Bake It Better: 70 Show-Stopping Recipes to Level Up Your Baking Skills

by Matt Adlard

Why bake it “good enough” when you can Bake It Better ?

Publishers Weekly Bestseller

In Bake It Better , Instagram and TikTok star Matt Adlard shares his tried-and-true baking approach to help home chefs advance from intermediate-level to master baker—all at their own pace. Each chapter has a dedicated theme, with recipes offering techniques to show you how to elevate your baking from refreshingly refined to extraordinarily elegant.

Each bake comes as a pair, beginning with a delicious “Tier 1” recipe, followed by an elevated “Tier 2” version for when you’re ready to take your skills to the next level. Love making Brioche from scratch? Why not take things up a notch with Brioche Cinnamon Rolls, using a slightly advanced technique? Or try your hand at Triple Chocolate Brownie Fingers once you’ve mastered the recipe for Chocolate Chunk Brownies.

Bake It Better

Join Matt Adlard on a journey to whatever baking destination you seek—and enjoy the detours along the way!

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food

240 pages, Hardcover

Published August 29, 2023

Reviews

[Dina_s · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt Adlard's pastry fundamentals are rock solid and this book reflects that. However, it is not beginner friendly even though the language and instructions are approachable. This is definitely more suitable for enthusiastic home bakers and pastry students.

The recipes and techniques are sound, but the lack of images demonstrating technique and process is a definite minus point. If you've never laminated before or made any form of curd, cream, layer cake, or even used a piping bag, then this will leave you in the dark. This is where the book is lacking.

4 stars for the recipes and formulas but otherwise a 3.5 for the lack of photos.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not for the brand new home baker—this is meant for folks who already have at least a bit of baking experience. Gorgeous photos of the completed recipes, but I wish there had been some step-by-step pics for the trickier bits—no matter how well you write out directions for these things, if someone has never done it or seen it done, it can be very challenging to know if you’re doing it correctly without any kind of visual aid.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve followed Matt Adlard’s social media for several years (before I got rid of all my social media), and I loved his outlandish creations. They were outrageously complex and beautiful. But I always wondered what they tasted like. Since I’m drowning in babies at the moment, I won’t have time to spend motorizing a custard time, let alone make a custard tart, but I did enjoy the beauty of this cookbook. I would even love to try some of these, but I will need to accept the fact that they will come out not so pretty. I just want delicious. But his dad’s lemon tart caught eye, so maybe I will start with that over the summer.

[Lucy Doughty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great but advanced, plus british ingredients and metrics.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely gorgeous cookbook, but another one where everything seems fairly labor intensive and too much for me to do.

[Nathan Brungart · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love tartlets like I do, you will like the progression with interchangeable shell, filling, and toppings to make the perfect curd, custard, or almond filling.