Basic Baking: Everything You Need to Know to Start Baking Plus 101 Luscious Dessert Recipes That Anyone Can Make

""There are dozens of things that make the difference between a successful foray into the kitchen to bake and one that leaves you inclined to run to the store for your next dessert,"" breezes Brody (The Kitchen Survival Guide; Bread Machine Baking: Perfect Every Time, etc.). Her newest work easily covers all the essentials for baking bars, cookies, cakes, biscuits and pies: from buying equipment and preparing a pan to measuring ingredients, choosing among types of chocolate and storing the results. Each chapter begins with a ""What Should I Do If..."" troubleshooting list that addresses such concerns as how to thicken a runny fruit filling and how to make puffier cookies. Best of all, Brody provides completely foolproof recipes for such classics as Shortbread, Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, and Pumpkin Pie and more unusual desserts like Flourless Chocolate Cake and White Chocolate and Cherry Bread Pudding. Her standards are impeccable (even Brody ""shudders"" to think of how much testing went into Emmy's Blue Ribbon Blueberry Muffins): cupcakes come out bakery perfect and Chocolate Cheesecake--with its crust of Nabisco chocolate wafers--is sinfully easy to execute. This title is perfect for brides, mothers of young children and all other readers who want a no-nonsense--but fun--all-in-one baking guide. (Nov.)