How to Bake
By Nick Malgieri • Laura Hartman Maestro, Illustrator
One of America’s preeminent bakers and baking teachers reveals the secrets behind creating professional-quality confections. Nick Malgieri shares scores of mouthwatering recipes for plain and fancy cakes; breads, biscuits, muffins, and scones; sweet and savory pies and tarts; brownies, macaroons, rugelach, and all manner of cookies.
In addition to his clear, detailed instructions, Malgieri offers helpful tips for variations on classic recipes as well as suggestions for everything from making a pastry bag to mastering cake and pie toppings. Presented in order from the simplest to most complex, these recipes from the collection of a great pastry chef will add a whole new level of sophistication to your kitchen repertoire.

I started editing most of the reviews in 2016 because my PhD in English (a humblebrag if you’ve ever seen one) has to be put to use somehow. So I know “the about” all the books and how good they are, which is super cool in general but also terrible for my budget. And I’m the one insisting on the Oxford comma. It’s the hill I’ll die on. I would kidnap Lily the office dog if a) I didn’t have three cats, b) I don’t also love Heidi and Ross and would never hurt them, and c) I didn’t just make a public record of intent to commit a crime. I also help with posting articles to the websites and doing book round-up articles.