2011 GIFT GUIDE

• Mrs. Santa's Book Bag

  The best cookbook gift ideas for 2011

• Reclaiming Our Food: How the Grassroots Food Movement Is Changing the Way We Eat

  A collection of cookbook gift ideas for 2011

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking

  BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

• The New Southern-Latino Table: Recipes That Bring Together the Bold and Beloved Flavors of Latin America & the American South

  BY MM PACK

• The Happy Table of Eugene Walter: Southern Spirits in Food and Drink

  BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

• Made in Italy and Rustic Italian Food

  BY RACHEL FEIT

• The Food of Morocco

  BY MICK VANN

• Sunday Roasts: A Year's Worth of Mouthwatering Roasts, From Old-Fashioned Pot Roasts to Glorious Turkeys and Legs of Lamb

  BY KATE THORNBERRY

• Drinkology Beer: A Book About the Brew

  The best cookbook gift ideas for 2011

  BY WES MARSHALL

• The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartender's Guide From the Celebrated Speakeasy

  BY WES MARSHALL

• Home Cooking With Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• > The Art of French Baking

• Off the Menu: Staff Meals From America's Top Restaurants

  BY RACHEL FEIT

• The Book of Tapas

  BY MICK VANN

• An Everlasting Meal: Cooking With Economy and Grace

  BY MM PACK

• Complete Chinese Cookbook

  BY KATE THORNBERRY

The Art of French Baking

I'm the child of a woman who makes a delicious Tex-Mex dish she calls Rabbit Hutch Surprise. Others balk at the questionable-looking casserole, but my mom taught me it's not always about how something looks, as long as it tastes good.

This is, without a doubt, a gorgeous book. Its modern design is eye-catching and well-executed, from the ever-so-slightly desaturated photography and playful illustrations to the sleek fonts and ample white space. There are also some helpful practical touches, including the dual built-in bookmarks, a vinyl cover, and heavy pages that seem perfectly suited to the gauntlet the book will inevitably be subjected to in a kitchen.

"Modern," though, is often a synonym for "sparse." And French cooking has a (deserved) reputation, aside from being full of butter: It's complicated. While the design of The Art of French Baking is appealing and functional in its own way, it doesn't make for a good or thorough guide for most home bakers. The Last-Minute Brioche turned out reasonably well, but I had several doubts and questions throughout the process that I just couldn't find any answers to in the book. The recipe for meringues is only three sentences long; one can't help but wonder if a few steps were either edited out (by Clotilde Dusoulier) or literally lost in translation (by Annabel van Nieuwkerk). Basic­ally, I just wanted it to taste as good as it looks.

That said, this could be an ideal companion volume to a book of techniques or in the cookbook arsenal of a more experienced pastry chef just looking for a few new recipes. As it stands, though, it's just a little too much art and not quite enough French baking.