Category Archives: Cookbooks

Dec 09 2014
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Bakers, Cookbooks

Rose Levy Beranbaum

Rose Levy Beranbaum's Renee Fleming Golden Chiffon Cake - Photo Courtesy of Ben Fink and the Real Baking with Rose site

Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Renee Fleming Golden Chiffon Cake – Photo Courtesy of Ben Fink and the Real Baking with Rose Web Site

As a dessert glutton, an advanced beginner baker (but don’t ask me to use a pastry tube or whip egg whites), and fan of cookbooks with photos of glorious desserts, I eagerly awaited the 92nd Street Y’s program (in Manhattan) featuring Rose Levy Beranbaum.  Rose is a noted cookbook author who is famous for her meticulous recipes as well as the deliciousness and beauty of her creations.  Her first cookbook, The Cake Bible, was published 26 1/2 years ago and she just published her 10th cookbook, The Baking Bible.

Rose Levy Beranbaum - Photo Courtesy of Ben Fink and the Real Baking with Rose Web Site

Rose Levy Beranbaum – Photo Courtesy of Ben Fink and the Real Baking with Rose Web Site

She was interviewed by Lucinda Scala Quinn, Senior Vice President & Executive Editorial Director of Food at Martha Stewart Living, and author of four cookbooks.

Rose's New Book, The Baking Bible -Photo Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Rose’s New Book, The Baking Bible -Photo Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Here are some highlights from the interview with Rose:

Rose's Mud Turtle Pie - Photo Courtesy of Ben Fink and the Real Baking with Rose Web Site

Rose’s Mud Turtle Pie – Photo Courtesy of Ben Fink and the Real Baking with Rose Web Site

■ The Internet is fearsome for publishers and authors.  If you can find recipes online, do you really need cookbooks?  But interesting things happened.  People who purchased Rose’s cookbooks started contacting her with questions and comments.  A community of bakers was connected through her books.  And groups of people started baking every recipe in her books.  In fact, for The Baking Bible, a group of “Beta Bakers” (recipe testers) were given the recipes before publication of the book.

■ And this community is international.  A baker in India was not able to locate Philadelphia brand cream cheese and wasn’t sure what to use in its place.  Another baker in India was able to suggest a good, locally available substitute.

■ Chocolate Chip Cookies are to American baking what Financiers are to French baking.  (Larousse Gastronomique defines a Financier as: “A cake made from a sponge mixture using ground almonds and whisked egg whites.”)  Both treats are characterized by few ingredients but many variations from one bakery to the next.

■ When I asked about baking trends—what’s popular now that wasn’t years ago, Rose replied “Cronuts.”  And she added Red Velvet Cake to this list.  But she developed a Red Velvet Cake recipe she was happy with.  In fact, a photo of her Red Velvet Cake, the “Red Velvet Rose,” occupies a place of honor—the back cover—of The Baking Bible.

■ Rose started writing cookbooks because she needed a way to keep track of the details (notes) she worked out while she was baking.  She later began working with Woody Wolston, who was not a professional baker, enabling Rose to fully appreciate the challenges faced by less experienced bakers.  And Rose’s nickname for their ongoing collaboration is Team “RoseWood.”

Rose's Pecan Pie (Baked i a Tart Pan) - Photo Courtesy of Ben Fink and the Real Baking with Rose Web Site

Rose’s Pecan Pie (Baked in a Tart Pan) – Photo Courtesy of Ben Fink and the Real Baking with Rose Web Site

A few of Rose’s tips and explanations:

■ She usually doesn’t use almond extract.  She thinks it can impart an artificial taste.  But it pairs beautifully with cherries so she uses almond extract in her Sour Cherry Pie.  Rose pits the cherries by hand so they don’t get crushed.  And to ensure the cherries keep their shape, she stuffs them with currants. 

■ As I absolutely adore white chocolate, I was thrilled to hear Rose say that while she likes the flavor of white chocolate, she prizes it even more for its texture.  Baking with white chocolate ensures a higher rise and a more velvety texture.

■ If baking powder is old, the top of a cake will be dome-shaped, instead of flat.

■ Ingredients should be weighed.

■ Carrot cakes are usually made with oil, instead of butter.  These cakes typically sport a cream cheese frosting/filling, and if made with butter they’ll firm up too much in the refrigerator.  (Cakes with cream cheese need to be kept cold.)

Hmm, my big decision is trying to figure out which Baking Bible recipe I’ll make first.

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Feb 10 2013
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Cookbooks

Notes from The Roger Smith Cookbook Conference

The Roger Smith Hotel in NYC - site of the Cookbook Conference

The Roger Smith Hotel in NYC – site of the Cookbook Conference

Who would think a conference exists that’s devoted solely to cookbooks? It does, and in fact the conference content is diverse enough to warrant different tracks.  One track focuses on the cookbook industry and delves into the impact of new media/social media on traditional cookbook publishing. The other track is devoted to food history & culture — and more specifically, the history of cookbooks.

A very interesting conference session was “Trendspotting in the Food Space.” Here are some of the more intriguing points from this session:

Joe Yonan, Food/Travel Editor, The Washington Post:

  • A food “trend” is a “fad” if we don’t like it.  So, if we don’t like cake pops (small pieces of cakes on sticks) we’ll be more likely to think they’re passing fancies.

Terry Newell, President, Weldon Owen (a book publisher):

  • In order for a book publisher to be able to monetize a food trend, this trend has to be well established.  Therefore, you wouldn’t publish a book devoted to a food, if this food only appeared on upscale restaurant menus.  However, when retailers such as Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table start stocking bakeware/cookware for a specific food, you know the time is ripe to offer a cookbook devoted to this food.  And when Bed, Bath & Beyond and Target start carrying this bakeware, you know the food trend is very well established.

Addie Broyles, Editor and Food Writer, Austin-American Statesman:

  • While food trends are very important, don’t overlook other food stories.  Sending out a request for recipes for pfeffernusse (very small and round Northern European spice cookies –not the latest food trend), on behalf of a reader, led to a very compelling column about what these spice cookies mean to a reader’s family and to the impact of World War II on this family.  Of course, pfeffernusse recipes were also part of this column.

Another interesting session was “Bowker Cookbook Study: Who Buys Cookbooks and in What Format?”  Bowker is a company that serves the book industry and conducts market research studies analyzing purchases of books, including cookbooks.  Some interesting cookbook facts:  In 2012 2,707 cookbooks were published and this number includes e-books.  If a book was published in both print and e-book formats, it was counted twice. As of the 3rd quarter of 2012, 70% of cookbook buyers were female.  And, as compared with purchases of all book types, cookbook purchases were more likely to be impulse purchases.

A few dessert-oriented points, gleaned from other conference sessions:

  • Cookbooks in the 19th century were filled with recipes for desserts.  Middle-class women were expected to prepare desserts themselves, even if they had staff preparing the rest of the meal.
  • The determination of what’s “exotic” depends not just on class, but also on geography.  A dessert considered “exotic” in Iowa might be thought of as more mainstream in New York City.
  • Even when middle-class Indian people in this country cook a traditional Indian meal for their guests, dessert is more likely to be “American” than Indian.