This week: Pastry, cookbook previews and giveaways

As you may have deciphered from my Fear of an empty pantry, part two – the baking edition article last week, or any other baking-related piece I’ve shared (and there have been many), I am a baker. While I love all cookbooks, my passion lies with those devoted to baking. I flip straight to the baking related chapters first when I receive any cookbook.

Anything to do with the craft of baking intrigues me, especially tart pans and pastry tools related to other cultures. I’ve tracked down everything from Iranian pastry molds to Laufabrauð irons to make leaf bread. One day, as I am wont to say, I’ll make all the pastries.

We have over 670 books with pastry in the title in our EYB Library and almost 9500 devoted to baking and a whopping 53,556 pastry recipes (online recipes) indexed. While not everyone is a baker, most everyone loves baked goods. This year has brought home baking to the center stage. See Lockdown bakers get creative; Weighing the options, is this recipe egg worthy?; and Diving into the deep end for related articles.

Novice bakers can be overwhelmed by the thought of laminated doughs. But it is surprising how rewarding the process can be and the resulting treats such as Danish pastries, croissants, and my personal favorite Kouign-amann are delectable. In our EYBD Preview of Bake by Rory Macdonald, there is a six-page spread detailing the process with photographs for making Kouign-amann.

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Let’s talk about a few of my favorite cookbooks devoted to pastry:

The Pastry Chefs Little Black Book and The Pastry Chef’s Little Black Book Volume 2: Each of these 400-page volumes is written for chefs, by chefs. Do not let that sway you because the instructions and recipe layout are so approachable even a novice can easily crank out patisserie worthy goods. Filled with photography by Alan Battmann each recipe is outlined in a table format with US and Metric measurements, yield weights, procedural steps, and chef notes. These are the little black books of pastry. They can be ordered directly from Chef’s Connection with a free e-book download with purchase. If you do purchase both, you will receive a $10.00 discount, and the book(s) ship free. I’ve ordered these titles myself.

Other favorite titles include:

• Bake: Breads, Cakes, Croissants, Kouign Amanns, Macarons, Scones, Tarts by Rory Macdonald (author interview and review)
• The Pastry School: Master Sweet and Savoury Pies, Tarts and Pastries at Home by Julie Jones (review)
• Pastry School: 100 Step-by-Step Recipes by Le Cordon Bleu (review)
• Bake from Scratch compilation volumes and the Bake from Scratch magazines

For skilled bakers, check out So Good Haute Patisserie magazine. I have all issues from No. 5 to No. 24 (locating earlier issues would be like finding a unicorn). I have yet to attempt to create anything from So Good but then again – one day.

This Week on our Blog

Since our last roundup, Darcie has written articles entitled: Learning from the masters, Cool as a cucumber, Eating (and cooking) as a coping mechanism, Flower cakes that are wobbly works of art, and Breaking up with sourdough. Darcie’s weekly food news antipasto is shared every Sunday #foodnews brings up these information-packed posts).

This week I shared my July 2020 New Cookbook Review and two fantastic new titles were featured A Table for Friends with a giveaway open to the US and UK and Summer Kitchens with a giveaway open to the US, with one additional copy worldwide provided by EYB.

Our EYB Cookbook Club summary was also published so be sure to check out the post for our options for August through October. The Kindle cookbook deals and Looking forward to 2020 cookbook preview posts are continually updated. Some titles scheduled for later this year have been pushed to 2021. Lastly, our monthly newsletter was just published, so be sure to check your email.

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Jenny and the EYB Team

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Featured Recently Indexed Titles

• Real Food Fermentation: Preserving Whole Fresh Food with Live Cultures in Your Home Kitchen by Alex Lewin
• The New Nordic: Recipes from a Scandinavian Kitchen by Simon Bajada
• Veganize It!: Easy DIY Recipes for a Plant-Based Kitchen by Robin Robertson
• wd~50: A Restaurant by Wylie Dufresne and Peter Meehan
• CHamoru Cuisine: A Marianas Cultural Legacy by Gerard Aflague and Mary Aflague (for more information see Cookbook Tidbits)
• New Thai Food: Recipes for Home by Martin Boetz
• Burren Dinners: From the Chefs and Artisan Food Producers of North Clare by Trevis Gleason
• Food You Love But Different: Easy and Exciting Ways to Elevate Your Favorite Meals by Danielle Oron
• Me, Myself, and Pie: More Than 100 Simple and Delicious Amish Recipes by Sherry Gore
• Summer Kitchens: Recipes and Reminiscences from Every Corner of Ukraine by Olia Hercules (see our giveaway)
• Twist: Creative Ideas to Reinvent Your Baking by Martha Collison (for more information on GBBO cookbooks see)
• Smoothie Project: The 28-Day Plan to Feel Happy and Healthy No Matter Your Age by Catherine McCord

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Member Photo of the Week

Cardamom sticky buns from Baking at République: Masterful Techniques and Recipes for Bakers by Margarita Manzke and Betty Hallock submitted by member Smokeydoke

Have you uploaded any of your own photos yet? Learn more! Please remember to update your profile with your Instagram name if you would like to be tagged in any photos that we share!

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Featured Online Recipe

Chopped chicken sesame noodle bowls from Pinch of Yum

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EYBDigital Previews

Recently we uploaded our 685th EYBDigital Preview where a selection of full sample pages is available for the following cookbooks.

Learn more about EYBDigital Previews.

Note: To learn why you cannot add all EYBDigital Preview recipes to your Bookshelf, please read this Help page.

• 3 recipes from The William Greenberg Desserts Cookbook: Classic Desserts from an Iconic New York City Bakery by Carol Becker 
• 3 recipes from Weeknight One-Pot Vegan Cooking: 75 Effortless Recipes with Maximum Flavor and Minimal Cleanup by Nicole Malik 
• 3 recipes from Tin Can Magic: Easy, Delicious Recipes Using Pantry Staples by Jessica Dennison 
• 3 recipes from Super Sourdough: The Foolproof Guide to Making World-Class Bread at Home by James Morton 

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Cookbook Giveaways
Click on the Blue Link Below to Enter

• Enter our US/UK/AU/NZ giveaway to win one of three copies of Aran: Recipes and Stories from a Bakery in the Heart of Scotland by Flora Shedden  Expires August 9th, 2020
• Enter our US giveaway to win one of three copies and 1 copy offered by EYB worldwide of Week Light: Super-Fast Meals to Make You Feel Good by Donna Hay. Expires July 31st, 2020

*Please note due to the pandemic, promotions are extended until publishers are back in their offices, and warehouses are available to resume the shipment of books. The cookbook giveaway roundup shares all current giveaways.

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