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great dessert recipe book. The chocolate cake recipe alone is worth the price of the book.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great reference book filled with so much useful information - information on equipment, ingredients, flavour pairings and substitutions. The writing is very approachable, easy to read and understand. It also has some pretty good recipes including one of the best and richest brownie recipes I have ever made. I own a lot of baking book and this is one I reach for over and over.

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that is not much talked about in the world of baking and I never understand why. This is THE book to have if you are a baker. Regan explains to you everything about baking in this book. From equipment to ingredients, an encyclopaedia of baking. Go for it. There are no pictures but you won't need them.

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

delightful book. The authors expertise in all things baked is evident. It is a rare cookbook where i enjoy the narrative and explanations more than the recipes, and this is such a book. The in depth rundown on sweetners, oils, butters, chocolate etc is well worth the read.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some useful basics, with a lot of 'buy local organic fruit' — gee I never would've thought of that! The recipes are delightful though.

[Autumn]

I just made "Really, REALLY Fudgy Brownies".

My oh my. Delicious!