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| The Thread's Must Read |
"Bigger Bolder Baking: A Fearless Approach to Baking Anytime, Anywhere" by Gemma Stafford
Buy this book
If you have visions of brined turkeys and pumpkin pies dancing in your head, I've got the book for you. This is the first time in the history of The Thread that I've put a book about cookies and cakes on the list, and there are a couple of reasons for that. One is that I'm a terrible cook and no amount of airbrushed, beautifully photographed food porn is going to change that. I recently watched a YouTube video on the best way to whisk an egg!
But here's why this one works for me, and why I'm sharing it with you. I have, against all odds, become a fan of the Great British Baking show. Have you watched it on Netflix? Twelve amateur cooks come in from the hinterlands of Wales or England or Ireland to compete for the title of Star Baker. The setting is beautiful: a billowing white tent on a country estate that houses 10 pastel and well-appointed mini-kitchens. And you can't forget the super picky judges who eat thousands of calories per episode in cake icing, fruit tortes and pie crusts.
I'm here to say that while I could never impress judges Mary Berry or Paul Hollywood, I have been inspired by the show. Gemma Stafford's book has taken me by the hand and led me, ever so gingerly, into the world of delicious baking. It's not snooty, assuming the stuff I should know about baking but don't. It doesn't send me off searching for some rare salt found only in the bazaars of Morocco or chocolate that must be sourced from some remote farm in Cameroon.
"Bigger Bolder Baking" isn't too big for its britches, even though Stafford has a Michelin gig on her resume. She has also baked at an Irish monastery, and I think the simplicity and humility of that experience informs this delicious book.
-Kerri Miller |
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