From Barnes & Noble

Martha Stewart's first book in six years manifests her celebrated attention to detail. This comprehensive, 400-plus-page baking handbook walks readers through the basics, then sets them up with 250 kitchen-tested recipes, each of which is keyed to level of proficiency. Step-by-step photographs and sidebar notes teach readers to make biscuits, shortcakes, muffins, breads, cookies, cakes, pies, tarts, pastries, fruits desserts, and much more. Just what you would expect from Martha: Superb.

From the Publisher

For the hundreds of thousands of readers who've always turned to Martha for the most authoritative, beautiful books, she's back with her first book in 6 years!

Publishers Weekly

Six years after Stewart's now classic Hors D'Oeuvres Handbook reinvented canap s, here is an end-of-the-meal sequel. General baking tips start things off, most of which are beginner focused ("Read a recipe all the way through"), along with an illustrated guide to baking equipment. Along with expertise, Stewart is also selling the fantasy of wealth; she keeps a vast collection of pots, pans and implements in her own pantry. At times, readers may wish she would offer more suggestions of substitutions for these tools and gadgets (for instance, nearly all the recipes require a stand-up mixer). All the same, this work is, as promised, an essential guide. The recipes include 42 different cookies and 30 cakes, plus pies, tarts, coffee cakes, scones, biscuits, muffins, crackers, bread, fine pastries and more. They range from Classic Apple Pie to twists on standards, like a Tarte Tatin that involves cooking the apples entirely in the oven (instead of on the stovetop) and international goodies like Torta della Nonna. Instructions and sidebars are exhaustive yet accessible. Naturally, the book is exquisitely designed, with beautiful food styling and the spare, closeup photography that's become a hallmark of Stewart publications. Additionally, Stewart includes instructions for decorative crusts, coconut shavings and pastry twists that make her creations look so appealing. (On sale Nov. 1) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

With 250 recipes, Stewart sets out to prove that she didn't forget how to bake while in jail. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

• Read an Excerpt
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Read an Excerpt

Read a Sample Chapter

Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

Random House

Chapter One

Apricot-Cherry Upside-down Cake

Makes one 8-inch cake

In traditional upside-down cake recipes, the fruit is first caramelized in a skillet. In our simplified version, the butter and sugar are creamed and spread into the cake pan; then the fruit is layered over the mixture and topped with cake batter.

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 5 to 6 medium fresh apricots (about 1 pound), halved and pitted
• 12 ounces fresh sweet cherries (such as Bing), stemmed, pitted, and halved
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fine yellow cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup almond paste (not marzipan), crumbled
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-by-3-inch round cake pan, and line bottom with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat 2 tablespoons butter with 1/4 cup sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Spread evenly over bottom of prepared pan. Arrange apricot halves, cut sides down, in pan. Fit cherries into any gaps between apricots. Pack down the fruit slightly with your hands; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat remaining 6 tablespoons butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Add almond paste and ae cup sugar, and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg yolks, and beat until well combined. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts. Add the flour mixture in two parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined, and set aside.

In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Gradually sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and beat until soft peaks form. Fold a third of egg-white mixture into the batter with a spatula. Gently fold in remaining egg whites.

Spread batter over fruit, smoothing with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool slightly, about 15 minutes. Run a knife or small offset spatula around the edges to loosen, and invert cake onto a serving plate to cool completely. Cake can be kept at room temperature, loosely covered with foil, for up to 3 days.

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