Personally, I don't mind having a lot of cookbooks around, but even I have to admit that it can be easier to find exactly what you're looking for when things are a little more compressed. The Baker's Dozen Cookbook: Become a Better Baker with 135 Foolproof Recipes and Tried-and-True Techniques gives you that convenient compression by providing recipes from 13 different, outstanding bakers all in one volume.
The concept arose when a group of accomplished cooks - including Flo Baker, Marion Cunningham and Alice Medrich - got together to share recipes and techniques for baking. Today, that group has grown to over 400 members, including the authors listed in the book, still sharing their knowledge of and love for baking. In the spirit of sharing, the book is well-laid out and easy to understand. There are some pictures of finished products, as well as many illustrations that explain some of the more difficult concepts (like beating egg whites, for example). Both types of visuals will guide a reader through the baking process, but it is the prose and instructions from the actual recipes that really get the job done here. Recipes include Butter Cake with Creamy Chocolate Frosting, Blood Orange Chiffon Pie, Fran Gage's Spicy Cornmeal Crackers, Cinnamon Sugar Donuts, Apple Brown Betty and Raspberry-Lemon Tart.

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