Baking books can make you a pro in a plethora of categories like cake decoration, bread making, and macaron preparation. With so many different options in hand, finding the perfect book is no walk in the park. So, to help you invest in the right product, this comprehensive guide is for aspiring home bakers like you.
Benefits of Baking Books
Baking books come with a host of benefits. Some of them include:
- Baking might sound like an easy process, but the techniques involved in preparing classic dishes aren’t. That’s why you need a baking book, as it includes detailed information on all techniques required to prepare classic food items like focaccias and macarons.
- All baking books come with a proper ingredient list with standard measurements to ensure you don’t mix up the items and end up making a disaster in your kitchen.
- If you want to take part in any cooking competition or start a business, a baking book can help you master the skills required to cook different dishes.
Key Factors for Choosing the Perfect Baking Book
Author
While browsing through different baking books, you should study a little about the authors. Most authors share their experiences and observations in the books, so you can easily learn how they became a pro player in the baking industry. Ensure the author has mentioned all details in a clear manner that can be understood even by an amateur.
Visual representation
There is a difference between baking books and books for pleasure. If the book doesn’t have any pictures, not only will it become difficult for you to follow the instructions properly, but it also impacts how interesting the recipes are. Without photos, you won’t know if you are on the right track or not. You should check if your chosen baking book has appropriate pictures or not. It should have a detailed visual representation to help you relate the dishes in the book to the ones you have prepared. This can boost your confidence and enable you to rectify the mistakes.
Type
There are different types of baking books available on the market, and finding the right one can be difficult. So, start with listing down the type of dish you want to master. For instance, if you want to learn how to decorate cakes, go for a cake decoration book. Similarly, if you aim to learn about different bread types from all over the world, choose a baking book that covers multiple bread categories from varied cuisines.
Recipes
A quality baking book encompasses multiple recipes, from basic to advanced ones. For instance, if you choose a bread-making book, it should include recipes for basic bread, sweet bread, focaccia, pizza, swirl bread, and several other types. Ensure your chosen guide has detailed recipes with preparation and baking time, clearly mentioned ingredients with standard measurements and instructions for the cooking process. It should also have cooking tips to help you master the art of baking in a better way.
Technical information
The baking book should include information about different techniques used in preparing the recipes. For instance, if you choose a cake decoration book, it should have techniques for preparing fondant and ganache. It should also have information about piping, making flowers, covering cakes with fondant, and more. Similarly, when you choose a bread-making book, it should have details about the differences between freshly prepared dough and pre-fermented dough, no-knead and kneaded bread, and the tools you require.
Price Range of Baking Books
Usually, the exact cost of a baking book depends on a myriad of factors, like:
- Baking books with detailed instructions on recipes and other aspects of baking are more expensive than regular books with standard explanations.
- When you get a baking book with high-quality pictures, it will be more than a book with no illustrations.
- The cost of baking books also depends on the cuisine to which they belong, so a book detailing classic French cuisine is more expensive than a product on simple bread-making.
Tips for Using Baking Books
To make the most of your baking book, you need to follow some basic tips:
- Choose a baking book that covers all aspects of the process, from introducing the specific appliances to be used, to the importance of each ingredient.
- Ensure the baking book includes basic and advanced recipes so that you can polish your skills properly without any hassle.
- Follow the standard measurements of each ingredient mentioned in the baking book.
- As the standard measurements are included based on the number of portions or servings, you should calculate the values accordingly if you want to prepare different portions or servings.
- Read the basic instructions and other details before jumping straight to the recipes, as that will help you to understand the dish you are about to make.
- If you start one recipe, stick to it until you achieve perfection, instead of jumping to another one immediately after failing.
- Keep the equipment and tools handy, rather than running here and there in your kitchen while prepping the dish from the baking book.
