Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook presents the doyenne of the Better Way in tip-top form. Or rather, it offers the work of a dedicated team who, under Stewart's stewardship, has devised over 200 baking recipes for both savory and sweet treats, ranging from the traditional likes of buttermilk biscuits, gingersnaps, blueberry pie, bagels, and chocolate angel food cake, to the more novel pleasures of Sausage and Feta Hand Pies, Cherry Fragipane Gallete, Carrot-Ginger Cupcakes, and even the buttery-sugary to-die-for yeasted pastry called kouign amans. Also present and accounted-for are Stewartian showpieces like Mocha-Pistachio Wedding Cake.
The greatest virtue of the book, apart from the clarity of its recipes, lies in its organization: the chapters, which cover all baking stops, begin with relevant tips, followed by notes on equipment and techniques, all photo-illustrated. These set-ups supply context that maximizes the possibility of pleasurable, goof-free baking. Photo-illustrated how-to's in the formulas further the cause. A quibble is the absence in many of the recipe headnotes of descriptive material about the baked good they introduce--it's important to provide info on techniques and ingredients, as the headnotes do, but baking recipes in particular cry out for descriptions of what, for example, sfogliatelle (an Italian pastry), or lime-glazed cookies are. This said, the book is immensely appealing and will excite as well as instruct a wide range of bakers, from the would-be to the accomplished. --Arthur Boehm
This new volume may add to global warming as cooks all over the country start up their ovens to produce the extraordinary baked goods that Stewart proposes. Few of Stewart's recipes are completely original. Martha's genius rests in her uncanny ability to see a recipe in a novel way. Thus, her roulade has a filling of blackberry fool. Pineapple upside-down cake replaces the pineapple's core with mango. Caramel sticks cover the multiple chocolate layers of Dobos Torte. Rather than the little slices of banana customary inside ordinary banana cream pie, Stewart employs dramatic lengthwise slices. In addition to quick breads, Stewart offers yeast-raised loaves and buns, including focaccia, English muffins, croissants, and Danish pastries. Stewart's cookie recipes yield products suitable for gift giving. Illustrations throughout offer some guidance to the perplexed baker, but some recipes, such as the sfogliatelle, almost demand personal, step-by-step treatment. This is not an in-depth treatise on any one particular facet of the baker's art, but what Stewart chooses to deal with, she unfolds with care, grace, aplomb, and total mastery. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
About the Author
Martha Stewart is the author of dozens of books on cooking, decorating, gardening, weddings, and other domestic arts, and the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. She lives in Bedford, New York.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Apricot-Cherry Upside-down Cake
Makes one 8-inch cake
In traditional upside-down cake recipes, the fruit is first caramelized in a skillet. In our simplified version, the butter and sugar are creamed and spread into the cake pan; then the fruit is layered over the mixture and topped with cake batter.
• 1 stick (1/2 [.5] cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 1-1/4 (1.25) cups sugar
• 5 to 6 medium fresh apricots (about 1 pound), halved and pitted
• 12 ounces fresh sweet cherries (such as Bing), stemmed, pitted, and halved
• 3/4 (.75)cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fine yellow cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 (.5) teaspoon salt
• 1/4 (.25) cup almond paste (not marzipan), crumbled
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1/4 (.25) teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 (.5) teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1/2 (.5) cup milk
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-by-3-inch round cake pan, and line bottom with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat 2 tablespoons butter with 1/4 cup sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Spread evenly over bottom of prepared pan. Arrange apricot halves, cut sides down, in pan. Fit cherries into any gaps between apricots. Pack down the fruit slightly with your hands; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat remaining 6 tablespoons butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Add almond paste and æ cup sugar, and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg yolks, and beat until well combined. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts. Add the flour mixture in two parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined, and set aside.
In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Gradually sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and beat until soft peaks form. Fold a third of egg-white mixture into the batter with a spatula. Gently fold in remaining egg whites.
Spread batter over fruit, smoothing with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool slightly, about 15 minutes. Run a knife or small offset spatula around the edges to loosen, and invert cake onto a serving plate to cool completely. Cake can be kept at room temperature, loosely covered with foil, for up to 3 days.
