WE'VE MOVED

Hello!

Thank you for the amazing 8 years here at A Baked Creation, we can't thank you enough for the memories! But we've decided to move over to a new site - Sincerely, Syl. Please join us there for future posts on all the things you loved here!

Sincerely,
Syl

Friday, December 17, 2010

Our Favourite Cookbooks of the Year


Hey Sylvia, do you want a new shirt or a new book? Book please. Are you a cookbook enthusiast? I hope so. I thought that I would recommend some of our favourite cookbooks that we got this year. In alphabetical order:

Ad Hoc at Home
by Thomas Keller with Dave Cruz, Susie Heller, Michael Ruhlman, and Amy Vogler
Photographs by Deborah Jones
Blackboard art by Dan Bunter and Nick Dedier
Hardcover, 368 pages
Published by Artisan
ISBN 9781579653774

Do I thank this cookbook for giving me my favourite carrot cupcake? Yes.

Apart from the delicious dessert recipes, this is one of those gift or coffee table books for those looking to be inspired to cook. There are beautiful photographs and the chalkboard design accompanying these stellar recipes.

Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented
by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito
Photographs by Tina Rupp
Hardcover, 208 pages
Published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang
ISBN 9781584798507

You know I'm going to recommend the guys at Baked. If I didn't love their cookbooks that much, I wouldn't have ran through rush hour to meet them.

I love learning about reinvented desserts, I have enough cookbooks that share basic and classic recipes. This book is fun and filled with the right amount of twists and tweaks to old favourites.

Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook: Breakfast, Brunch, and Beyond from New York's Favorite Neighborhood Restaurant
by Neil Kleinberg, Diana H. Lahman
Photographs by Michael Harlan Turkell
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published by Little, Brown and Company
ISBN 9780316083379

This book gave us brookies. Need I say more?

This was also my first breakfast and brunch cookbook. I went and picked up others after this. Who knew there were such great treasures to be found in brunch cookbooks? Admittedly, I thought it would be all about pancakes, eggs, ham, and toast. I guess I haven't had a real breakfast until I've eaten at Clinton St. Baking Company!

Momofuku
by David Chang and Peter Meehan
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published by Clarkson Potter
ISBN 9780307451958

This book is a really good read, while you might not go out and make their soup stock, you'll still be satisfied learning about David Chang's restaurants.

I know that this is one Howard really likes because Momofuku Noodle Bar is one of his favourite places to eat in New York City. Watching him go through the cookbook to find dishes he's tried and then seeing him gasp at how much work it takes to make is priceless!

Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes
by David Lebovitz
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published by Ten Speed Press
ISBN 9781580081382

With a title like that and a cover like that, it is no wonder that I would pick this up. And am I glad I did!

Remember that I said I like new variations to classic desserts? This one also fits the bill! Most of the recipes are ones that I haven't seen elsewhere and I like that they intrigue and challenge me.

The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook: The Best Sweet and Savory Recipes for Every Occasion
by John Barricelli
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published by Clarkson Potter
ISBN 9780307449450

I love curling up with this book in bed. There is such a feeling of comfort when you're with fantastic photography and yummy recipes at your fingertip.


Whoopie Pies: Dozens of Mix 'em, Match 'em, Eat 'em Up Recipes
by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell
Photographs by Antonis Achilleos
Hardcover, 120 pages
Published by Chronicle Books
ISBN 9780811874540

Yes, I discovered whoopie pies this year. I'm still on a whoopie pie high!

This is an adorable book with puffy covers. (Like a whoopie pie! Well thought-out ladies!) Hopefully this book will give you lots of fun and lots of inspirations from their different whoopie pie recipes.


Since it is also the season to be giving, I bought an extra copy of David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert and John Barricelli's The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook. Would you like to win them?

To enter our Favourite Cookbooks Giveaway:
  1. Please tell us your favourite cookbook in the comments below! Also tell us which cookbook (Ready for Dessert or The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook) you're hoping to win. One entry per person please.
  2. This contest is open to residents of Canada and the U.S.A. only! But, if you have friends and family with a Canadian or American mailing address, feel free to enter.
  3. The Our Favourite Cookbook Giveaway is open on December 17th 2010 until January 3rd 2011. So you have plenty of time to enter! Comments submitted after 12 midnight EST on January 3rd will not be considered.
  4. There will be two winners, one for Ready for Dessert and one for The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook. Winners will be randomly drawn.
  5. The winners will be announced on January 4th 2011 on our blog, a nice way to ring in the new year.

44 comments:

  1. You have no idea how helpful I have just found this. I have been searching for info on the best cookbooks to ask for for Christmas and birthday.
    Life saver. Thank you.
    You have a beautiful blog by the way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello! First of all, I love love love the Clinton St. Baking Company cookbook for their brookies recipe. It's so simple to make (and with such basic ingredients). My roommates are always asking me to whip up a batch.

    If I win, I would love the SoNo Baking Company Cookbook.

    Happy holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the Heart of the Home books by Susan Branch. I also love all of the Barefoot Contessa books by Ina Garten.

    I would love the book Ready for Dessert

    msgb245 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love Pasta Presto. It is an older cookbook, but th recips are easy and delicious. I would love Ready for Dessert.

    phjones21@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. My fav cookbook is the old stand by = the cake bible. I would love to win the ready for dessert cookbook. Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow I'm so jealous of that huge collection :)

    I'd love to win the Ready for Dessert book!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great post!! Love your choices!!!

    My favorite cookbook is The French Feasts cookbook. It is soooo beautiful!!

    I'd love to win The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook.

    Fun!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I would love to win Ready for Dessert. My favorite cookbook is Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella!

    jennifer(at)cinemacupcakes(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  9. My favourite cookbook is Barefoot Contessa Family Style by Ina Garten - simple, but delicious recipes!

    I would LOVE to win the book Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes by David Lebovitz. Thank you!

    ajdoucette(at)shaw(dot)ca

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for the giveaway, Sylvia! My favorite cookbook is my mother's old Betty Crocker one that helped me learn how to cook. After all these years it cracks open right at the page for the best brownie recipe (complete with chocolate stains!)

    I would love to win Ready for Dessert as I think David Lebovitz's style in the kitchen is just brilliant.

    Hosanna Fisher

    ReplyDelete
  11. Definitely Rozanne Gold's Radically Simple. By far my favorite cookbook this year.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I just bought Whoopie Pies for a friend- I hope she likes it. I'm glad you liked it too, now I know I've made a good choice :-)

    I'm still a fan of Sky High cakes- it's a great book.

    But I've been wanting Ready For Dessert for some time, so this is exciting for me! Thanks for the giveaway and Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  13. My current favourite new cookbook is Bobby Flay's "Throwdown" - I've made several of the recipes from it, and everything looks just like the pictures! They are very tasty, too!

    I don't have either of the books you're offering in the giveaway, so I'd be happy with either!

    ReplyDelete
  14. So far, my favorite cookbook is Tyler Florence's "Tyler's Ultimate: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Any Time".

    If I win, I'd love to win Ad Hoc at Home.

    winterfall333 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  15. How in the world do you choose a favorite cookbook? If I have to, I will choose Baking with Julia. This is my year to learn about baking bread, and this book is so comprehensive with such good pictures that I have been a success! My husband is a happy man! I would choose the SoNo Baking Company Cookbook and curl up in bed with a great big latte!

    ReplyDelete
  16. My favorite cookbook, by far, is The Art and Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet (Sur La Table). It is AMAZING and I reference it frequently!

    I would LOVE to win the SoNo Baking Company Cookbook! I have browsed through it a few times at B&N and have been wanting to buy it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love cookbooks and cooking from them so it's always hard for me to pick a favorite. Usually my favorite is the one I'm cooking from at the moment and at the moment I'm cooking from two with several in the wings to be next. I'm cooking from Zuni Cafe and Southern Plate with Rachael Ray's Look and Cook coming up fast in the wings, just need to do some shopping.

    Both the books you are offering for giveaway sound great and I'd love to own either but if I had to pick one it'd be The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook.

    Thanks and Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  18. My favorite cookbook is Julia Childs baking. It is a classic and she remained true to the classics.

    I am hoping to acquire Ready to Dessert, because it made my "eyes hungry". Well put together, and made my "eyes salivate". Thats what a good cookbook does for the passionate cook. Good luck to everyone out there and thanks for this great opportunity to win something great for the New Year. Very generous! We could all learn something from this. I wish you all a generous New Year as we all hae an abundance.

    ReplyDelete
  19. My favorite cookbook is The Breadbaker's Apprentice. I've become a serious breadbaker with this book and a little imagination! I would love to win Ready for Dessert!! Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  20. My favorite cookbook is Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours - it's the one I turn to most! :) I would love to win either cookbook, since I don't have either one and they both look fantastic! :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a fun giveaway! My favorite cookbook is alice waters's The Art of Simple Food, and I LOVE David Lebovitz and would be thrilled to have his cookbook.

    ReplyDelete
  22. My favorite cookbook is "The Cake Bible". Thanks for a wonderful giveaway, and I would love to win Ready for Dessert!

    ReplyDelete
  23. My favorite cookbook is the cake bible by rose levy. The cookbook I'd like to win would be the Sono Baking Company Cookbook. BTW, What a great giveaway you're sponsoring. Thanks and happy new year!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I'd love to win Ready for Dessert, but would be delighted with the Sono book as well. My favorite cookbook is Maida Heatter Book of Great Chocolate Desserts! Any oldie but goodie.
    karenreichmann@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. I think my favorite cookbook (currently at least) is the bread baker's apprentice. What can I say? I love carbs.
    Anywho - if I win I would love momofuku.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi, Sylvia. My most reliable cookbook is "The New Best Recipe" for reliability, clarity, scope, and never-fail recipes, but there are others l like as much for photography, writing, different cuisines, creativity, and/or innovation. My most recent is "Baked Explorations"; I loved the chocolate-coffee cake. You asked for just one title - very tough!

    I would be happy with either book, though I lean towards SoNo, as it's a bit more appealing with its broader range of sweet and savoury (yet I'm a big fan of David L!).

    Thanks,

    Dan

    ReplyDelete
  27. The SoNo baking company cookbook is my choice!

    ReplyDelete
  28. I have been baking from Baked Explorations and Flour (from the Bakery in Boston). I would like either cookbooks, but if I had to pick one I would choose David's.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours is the cookbook that ranks top on my shelf. It's the one I turn to for inspiration and advice...and it's never let me down. :) I'm already in love with David's Pefect Scoop, so I'd love to get my hands on Ready for Dessert!

    ReplyDelete
  30. I would love the book Ready for Dessert!!

    ReplyDelete
  31. \I adore the old classic Fannie Farmer BAking Book for its simple, abundant and classic recipes.

    I would love to win the SoNo book as it would be a nice contrast to all the classics i have like the betty crocker and the joy of cooking, etc. :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. While I've never been to the San Francisco bakery, my favorite book is Tartine by Elisabeth Prueitt & Chad Robertson. The recipes are simple, easy to follow - I'm a novice baker - and, most importantly, delicious!

    I would love to win the SoNo Baking Company Cookbook!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Ooh, this is so hard. Barring "the entire internet," which is a bit of a cop out, my favorite cookbook might be Alice Water's Menu Cookbook. On the surface, it's not too pretty or appealing, but once you dig into it, there's so much gold. I'd pick it for the walnut bread alone. That said, my grandmother gave me the Fannie Farmer Cookbook for Christmas this year, and it's already seen a ton of use, so Ms. Waters may have to watch her back.

    I'd love the SoNo Cookbook.

    iftastic (at) gmail

    ReplyDelete
  34. I love my old Pillsbury and Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks because they were given to me when I got married and they have helped me learn how to cook :)
    I would be hard-pressed to decide which cookbook to choose of the two mentioned, but I suppose that I would go for the SoNo Baking Company Cookbook. Thanks so much!
    bridgestranslation at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hi Sylvia,
    I enjoy cooking & just recently baking. At present my favorite book is “The Taste of Home Baking Book”-- 2007 Ed.
    I fell in love with SoNo Baking book when I borrowed it from our local library. I have baked couple of recipes from it; instructions are perfect, and you simply cannot go wrong. My favorite recipe is SoNo Chocolate Ganache Cake.
    I would love to own the book. Do not know about the other book, would be happy with either. Thanks for the giveaway & Wish you a Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  36. I love the Whoopie Pies book and would love to win the Ready for Dessert book so i have more ideas for my baking blog! thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  37. So happy to have come across your blog! It's really lovely! Am going to spend some more time now looking for a birthday cake recipe - my daughter's 4th is coming up.

    I'm in love with What to Cook and How to Cook by Jane Hornby. The design is simple and elegant and the recipes are perfect for beginner or experienced cook. But you've picked some great ones, too!
    Thanks,
    Ceri

    ReplyDelete
  38. This is a wonderful blog. I like to look at Martha Stewart's Cookies book. I would like to win the Ready for Dessert book.

    Thanks,

    Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  39. Such luck on finding your amazing blog! My favourite cookbook at the moment is "Jose Marechal’s Secrets of Macarons", it is a small book but it is full of info on making macarons...I already bought the ingredients but I'm still reading over and over before I go to sleep (days already pass)this gorgeous macaron cookbook=) I am so scared on making this first time..*cringe*

    What would I love to have if I'm one of the lucky two...would be John Barricelli's The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook, it would give me so much joy to receive it as I'm still tippy toeing on the baking side of things and this precious cookbook would give me endless night readings before I go to sleep. But if am not one of the lucky ones, I would like to congratulate whoever wins in advance as I know for sure they'll be over the moon=)

    ReplyDelete
  40. My new favorite cookbook is Joanne Chang's Flour. Homemade Oreos and Sticky Buns. Love her bakeries and now I can make her goodies at home. I would like to win Ready For Dessert.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Would love Ready for dessert! My fav cookbook was my grandmothers old Betty Crocker book, you can tell she loved that thing!

    ReplyDelete
  42. My favourite cookbook at the moment is Jamie's Food Revolution! :)

    I'm hoping to win the The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook, but I'd be thrilled with Ready for Dessert as well! <3

    Happy new year! ;)
    -- Amy Yeung

    ReplyDelete
  43. My favorite cookbook is anything by Giada!
    If I won I would choose the SoNo Baking Co. Cookbook!
    aubreyfick@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  44. I appreciate this work amazing post for us I like it.
    HBS Case Studies solution

    ReplyDelete