Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR BAKER'S COMPANION is a delight, both as a book to read and enjoy, and as a cookbook. The slightly oversized pages allow for plenty of room for the well-laid out text. Ink and paper colors make it easy to read. The handful of photos is attractive and inspiring. Line drawings are well rendered and do a great job of illustrating techniques. Each recipe includes a short or not-so-short comment on the recipe from the King Arthur team. The comments are chatty and interesting enough that you may find yourself paging through the book, reading it for pleasure. As a guidebook and manual, THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR BAKER'S COMPANION is excellent. The book is designed to make it easy to scan and plan. Each recipe tells you how much you'll make. Quantities of ingredients are given in both cups/teaspoons and in ounces. When a dish is made in distinct stages (such as crust and filling), both the ingredients and the instructions are separately labeled. Each recipe also -- though you may not want to know! -- gives very complete nutritional information (calories; grams of fat, protein, carbohydrates, sugars, and fiber; mg of cholesterol and sodium; vitamins and minerals). Like THE JOY OF COOKING, THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR BAKER'S COMPANION includes long sections that talk about the basics, in addition to great specific recipes. I am comfortable with the basics of making piecrust. I read their section on basic piecrusts and it was very solid information. I was so inspired that I decided to step out and try a variation, the Long Flake Method. The instructions were very clear and easy to understand and follow. It was like having a master baker there to give you great bits of advice like "Give your chilled dough 10-15 minutes to warm since you made it with all butter." My biggest challenge was believing that my dough should look as it did, as this method calls for visible pieces of fat in the dough. I gave in, followed the directions, and got a wonderfully flaky piecrust. To fill the crust, I used their recipe for The Best Apple Pie. It was delicious. They suggested a bit of rum, which gave this old favorite an exciting new twist. Things were going so well that I also tried their recipe for a streusel topping, and ended up with a fabulous, beautiful apple pie. I got an enthusiastic thumbs up (and clean plate) from my husband and positive reviews from a baker friend that tried it. To address a possible concern you may have: While the King Arthur company sells excellent baking ingredients and tools, you would never know that from reading this book. There are no dicussions of the best ingredients and gadgets and how you can get them from King Arthur. There are no references to brand names, and no ingredients that you can only get from a specialty supplier. The King Arthur team is a class act. (And by the way, I have bought some of their spices. mixes and tools, and all have been excellent.) THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR BAKER'S COMPANION is a book that you can read and enjoy. I recommend taking it into the kitchen and using it. The results will be delicious! NOTE (June 2006): This continues to be a favorite cookbook of mine. I recently used their recipe for a yellow cake and got *rave* reviews from my husband and a number of friends. Their yellow cake recipe produces a simple and yet surprisingly sophisticated cake -- not too sweet and with a texture almost like a good pound cake. I used their recipe for little white rolls at Thanksgiving and got a thumbs up from family members. I could go on. Enjoy! NOTE (November 2011): After *eight* years, this is still my "go to" cookbook for baking. I have yet to try everything, but am delightd with everything I try.