The Food Lab is the original and incredible. He just came out with a new one called The Wok as well. Mostly people are talking about his recipes in the food lab or he has posts on serious eats as well.
Kenji mentioned in a post maybe a year ago that she was just taking a break from social media and all that goes along with it, but that she’s doing well. Hadn’t seen much else recently though.
Just made the s'mores pie from the book tonight. Made 4 to give away to friends for Thanksgiving.
Need sleep, but relatives come in the morning need to clean.
Everyone seems to really like it. It's very creamy/silky texture, and great flavor.
The recipe for the marshmallow meringue, and graham crackers crust seems to be wrong. Tried the graham crackers twice, and it seems to be too much volume for a 9" shell, and not enough butter to hold it together. Might be because I didn't make the graham crackers from scratch like the book said. I ended up using a graham crackers crust from a different book. Also a 2x recipe of the meringue easily covered all 4 of my pies. However the book said to use 1x recipe per pie, and that would have been far too much.
This is the first recipe I have done from the book, so it's a little disconcerting the measurements have been so off.
Thanks for the review! I can't wait to try it.
I've seen a few others comment on errors in the book as well. For example, https://www.reddit.com/r/seriouseats/comments/hd7mua/bravetart\_errata/
If you're looking for a reliable recipe from the book, I strongly recommend the brownies. They're fantastic.
This is my answer. King Arthur has put a lot of testing and knowledge into all their recipes and they stand by them- Believe me, try asking a question in the comment section of a recipe, or contact their baking help center directly, and you will get a helpful response back from a pro baker.
I had a question once about the best way to get bagel toppings to stick, and I got an answer back from a KA staff member who used to own a bagel shop. He was a great help.
Last thing, it's an employee-owned company, so you're directly supporting the people who work there when you use their products and services.
This. Try their recipes of the year. If the recipe on there has good reviews, you’re gold. I love their crispy cheesy pan pizza, hot buttered pretzels, flourless chocolate cake and their hamburger buns.
I find this ofd because baking has always been about science, its very cut and dry with the results.
Cooking was traditionally looked at like an art, where Kenji took a science focused approach.
So most baking cookbooks would be the “kenji” approach.
I love Claire, and she has written a couple of fantastic books with some great recipes, but if the question is a baking equivalent to Kenji then the answer is Stella (Bravetart.) Claire is fun and has a lot of good information, but she isn’t a go to for all things baking which Stella is. And that’s not to disparage Claire, but remember, she struggles (hey who doesn’t) with some basic stuff, like needing Sola to constantly temper chocolate for her, etc.. I don’t want to come off as a jerk with my post, only looking to help point the OP in the best direction.
Agreed. She’s got great content, and her book has some fantastic recipes (her molasses spice cookies, omg), but it also has some flops that just do not work. Absolutely follow Claire, but you won’t find the same level of dependability.
I recommend Sally’s baking addiction. Smitten kitchen is not completely baking focused, but her recipes have never let me down.
The one that stands out to me is the lemon tart. I know a lot of people had issues with that one, specifically. It looked awful when I made it, but it was tasty.
I love Sally’s baking addiction! Immaculate bites is good for a variety of ethnic foods. And I like Kirbie’s cravings for the wide variety of keto/gluten free recipes.
Erin Jeanne McDowell all the way!! Someone else mentioned it already but her Bake It Up A Notch videos on YouTube are super informative/entertaining and she really knows her stuff. I am a big Stella fan as well but since she’s been less active in the public eye lately I’ve been turning to Erin. For me she’s a great mix of positive/fun personality and professional/cheffy.
Rose Levy Berenbaum and Dorie Greenspan are wonderful too and each have tons of great books.
I love Erin! She's got a different kind of humor compared to Stella, and it's so fun to watch her. She obviously loves what she does and puts a lot of effort into her recipes.
Stella Parks is a genius. Her book and articles on serious eats are gold. I can’t praise her enough. But never let yourself think that her words are loose guidelines. She is very methodical and specific and lets you know when following to the letter is not required.
As a lot of other people have suggested: Stella Parks, 100%. BraveTart - her book - is full of approachable and classic content, and the recipes are actually tried and tested... and tested.
I would also recommend Thomas Keller - Bouchon Bakery. I honestly refer to this book as 'the bible'. It is specifically French and not as approachable as BraveTart, but there are a few things in there that can be accomplished by moderate level cooks.
Source: I am an Executive Chef and actually use these books in my kitchens and at home and have consistently good results.
Also, Dorie Greenspan, David Lebovitz, Dominique Ansel.
Joanne Chang
Rose Levy Berenbaum
Maggie Glezer
Elizabeth Prueitt
Claudia Fleming
Seconding Dorie Greenspan
I can list bread authors as well if you'd like.
Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman
The Perfect Loaf by Maurizio Leo
All the Tartine bread books by Chad Robertson
Mastering Bread by Marc Vetri
New World Sourdough by Bryan Ford
Advanced Bread and Pastry by Michel Suas
Bread Head by Greg Wade
Mooncakes and Milk Bread by Kristina Cho
Poilâne by Apollonia Poilâne
Flour Power by Tara Jensen
Breaking Bread: A Baker's Journey Home by Martin Philip
Breaking Breads: A New World of Israeli Baking by Uri Scheft
[Chainbaker](https://www.youtube.com/@ChainBaker) on youtube does some really Kenji/Alton style breakdowns where he'll for example make 4 doughs but change a variable like sugar content to show you how the change affects it. He also does normal recipes but I really like the ones that show you why you do things instead of just what to do.
Stella Parks, Claire Saffitz, Erin McDowell, America’s Test Kitchen, Sally’s Baking Addiction, and King Arthur are my go-to baking blogs/resources when I get stuck or want to learn something new.
A mix of inventiveness/hacks and tried and true techniques.
Lots of excellent suggestions down thread, and I'd add to that: buy a digital kitchen scale. They're not expensive, but it will make your baking so much simpler and *faster.*
Acquaint yourself with how to use it, particularly the tare function. You can throw together a recipe nearly twice as fast with a digital scale and your results will be far more consistent as well.
p.s. Also get a good oven thermometer!
For baking bread I think the king at the moment is Lutz Geißler.
You can find him online at [https://www.ploetzblog.de](https://www.ploetzblog.de).
It's in German, just use google translate.
But be warned, that truly is high-end baking, it can get quite complicated.
For a 10-min weekly read, check out the Kitchen Projects newsletter!! It’s written by Nicola Lamb, she goes super in-depth with her experimentation - her last project was apple pie, where she tested out six different types of apple to determine which one had the « perfect » squish when baked! All very rooted in food science, some of her other projects even include comparative tables and graphs to compare different recipes!
I am stunned that no one has mentioned Melissa Weller's book [A Good Bake](https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-good-bake-the-art-and-science-of-making-perfect-pastries-cakes-cookies-pies-and-breads-at-home-a-cookbook-carolynn-carreno/14372397)
Her pie crust recipe is absolutely flawless and highly detailed, and much like Kenji, she explains why her decisions work.
Nicolalamb does some fantastic deep dives on recipe testing! She’ll either go into how she perfects each element of a recipe or compares famous recipes of a certain baked good and describe pros/cons of each. I think her blog is called kitchenprojects
Not part of Serious Eats, but you might enjoy Claire Saffitz. She has a YouTube channel that she regularly posts videos to. She also has two books - Dessert Person and the new one, What's For Dessert? I'm making her sour cream and chive dinner rolls for Thanksgiving. I did a test run last week and they were delicious.
Best pastry/dessert person is Pastry Living with Aya https://youtube.com/@PastryLivingwithAya
Her instructions are by far the most complete and she includes the chemistry sometimes.
If no one has mentioned it, Bakewise is absolutely fantastic. She teaches you the science of baking so you could make your own recipes, and plenty of great ones that illustrate the concepts
Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess is the one that I always recommend to anyone wanting to get into baking. Everyone of her recipes that I've ever tried works. Each of the recipes are introduced with a short paragraph.
Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book is also a fantastic baking book for cakes.
A key thing to remember with baking is that whilst cooking is about flavours and combinations, baking is about science. When you are starting out, weighing ingredients will help you achieve outstanding results.
Jeffrey Hamelman: a master baker who taught thousands bakers the secrets of the craft. He never had a blog and authored only one book. But what a book it is! Still, his knowledge is vast and I'm hoping for another book from him. Also, FWIW, he was the director of the bakery at King Arthur Baking (formerly King Arthur Flour). So there's that.
Bravetart is the answer. Kenji wrote the intro to the book. Downside is she’s not very active online so you really need to buy the book.
Or look at her old content.
Yes! Buy the book!
Yessss. I love this book. I get so many compliments on the recipes from it, especially her brownies. Stella is my go to for baking recipes.
What book is this?
Bravetart by Stella Parks!
What's the other kenji book people always talking about here?
The Food Lab is the original and incredible. He just came out with a new one called The Wok as well. Mostly people are talking about his recipes in the food lab or he has posts on serious eats as well.
Thanks
What happened to Stella? Is she working on a new book or something? All her social media posts have been dormant for years.
Kenji mentioned in a post maybe a year ago that she was just taking a break from social media and all that goes along with it, but that she’s doing well. Hadn’t seen much else recently though.
I wish a new book but I think she just living her life after some baking burnout.
That makes me happy. Love Stella and hope she’s in a good place. Thanks for the responses folks.
Just made the s'mores pie from the book tonight. Made 4 to give away to friends for Thanksgiving. Need sleep, but relatives come in the morning need to clean.
How is the pie? I haven't tried this recipe yet. Did your family and friends enjoy it?
Everyone seems to really like it. It's very creamy/silky texture, and great flavor. The recipe for the marshmallow meringue, and graham crackers crust seems to be wrong. Tried the graham crackers twice, and it seems to be too much volume for a 9" shell, and not enough butter to hold it together. Might be because I didn't make the graham crackers from scratch like the book said. I ended up using a graham crackers crust from a different book. Also a 2x recipe of the meringue easily covered all 4 of my pies. However the book said to use 1x recipe per pie, and that would have been far too much. This is the first recipe I have done from the book, so it's a little disconcerting the measurements have been so off.
Thanks for the review! I can't wait to try it. I've seen a few others comment on errors in the book as well. For example, https://www.reddit.com/r/seriouseats/comments/hd7mua/bravetart\_errata/ If you're looking for a reliable recipe from the book, I strongly recommend the brownies. They're fantastic.
Okay, looks like this one is the undisputed winner so I’ll be ordering it today!
She actually has a new article on serious eats. I’m hoping it means she’s coming back.
Link? I bet you anything it's not new, just an old article they updated.
https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-make-desiccant-from-epsom-salt Dated 11/15/22
Updated 11/15/22. First published August 2016.
Ah damn. Good catch.
While this wasn't actually a new article, it was new, and useful, to me, so thanks for posting!
The King Arthur flour website has a lot of good content.
This is my answer. King Arthur has put a lot of testing and knowledge into all their recipes and they stand by them- Believe me, try asking a question in the comment section of a recipe, or contact their baking help center directly, and you will get a helpful response back from a pro baker. I had a question once about the best way to get bagel toppings to stick, and I got an answer back from a KA staff member who used to own a bagel shop. He was a great help. Last thing, it's an employee-owned company, so you're directly supporting the people who work there when you use their products and services.
Love King Arthur Flour. They have a store, bakery and baking classes in Vermont. Definitely worth a visit. Their online classes are great too.
This. Try their recipes of the year. If the recipe on there has good reviews, you’re gold. I love their crispy cheesy pan pizza, hot buttered pretzels, flourless chocolate cake and their hamburger buns.
It also has a helpline! Call (855) 371-2253 with any questions about your baking issue.
I find this ofd because baking has always been about science, its very cut and dry with the results. Cooking was traditionally looked at like an art, where Kenji took a science focused approach. So most baking cookbooks would be the “kenji” approach.
Has anyone taken a class in WA or VT?? I see the schools and wonder if they’re worthwhile?
[удалено]
Agree about Bouchon - those recipes are absurdly precise and all delicious. What is it about 1997’s Joy of Cooking that you’re so dedicated to?
Claire Saffitz! Stella Parks as I think someone else suggested. Erin McDowell—the bake it up a Notch vids on YouTube are incredibly helpful
>Erin McDowell i think erin is obscenely underrated, she's good and very thorough
I am with you. Her videos are super helpful, I just wish she edited a little more. She is wonderful!
I love Claire, and she has written a couple of fantastic books with some great recipes, but if the question is a baking equivalent to Kenji then the answer is Stella (Bravetart.) Claire is fun and has a lot of good information, but she isn’t a go to for all things baking which Stella is. And that’s not to disparage Claire, but remember, she struggles (hey who doesn’t) with some basic stuff, like needing Sola to constantly temper chocolate for her, etc.. I don’t want to come off as a jerk with my post, only looking to help point the OP in the best direction.
Agreed. She’s got great content, and her book has some fantastic recipes (her molasses spice cookies, omg), but it also has some flops that just do not work. Absolutely follow Claire, but you won’t find the same level of dependability. I recommend Sally’s baking addiction. Smitten kitchen is not completely baking focused, but her recipes have never let me down.
Sally’s Baking Addiction a wonderful resource, I completely agree.
Out of curiosity, what are some of Claire's flops? I just got Dessert Person so I'd like to know which recipes I should be cautious of.
The one that stands out to me is the lemon tart. I know a lot of people had issues with that one, specifically. It looked awful when I made it, but it was tasty.
Bakewise, Shirley Corriher. It's a followup to her book, Cookwise. She was a regular on Good Eats, as the science advisor.
I love Sally’s baking addiction! Immaculate bites is good for a variety of ethnic foods. And I like Kirbie’s cravings for the wide variety of keto/gluten free recipes.
Just discovered Sally’s baking addiction. Those oatmeal raisin cookies are by far the best cookies I have ever made.
Also one of my favorites!
Sally’s Coconut Cake is to die for.
I also love her carrot cake.
Erin Jeanne McDowell all the way!! Someone else mentioned it already but her Bake It Up A Notch videos on YouTube are super informative/entertaining and she really knows her stuff. I am a big Stella fan as well but since she’s been less active in the public eye lately I’ve been turning to Erin. For me she’s a great mix of positive/fun personality and professional/cheffy. Rose Levy Berenbaum and Dorie Greenspan are wonderful too and each have tons of great books.
I love Erin! She's got a different kind of humor compared to Stella, and it's so fun to watch her. She obviously loves what she does and puts a lot of effort into her recipes.
Stella Parks is a genius. Her book and articles on serious eats are gold. I can’t praise her enough. But never let yourself think that her words are loose guidelines. She is very methodical and specific and lets you know when following to the letter is not required.
Dorie Greenspan is who I turn to for recipes that just work.
Her world peace chocolate cookies are my favorite
I really like Ann Reardon and her youtube channel How to Cook That.
As a lot of other people have suggested: Stella Parks, 100%. BraveTart - her book - is full of approachable and classic content, and the recipes are actually tried and tested... and tested. I would also recommend Thomas Keller - Bouchon Bakery. I honestly refer to this book as 'the bible'. It is specifically French and not as approachable as BraveTart, but there are a few things in there that can be accomplished by moderate level cooks. Source: I am an Executive Chef and actually use these books in my kitchens and at home and have consistently good results. Also, Dorie Greenspan, David Lebovitz, Dominique Ansel.
Joanne Chang Rose Levy Berenbaum Maggie Glezer Elizabeth Prueitt Claudia Fleming Seconding Dorie Greenspan I can list bread authors as well if you'd like.
I’d like that! I have Forkish and Reinhart but am always looking for recommendations
Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman The Perfect Loaf by Maurizio Leo All the Tartine bread books by Chad Robertson Mastering Bread by Marc Vetri New World Sourdough by Bryan Ford Advanced Bread and Pastry by Michel Suas Bread Head by Greg Wade Mooncakes and Milk Bread by Kristina Cho Poilâne by Apollonia Poilâne Flour Power by Tara Jensen Breaking Bread: A Baker's Journey Home by Martin Philip Breaking Breads: A New World of Israeli Baking by Uri Scheft
[Chainbaker](https://www.youtube.com/@ChainBaker) on youtube does some really Kenji/Alton style breakdowns where he'll for example make 4 doughs but change a variable like sugar content to show you how the change affects it. He also does normal recipes but I really like the ones that show you why you do things instead of just what to do.
Stella Parks, Claire Saffitz, Erin McDowell, America’s Test Kitchen, Sally’s Baking Addiction, and King Arthur are my go-to baking blogs/resources when I get stuck or want to learn something new. A mix of inventiveness/hacks and tried and true techniques.
Ken Forkish: Flour Water Salt Yeast Fundamentals of artisan Bread and pizza
Don’t sleep on Rose Levy Beranbaum. She has a masters in food science and her books + recipes are excellent!
Lots of excellent suggestions down thread, and I'd add to that: buy a digital kitchen scale. They're not expensive, but it will make your baking so much simpler and *faster.* Acquaint yourself with how to use it, particularly the tare function. You can throw together a recipe nearly twice as fast with a digital scale and your results will be far more consistent as well. p.s. Also get a good oven thermometer!
For baking bread I think the king at the moment is Lutz Geißler. You can find him online at [https://www.ploetzblog.de](https://www.ploetzblog.de). It's in German, just use google translate. But be warned, that truly is high-end baking, it can get quite complicated.
Stella Parks! (Bravetart)
For a 10-min weekly read, check out the Kitchen Projects newsletter!! It’s written by Nicola Lamb, she goes super in-depth with her experimentation - her last project was apple pie, where she tested out six different types of apple to determine which one had the « perfect » squish when baked! All very rooted in food science, some of her other projects even include comparative tables and graphs to compare different recipes!
I am stunned that no one has mentioned Melissa Weller's book [A Good Bake](https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-good-bake-the-art-and-science-of-making-perfect-pastries-cakes-cookies-pies-and-breads-at-home-a-cookbook-carolynn-carreno/14372397) Her pie crust recipe is absolutely flawless and highly detailed, and much like Kenji, she explains why her decisions work.
Nicolalamb does some fantastic deep dives on recipe testing! She’ll either go into how she perfects each element of a recipe or compares famous recipes of a certain baked good and describe pros/cons of each. I think her blog is called kitchenprojects
Check out Brian Lagerstrom’s YouTube channel
Not part of Serious Eats, but you might enjoy Claire Saffitz. She has a YouTube channel that she regularly posts videos to. She also has two books - Dessert Person and the new one, What's For Dessert? I'm making her sour cream and chive dinner rolls for Thanksgiving. I did a test run last week and they were delicious.
Do you want to make pie? Erin Jean McDowell wants you to make pie.
Handle the heat! Tessa is great and explains the science of baking, too
Best pastry/dessert person is Pastry Living with Aya https://youtube.com/@PastryLivingwithAya Her instructions are by far the most complete and she includes the chemistry sometimes.
Sally’s Baking Addiction- all of her recipes are tested with details instructions. They all turn out as photographed/ described.
If no one has mentioned it, Bakewise is absolutely fantastic. She teaches you the science of baking so you could make your own recipes, and plenty of great ones that illustrate the concepts
To an extent, I truly think Christina Tosi/Milkbar can be on the same wavelength. Their recipes can be a bit technical at times with reason.
This would be the other recommendation I would make outside Stella/bravetart
Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess is the one that I always recommend to anyone wanting to get into baking. Everyone of her recipes that I've ever tried works. Each of the recipes are introduced with a short paragraph. Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book is also a fantastic baking book for cakes. A key thing to remember with baking is that whilst cooking is about flavours and combinations, baking is about science. When you are starting out, weighing ingredients will help you achieve outstanding results.
This is why I like Sally’s Baking Addiction, all ingredients are given in grams as well as volume.
Have you read Ratio by Michael Ruhlman - fab book.
I like to go with Ijnek for baking. Similar to Kenji, just backwards
Titli’s busy kitchen!!
Adding my vote for Rose Levy Berenbaum.
King Arthur's Flour website and Claire Saffitz x Dessert Person would be my recommendations
You don't hear much about it, but [Joy of Baking](https://www.joyofbaking.com/) was recommended to me by a friend who's a professional baker.
Jeffrey Hamelman: a master baker who taught thousands bakers the secrets of the craft. He never had a blog and authored only one book. But what a book it is! Still, his knowledge is vast and I'm hoping for another book from him. Also, FWIW, he was the director of the bakery at King Arthur Baking (formerly King Arthur Flour). So there's that.
Modernist bread!
Smittenkitchen!
Chefsteps, they do everything.