Cook's Illustrated Baking Book

With this cookbook you know what you are getting into and what to expect. Note, for example, the “Why This Recipe Works” (on every recipe) that gives you a preview, but also tells you what these cooks wanted to achieve. That’s very helpful! Even more, in the case of chocolate chip cookies, for example, there are two recipes; one to produce moist chewy cookies (with explanations about why it turns out that way) and one for “Thin, Crisp Chocolate Cookies” (again, with explanations about how this is produced or could be thwarted).The book strongly skews toward the sweet. There are a relatively small handful (of the 450!!!) recipes that are not sweet. So you need to know that. But it is quite impressive and clear —from simple things (like chocolate cookies and buttermilk pancakes) to much more ambitious recipes (like for example Napoleons, and a Chocolate Espresso Dacquiose—a multilayered fancy pastry, neither of which I have attempted to make, yet).There are full page pictures scattered throughout but many recipes don’t have pictures, but do have sketched illustrations (see an example above) to help understand and follow the instructions. Since I’ve only just scratched the surface with this book I cannot tell you if some instructions are not clear. But looking through (not making) quite a number of recipes I haven’t seen anything that would suggest there might be a problem. It is, after all, a Cook’s Illustrated America’s Test Kitchen book, so the likelihood of the recipes all working and being clear—all 450 of them—is exceedingly high.

I saw this book at my friend’s place and tried her chocolate cake based on one of the recipes from the book. It was delicious! I got one for myself and loved it immediately. The instructions are clear and detailed. They even include results of testing various methods so that you know what can work and what to avoid. Must have!

So many incredible recipes

Once again, Cooks knocks it out of the park. Love everything about this book

Fantastic book. Every recipe so far has been spot on.

So many amazing recipes that make you feel like a gourmet chef. Lots of tips and tricks on baking that I would've never learned otherwise! This book was recommended to me by a private chef and it is the best.

I bought my 1st Cook's cookbook over 20 yrs agoThe brand has flourished and improved since thenThe book 20 yrs ago did not have glossy photos and used ordinary copy paper that yellowed over timeThis book is now hard cover, has glossy photos of finished recipe products (not every recipe, maybe 1/3), but uses a glossy, thicker, better quality paper that will probably age betterEach recipe comes with footnotes of HOW & WHY the recipe should be the best version of intended productMost recipes are heavily tested before committed to book, as well as teaching the reader on how to become a better cook or bakerVintage style black & white drawings of products are interspersed throughout the book as explanatory & illustrative notes on how, when, where, and why certain ingredients & techniques are usedAt the end of the recipe section are a list with pictures of recommended ingredients or tools used. I find this very helpful, because consumers have a lot of choices, but which are the tried & true tools that hold up over time and works as intended? Cooks does extensive testing on all this and reports this to you. You can take it or leave it, but I like how they report why they like what they recommend.The book covers just about everything (donuts, cookies, pizza crusts, bread, even croissants, dinner rolls, cakes, biscuits, scones, pies, bars, brownies), but mainly sticks to the basics. It's not a book about VARIATIONS on tried and true baking items. It gives you the BEST version of the common basics and explains in detail why their version is the best.This cookbook is sort of like Consumers Reports approach to the best way to bake/cook. It teaches as much as it seeks to transmit recipes that will satisfy your appetite for good food.

Love love love this recipe book! Full of cool tips and tricks and solid recipes! There are explanations of why to use each ingredient and how the science of baking works so you understand why you’re doing certain things to the product. Super informative and beautiful. I made a bunch of items from here but the most stunning with the summer berry tart! Soooo good. I will say, I’ve gotten The Perfect Cake and The Perfect Cookie from the library since this book, and more than a few (but certainly not all) recipes overlap, so if you own either of those books you may have mild disappointment. But there is so much more in other categories that it’s definitely still worth it!

The most impressive thing I learned from this cookbook is how easy they make baking by explaining step by step the process to get to the best result. How often I wondered what "The Best" was going to turn out like when the recipe was taken from online recipes? Cooks Illustrated takes the guess work out of the equation. Why the recipes work, how they arrived on what works best, very detailed ingredients list and clear step by step baking instructions makes this book a blessing. Now anyone can bake with confidence thanks to Cooks.

If you're ever in desperate need for a good (although not great) recipe for waffles, lava cake, Quiche Lorraine, or any other baked good, this book is for you.This is my go-to-book for cheese cake recipes, as it has the best recipes that I know of. Apparently the secret is to ensure that the filling doesn't get too hot (maximum 66°C, 150°F).Belongs in every kitchen, as it's a great starting point for all things baked.The book only gets a 4/5 from me, since many of the cake recipes can be found better elsewhere. This is if you want to be a good desert cook. If you want to be great, you'll have to move on from this eventually.

Very beautiful and good explication, but I expected more photos of the recipes.

The french toast and every other recipe I’ve tried so far are delicious and perfectly explained !

This cookbook has everything you need to Bake!!