The King Arthur Baking School: Lessons and Recipes for Every Baker

The regal grain brand is back with another resource for flour fans in this thorough guide to the hows, whys, science, and art of baking. Commonly asked questions, such as how to tell when a sourdough starter is “ripe,” and pro tip callouts simulate the classroom experience of the baking classes King Arthur offers (and which are attended by 10,000 bakers annually), with pointers such as using weight over volume in measurements, adding eggs one at a time to a batter (for better emulsification), or including a touch of cake flour in a puff pastry recipe (for enhanced moisture absorption). In the recipes, divided across bread categories and an assortment of desserts, each section ends with a Master Class recipe from a guest expert. Baking instructor Gesine Bullock-Prado’s Gâteau St. Honoré puff pastry rounds out the laminated pastries section, whereas a recipe for “the holy grail of bakers,” the macaron, contributed by World Pastry Cup winner En-Ming Hsu, explains how using Italian meringue produces a more stable batter, which leads to more consistent results. This is a compendium that bakers who want to get better and better will refer to over and over. (Oct.)