Though not exactly the premise of Baking By Feel by Becca Rea-Tucker, you can easily see how I might have made that leap. Not that it takes much to convince me to eat pastries.
At the end of each year when the “Best of” lists start to pop up like late dandelions, I read ones dedicated to the best cookbooks, I put the ones that intrigue me on hold at the library, try them out, and if I like a lot of recipes, I buy that book. That’s how I’ve found several of my favorites.
I have a sneaking suspicion that this might be a book I buy. I got it Wednesday and have already made a cake. Not only do I have a few more marked that I want to try, but my daughter read through and announced the ones she thought sounded good. What she doesn’t realize is that she’ll have to make those. Bwahahaha.
The book is engaging and highly readable. The front section lays things out nicely for those who aren’t familiar with baking. Further on, the book is divided into four emotions, and then a recipe is matched to that emotion. So under the “Sad” section is the word “Heartbroken.” The recipe that accompanies it (You’ll have to get the book. No spoilers.) is not only yummy, but her introduction gives compelling logic for why baking this recipe will help you feel less heartbroken. Even better, it’s concise, not like the long blog posts the internet likes to make fun of (justifiably.)
Last night I made the Spiced Upside Down cake. Well, a version of it. Her pound cake called for more eggs that I was willing to use (Have you seen the price of eggs?), so I used another recipe that I like a lot that only needed one. Having said that, the cake ripe was solid and would have worked beautifully. I followed the rest of the recipe (Okay, I added dark rum to my topping, but I had to, I tell you.). The end result was gobbled up by my chocolate loving husband. In fact, he asked why it had been so long since I made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. (The answer is: I haven’t had leftover pineapple in a while. Yesterday was Thrift Thursday wherein I used up leftover bits and bobs. It was a hardcore cooking day.)
There are a few more I’ll try before deciding whether to purchase my own copy. I really don’t bake as much was I did where there were six of us living here. Too much gets uneaten. Having said that, I highly recommend this for someone who is newish to baking or someone who wants an all around solid book with neat riffs on classic recipes.
Me? I can’t wait to try the Cardamom Caramel Poke Cake.
D. S. Dehel 