Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito
Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 208 pp., $29.95

When longtime friends Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito were testing recipes and renovating an old church in Brooklyn's Red Hook area in preparation for opening their dream bakery, they had no way of knowing that culinary fame and a cookbook contract were also in the near future. The partners imagined a cozy neighborhood bakery with excellent pastries, great coffee, and satisfied customers. Based on their hard work and their delicious pastries, the dream came true soon after the opening of Baked in 2005. Neighborhood success brought laudatory newspaper and magazine articles and appearances on the Today show and The Martha Stewart Show. Ecstatic news stories and mouthwatering television cooking segments caused the sales of such items as their signature brownie and the Sweet & Salty Cake to skyrocket. This book presents a collection of the most popular and oft-requested recipes from the popular bakery.

As a baker by trade, my personal judgment about cookbooks is based on how quickly they inspire me to get into the kitchen and start baking – Baked certainly passes this baker's test. I started with savory chipotle cheddar biscuits and then moved on to the Lemon Drop Cake filled with homemade lemon curd. Next, I tried the blond brownies flavored with malt, a particular flavor favorite of the authors which appears in several recipes. The recipes in Baked reveal some intriguing ideas, and I have a list of questions for the two bakers when I meet them next week. See you there.

Saturday, 12:30-1:30pm, Cooking Tent