Baking Hardcover – September 29, 2009

I love this book! I have made at least 10 recipes from it, and all were very successful.My favorite thing about this book is the very thorough explanation of technique together with excellent pictures.I love the apple pie recipe, my wife asks me to bake it all the time. The pie crust recipe in this book is the one i always reach for, even when cooking pies from recipes in other books.I am puzzled by the negative reviews i have seen. The only explanation I can think of for them is that either the reviewers did not read the material describing technique and jumped straight into the recipes, or that their ovens are not heating up to the correct temperature (be sure to check your oven temperature with an over thermometer, many ovens are off by 50 degrees Farenheit or more, which can make a big difference for some recipes.

I took this book out of the library for 3 weeks before purchasing it. I wanted to test a few recipes and see if I would find it useful. After a week, I ordered it. The book covers a wide range of recipes and pictures to go with them. At this point, it's the only baking book I need. It covers breads, desserts, cakes, pastries and more. I am not an expert or experienced baker, but I found it to be very easy to follow and everything I have tried actually works, which I could never say of many other recipe (baking) books.

Even if you have never baked, this book will teach you the fine art. with step by step recipes that are easy to follow..This makes a great gift for beginners or to add to the collection of a seasoned baker. A must for anyone who loves to cook!

Baking is a good resource to have, but I find it is best used as a way to generate ideas, rather than as a go-to baking book. Some of the recipes I've tried, most notably the crumb topping for the coffee cake, have serious typos. In addition, I was puzzled that a baking book wouldn't have weight measurements alongside the volume measurements, given that baking presents an opportunity for precision. On the plus side, Baking presents several recipes followed by relatively-simple variations that can produce different tastes, and it helps categorize the various methods of baking to provoke experimentation quite nicely. I wouldn't start with this book, however. If you're looking for cakes, try something by Rose Levy Beranbaum; for breads look at Peter Reinhart. Baking serves as a nice supplement and helpful reading once you've already got the basics down.

I purchased James Peterson's brand new humongous tome on BAKING a few days ago. It is wonderfully illustrated and clear in its instructions. It's got me thinking I can do far more baking-wise than I've ever attempted before because the processes are so clearly broken down in steps. (Which reminds me of something often attributed to Julia Child: There are no such things as difficult recipes. Some just have more steps.)The one complaint I have about the book - and to me it's a substantial one - none of the measurements for the recipes are by weight. I believe this is a big mistake when so many recent baking books (including this one) talk about the precision of baking. There can be a meaningful lack of accuracy when doing measurements solely by volume.To finish on the positive, I am eager to start working my way through all Peterson's recipes and increasing my baking vocabulary and technique. There's a huge amount to learn here and it all looks delicious!

When I first bought this book I was slightly intimidated by it, but soon dove headfirst into it and it is now my go-to cook book. It has great pictures and descriptions as well as good variations to recipes. You can kind of pick and choose to create cakes, ie, pick this cake, this filling, this frosting, or you can use total cake recipes that the author has put in. Very useful and a great book to have in your kitchen!

This is a textbook on baking by a professional. I bought it to have on hand to guide me through any baking job I might have. There's the basics on everything and baked items you may not have ever eaten. It was written before the gluten-free craze and it's all about wheat flour. Still it's a great reference book.

I bought this BIG book for my husband who enjoys baking and he just LOVES this book. It provides detailed information on EVERYTHING you need to know on baking, the tools, recipes, and loaded with beautiful step by step photography! If you need a book on baking, this is the one and only one you need! Totally worth the money!!!!