If you are serious baker, this book needs to ...
343586
If you are  serious baker, this book needs to be included in your library.
3931088
I'm not a baker...my daughter is.  We both think King Arthur Flour is the best you can buy.  I gave this book to her for Christmas.  It has great recipes and lots of technical information for serious bakers.
1926311
Enough already of the cookbooks that have recipes with ingredients that start out with "1 Yellow Cake Mix".  I don't buy a cookbook to use packaged baking items.  I want a cookbook to have recipes that use flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, etc.....not packaged products.  I don't consider using prepackaged items to be baking, and I don't have them in my pantry.  I do have the flour, sugar, salt, etc.

Buy a different cookbook.  This one is only so-so.
3842858
First off, Thomas Keller is considered to be the best Chef in North America and one of the best in the world. What does this mean? It means his recipes aren't going to be as easy as a baking with Martha Stewart recipe book.

Secondly, Professional bakers rarely measure with spoons and cups. They measure by weight. If you want to start baking like big boys and girls pick up a professional baking 101 book or take a community college course. This is the #1 complaint I'm reading from all of the little Debbie and Betty Crocker bakers.

When you by this book, please understand the directions will be given under the assumption that you know what the hell you are doing.

That being said, this book is truly amazing and will keep you coming back for more and more. You may want to consider getting a gym membership after mastering Keller's croissants.
3571450
Good recipes. I've made a couple of them now. I'm not very good at baking, so I made some mistakes. (Did you know that baking soda and baking powder are two different things? Because I do. Now.) (Did you further know that you can't substitute random ingredients with caramel? Turns out it doesn't bake so well. Oops.)

For a beginning baker like me, the book gives lots of extra information and tips on how to do things. I liked the amount of detail it gave me. I'll probably continue making mistakes because I like to get experimental, but this book gives good advise and even the messed up stuff I've made has actually still tasted pretty good.

Next up, I'm trying cake batter cookies!
1549584
This book is very well written; the author is very descriptive on various techniques and the pros and cons of each.  The book itself is beautifully made and would make a very nice gift for the baker in your life.
1908759
Are you a nerd/geek? Do you love baking? Then you will probably like this book. I would check out her youtube channel & if you like the things she does there, then come back and buy her book.
3927907
This is a great book about baking. My wife has always been a great baker, but this book taught her a few new techniques...and Nick's recipes are fabulous. (Try his 10th street brownies...possibly the best brownies ever) I think we got this book at "That Big Box Membership store," about 2011, and she uses it regularly.
If you only buy one book about baking, make sure it's THIS one.
4210991
Bought it for one particular recipe, the peach and blueberry custard bars.  I still have the peaches and blueberry packages in the freezer and haven't gotten around to making them.  There are probably a few more recipes worth buying this book (I try not to buy too many any more).

If I were home baking for profit, I'd probably use a couple in the book and work out or adapt my own recipes.
4646003
Wow, a great cookbook for a starting baker. Tons of foundational baking theory and many many innovative recipes!
2406655
This is an excellent book for those who like to make chocolate cakes but may not be a skilled, experienced baker.  If you are an average person who is trying to bake that chocolate cake at home, then I can happily recommend this book.
The most important feature of this book is that all recipes are rated according to difficulty.  Those who are beginners can choose easy recipes, while those who are already adept at angel food cakes and butter cream frostings can go directly for the complicated ones.  Bakers of all abilities will be able to find a recipe that fits your skill level.  For example, she correctly identifies French butter cream frostings as difficult.  Other recipes that are impressive and seem to be hard are actually easy to do, and this book will rate them as such.
This book has a lot going for it besides the rating system.  The first 50 pages or so give you just the right amount of information so you can do the recipes.  It is also very good about telling you what kind of equipment you will need for the various recipes.  The recipes are clear and easy to follow most of the time.  It also has a good dissertation on various types of icings and frostings, and matching them up to various cakes.  The only short point here is the subject of matching up refrigerated versus cakes that can be stored at room temperature and what icings and frostings will match them.
There are a few problems, but they are minor.  The description of semisweet and bittersweet chocolate is not correct.  The statement that margarine can be substituted for baking in all recipes is also not correct, since the margarine can have wildly differing amounts of water that will have unpredictable results on any one recipe.  The author is a trained, professional baker.  This is often good, as the instructions are based on tried and true professional techniques that really work (which is sadly not true of many books about baking), but she often overestimates the abilities of beginner bakers.  The vocabulary can have professional terms or techniques not otherwise explained, and the difficulty rating of some of the recipes should be increased; for example, anything that involves whipping and folding egg whites should be intermediate, not easy.
2720713
I bought this book yesterday quite cheap as I had to go to the hospital for an appointment and thought this book would keep me company during the long wait! At first sight it is a great book but is it really? I love this young lady's' enthusiasm and I wish that I had her courage to do more with my cooking. After a reading a few reviews it was clear that this book does have problems, other than the ones that I had already found myself: the lack of an index and the overly sweet frosting. After reading a few reviews I was made aware that actually at least one Youtube clip is quite different from the recipe in the book, although they both date from 2014 and the recipe has the exact same name. It makes you wonder this is the Cookies and Cream recipe, which in the book includes oil, which some people found it was far too much but which is not at all included in the Youtube recipe. Actually the Youtube recipe is very different. Then there is the fact that the recipes make 24 cupcakes, far too much for most people! Why not publish the recipes for 12 cupcakes and if ever people want more they just multiply the ingredients? Better than make most people divide them! Then it seems that the amounts of frosting make even a lot more cupcakes. A bit shoddy if you ask me. I have recently come across a recipe which I had been researching and which makes the American type of cooked flour butter cream which is far better than the horrendously sweet British version. I have seen enough people eating cake or cupcake and leave the frosting on the side of the cake, which is rather sad. If this young lady is so proficient one would think that she would know that? I hope one day to become some kind of advisor to a publisher of cookbooks first because I am a very experienced cook, second because I love and collect cookbooks, third because cookbooks are published so fast and in such big amounts, they often cost little but so many recipes come with problem and that will put people off cooking for life so paying me a reasonable salary would probably save them money in the long run! A cook book can't be only about beautiful photos. That said I love the photos in the this book, especially the ones where you can see the steps you go through until you have the final product. I am still pondering whether to give this book 2 stars or 3 stars.. maybe I will give it 3 for her enthusiasm but again oh boy, she does need me on board.. I don't have her imagination and my passion is in trying out recipes, not coming up with the ideas but I know what the finished product should take and look like and especially the taste is very important! I also question the wisdom of over mixing cupcake dough because I have always heard that you should only barely mix it otherwise, the small cakes will be too dense, which is my experience as well! That said, I wish more authors would pay attention to comments on Amazon, Youtube, etc. and address people's concerns!
1422976
This seems like quite a good book with a lot of important information. For me it has been a great disappointment as the total majority of that information is oriented towards a professional bakery operation rather than for a home baker such as myself who prefers to knead by hand. So for the home baker i'd give 2 stars. For a professional baker operating in large volumes, 5 stars...

Another disappointing factor has been the fact that this book doesn't have any recipes with 100% whole grain which is my personal preference... I am getting this book for which I read some good reviews on the net: The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book: A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking.

Happy baking!
4563472
With the cronut craze, I was eager to buy this book. It isn't really for the home baker. It's a beautiful book, but not really useful for me. I've been baking at home for years, but these recipes seem really challenging.
1290640
This is a great addition to any GF baker's GF cooking/baking library.

5 stars for original recipes and 3 stars for instructions. I think that since this is a GF cookbook, there is instructional information that can't be taken for granted. Since baking is more exacting than cooking, gaining knowledge of GF baking is essential for anyone starting out. It wouldn't hurt to read multiple authors' GF baking recommendations. I would suggest Annalise Roberts' 'GF Baking Classics'. She gives a great introduction to GF baking. She covers ingredients; that GF baked goods brown quicker/easier (use lighter colored metal pans); that since many flours don't have much taste on their own, you have to bump-up the taste with other flavors (butter, vanilla, cinnamon, etc...); storing GF items in the refrigerator; and baking substitutions. This insight will help you be more successful, since navigating the ingredients alone can be overwhelming from one book to another. One day I took all of my GF baking stuffs out, and I had almost 30 different products (flours, xantham gum, guar gum, powdered milk...and this did not include sugars, or flavorings!)

The recipes are unique for American GF bakers. If I had to make a suggestion to the author, I would have included a one-page rundown of flours & other ingredients used in the book. This would have covered any issues that may arise with international distribution. (Mostly pan sizes & ingredients.)(Maybe she didn't know that her book would be marketed outside the UK...?) I made the 'Perfect Pecan Pies', but used standard muffin tins. I made eight per tin, with three pecan halves on top...the crust was a perfect balance with the filing...they were delicious and a nice size. Note: Polenta--just like Bob's Red Mill states 'polenta' on their bag of corn meal used for this purpose, is a grade/grind of (dry) corn meal.

I (roughly) counted about 17 different flours, flour-type, or grain products used. The main ones are: brown rice flour, rice flour, polenta, corn flour, garbanzo bean (chickpea) flour, & ground almonds. Some secondary ones are: potato flour, white rice flour, corn starch, & buckwheat flour. These are used a few times or even once: Millet flakes, GF corn flakes, GF crisped (puffed) rice cereal, GF bread crumbs, rice bran, and soy flour. You can make a number of recipes with just the main flours. The oddest ingredient I found was coconut milk powder in one recipe...I am sure there is a way around that one.

Bottom line...if you have good basic GF baking knowledge and practice, and need some new recipes, then you will enjoy this book. If you are new to the GF lifestyle, and don't bake much, then you might find yourself frustrated by the sheer number of ingredients needed to bake something and the non-traditional (US) recipes.
2597596
I really enjoyed the story of Buddy and his family, but what was more important to me were the recipes.  These recipes are nowhere near bakery quality.  I've tried several and they just aren't up to par.  I don't believe they were "home tested" as claimed in the book.  The vanilla and crumb cake were greasy and the custard was far from the best I've ever made.  The crumb cake also overflows and makes a mess when baking and the baking times are really off.  I am truly disappointed in the recipes.
2544181
I loved this cookbook when my daughter was about 8-12 months.  Tonight, however, I am in a fight with Bebe Gourmet.  You see, my daughter's second birthday is tomorrow and I decided to bake the lemon yogurt cake for her and her classroom at school.  I followed the instructions precisely and ended up with a flat 10 inch dense lemon cookie that looked nothing like the book.  Lo and behold, after I googled the recipe to see what the heck I did wrong, I discovered that atleast 5 of the 6 baking recipes neglected to include the direction to add baking soda.  So, here I am at 10:30 pm, no cake to show for, an hour + wasted and an inedible mass that I have to throw out.  Bottom line, the savory meals are good but this many mistakes all in the baking section, where precision counts, is a deal breaker for me.