More than cake : 100 baking recipes built for pleasure and community

Title:

Author:

Summary:

Natasha Pickowicz is a creative force in the world of baking. Her pastries are uniquely delicious and surprising. She’s picked up three James Beard Award nominations for her time as a professional pastry chef. Her buzzy bake sales for Planned Parenthood and other nonprofits have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now she shares her recipes and baking know-how in a debut cookbook brimming with the energy, passion, joy, knowledge, and spirit of generosity that define her work. The recipes are fresh and uncomplicated, drawing on the author’s Chinese and Californian heritage. She pairs nectarine and miso in a tarte tatin and makes a layer cake with olive oil, mascarpone, and fennel. Black cardamom gets tucked into pecan sticky buns, and galettes go savory with kabocha squash. And she’s a born teacher. Of course pastry requires a real focus on detail and technique, but the author is here at every step with invaluable tips: underbeat meringue; boil your plum stones to extract even more plum flavor; look for “first-press” yuzu juice; for the flakiest pie dough, first freeze your butter, then use a grater to get perfect shreds. More Than Cake means baking to bring people together. It calls on you to prioritize pleasure. As the author writes, “Dessert is beyond simple calories and nutrition. . . . It spreads delight in a way that no other kind of dish can. This is something I think people really need—it’s not optional.” It’s a philosophy to live by. -- Amazon.

General Note:

Includes index.

Contents:

Introduction -- Essential tools -- Never-ending cookies -- Sweet and salty snacks -- Single layer cakes -- Modern layer cakes -- Fruit expressions -- Baking with vegetables -- Creamy, elegant desserts -- Yeasted treats -- First-light bakes.

Physical Description:

319 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 26 cm

Genre:

Subject Term:

Author(s):

Publisher:

Artisan,

Publication Date:

2023

ISBN:

9781648290541

Publication Information:

New York : Artisan, [2023]

Call Number:

641.815 PICKOWICZ

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003660977	New Adult Nonfiction	641.815 PICKOWICZ	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

The sumptuous debut cookbook from celebrated baker, activist, and pastry "it girl" Natasha Pickowicz * Named a Best New Cookbook of Spring 2023 by Food & Wine , Eater , and more

Natasha Pickowicz is a creative force in the world of baking. Her pastries are uniquely delicious and surprising. She's picked up three James Beard Award nominations for her time as a professional pastry chef. Her buzzy bake sales for Planned Parenthood and other nonprofits have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now she shares her recipes and baking know-how in a debut cookbook brimming with the energy, passion, joy, knowledge, and spirit of generosity that define her work.

The recipes are fresh and uncomplicated, drawing on the author's Chinese and Californian heritage. She pairs nectarine and miso in a tarte tatin and makes a layer cake with olive oil, mascarpone, and fennel. Black cardamom gets tucked into pecan sticky buns, and galettes go savory with kabocha squash. Brown butter is the secret to irresistible buckwheat chocolate chunk cookies.

And she's a born teacher. Of course pastry requires a real focus on detail and technique, but the author is here at every step with invaluable tips: underbeat meringue; boil your plum stones to extract even more plum flavor; look for "first-press" yuzu juice; for the flakiest pie dough, first freeze your butter, then use a grater to get perfect shreds.

More Than Cake means baking to bring people together. It calls on you to prioritize pleasure. As the author writes, "Dessert is beyond simple calories and nutrition. . . . It spreads delight in a way that no other kind of dish can. This is something I think people really need--it's not optional." It's a philosophy to live by.

Author Notes

Natasha Pickowicz is a New York City-based chef and writer. She is a three-time James Beard Foundation Award finalist.

Much of her pastry work explores the relationship between baking and social justice, including ongoing collaborations with seminal New York City institutions like Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, God's Love We Deliver, the Brigid Alliance, and Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, for whom she produced a massive city-wide bake sale, raising more than $150,000 between 2017 and 2019.

Currently, Pickowicz runs the pastry pop-up called Never Ending Taste, which has been held at NYC's Superiority Burger, Brooklyn's the Four Horsemen, the American-Vietnamese bakery Ba. n B., the Taiwanese tearoom T. Company, Los Angeles's Kismet, and the legendary Chino Farm in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

Pickowicz's recipes and writing have been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bon App.tit, Saveur, Food & Wine, New York magazine , Cherry Bombe, and many other publications. Follow her on Instagram at @natashapickowicz.

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

Pastry chef and bake-sale boss Pickowicz details her method of creating desserts of all sorts in this informative volume, her first cookbook. Putting people at the forefront, she believes dessert can stimulate community and includes information on supporting causes through fundraising with baked goods. From cookies to savory bakes with vegetables, with an ode to fruit desserts in between, recipes are often multi-step, even multi-day events, resulting in unexpected flavor unions, such as olive-oil cake with crispy capers. A formula for creating layer cakes (cake, soak, filling, then frosting) provides countless possibilities. Step-by-step photos help to explain an unusual process for building layers: Start with a thin sheet cake, which gets cut most often into circles, then swaddled in plastic wrap and stacked inside a tall cake pan. After all the soaking, filling, and layering, the cake is turned out and frosted. Tips, including variations and how to recover from mistakes, are sprinkled throughout the book. VERDICT Best for those who like slow, meditative bakes and unique ingredient combinations.--P.J. Gardiner

Introduction	8
Essential Tools	13
Never-Ending Cookies	18
Sweet and Salty Snacks	50
Single-Layer Cakes	74
Modern Layer Cakes	106
Fruit Expressions	156
Baking with Vegetables	190
Creamy, Elegant Desserts	218
Yeasted Treats	252
First-Light Bakes	276
Resources	311
Acknowledgments	312
Index	314

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents