Review: The Cookie Bible
Feb. 23rd, 2023 09:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThe Cookie Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum
This is a guide to cookies, with very meticulous step-by-step directions. It has some good general tips on baking cookies, although it does not go into as much scientific detail as some of the previous volumes like The Bread Bible.
The front matter includes a recipe list, foreword, acknowledgements, introduction, golden rules for baking the best cookies, equipment, and ingredients. The recipe sections are Rolled by Hand, Dropped or Piped, Shaped by Hand, Rolled and Cut, Holiday Cookies, Bar and Cake Cookies, Meringues and Candies, Extra Specials. It also has an appendix and an index in the back. The appendix lists Flourless and Eggless Recipes, Recipes Using only Egg Whites, Recipes Using Only Egg Yolks, Flourless Cookie Recipes, and Eggless Recipes.
For the most part, this isn't really my kind of cookie book. I like flexible cookie recipes that I can adapt based on what I have handy. If I want to dress it up, I'm more likely to do that with exotic ingredients that can speak for themselves, although I have a couple of elaborate handbuilt recipes for special occasions. The recipes in this cookbook mostly have a lot of steps, fussy measuring, and really inconvenient things like using half an egg. I did find a few that I might try including Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Shortbread, Date Crescents, Pistachio Pavés, Lion's Paws, and Turkish Ginger-Lime Cookies. There are a bunch of meringue recipes, including diverse flavors and instructions for making meringue mushrooms.
This is a good cookbook if you:
* like planning ahead
* appreciate recipes with very precise, step-by-step instructions
* take a generally French approach to baking
* have lots of failures and think more exact methods may solve that problem
* want to sort recipes by what they have or don't have using that handy appendix.
This is a guide to cookies, with very meticulous step-by-step directions. It has some good general tips on baking cookies, although it does not go into as much scientific detail as some of the previous volumes like The Bread Bible.
The front matter includes a recipe list, foreword, acknowledgements, introduction, golden rules for baking the best cookies, equipment, and ingredients. The recipe sections are Rolled by Hand, Dropped or Piped, Shaped by Hand, Rolled and Cut, Holiday Cookies, Bar and Cake Cookies, Meringues and Candies, Extra Specials. It also has an appendix and an index in the back. The appendix lists Flourless and Eggless Recipes, Recipes Using only Egg Whites, Recipes Using Only Egg Yolks, Flourless Cookie Recipes, and Eggless Recipes.
For the most part, this isn't really my kind of cookie book. I like flexible cookie recipes that I can adapt based on what I have handy. If I want to dress it up, I'm more likely to do that with exotic ingredients that can speak for themselves, although I have a couple of elaborate handbuilt recipes for special occasions. The recipes in this cookbook mostly have a lot of steps, fussy measuring, and really inconvenient things like using half an egg. I did find a few that I might try including Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Shortbread, Date Crescents, Pistachio Pavés, Lion's Paws, and Turkish Ginger-Lime Cookies. There are a bunch of meringue recipes, including diverse flavors and instructions for making meringue mushrooms.
This is a good cookbook if you:
* like planning ahead
* appreciate recipes with very precise, step-by-step instructions
* take a generally French approach to baking
* have lots of failures and think more exact methods may solve that problem
* want to sort recipes by what they have or don't have using that handy appendix.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-02-24 08:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-02-24 11:33 pm (UTC)don't put melted or cold hard butter in cookies because they'll come out with really weird textures. Let the butter soften. The easiest way to do this is to take the butter out of the fridge for several hours before you start making cookies.
Well ...
Date: 2023-02-25 12:12 am (UTC)I usually prefer melted butter. If the dough is too soft then I just stick it in the fridge for a few minutes. If I need softened butter, I microwave it briefly.
Not a lot of cookie recipes use cold butter, but some want it cut in with a pastry cutter to make flaky texture. I've also seen some where you put it in a food processor and combine it with sugar, nuts, or crumbs until it resembles sand.
What you do with the fat in a recipe really comes down to kitchen chemistry and physics.