The Vanilla Bean Baking Book: Recipes for Irresistible Everyday Favorites and Reinvented Classics

Kieffer, of the Vanilla Bean blog, presents 100 dessert recipes for new and experienced bakers and cooks. In addition to vanilla, a variety of other flavors—maple, lemon, ginger,chocolate—are featured in pastry, pies, cookies, cakes, ice cream, and other sweets. Basic recipes include blueberry muffins, banana bread, brownies, and Straight-Up Apple Pie. The “wow” factor comes from the visually stunning cardamom braided knots, an inventive burnt honey buttercream cake with chocolate, an elegant cherry rhubarb crisp with white wine, and chocolate ganache cupcakes with basil buttercream. Vegans can indulge in the chocolate cake and dairy-free chocolate frosting. For making ice cream there is a “No-Churn” chapter that utilizes the decades-old technique of folding whipped cream into condensed milk and freezing. Vanilla and chocolate claros start the chapter before the author moves onto recipes for olive oil with vanilla bean ice cream; rosemary ice cream with chocolate lava cakes; and a s’mores ice cream cake. First-person headnotes bring the reader into Kiefer’s family and baking history, and step-by-step photos illustrate skills such as how to lattice. Stunning full-page photos round out this solid collection. (Nov.)