Famed baker Flo Braker dies at 78

We just learned the sad news that baking legend Flo Braker has died at the age of 78. The San Francisco Gate reported that Braker died of complications following a fall. 

Braker wrote several popular cookbooks, including her 1984 debut, The Simple Art of Perfect Baking, as well as the award-winning Sweet Miniatures  and The Baker’s Dozen Cookbook. She also wrote a baking column for The San Francisco Chronicle for over twenty years, retiring in 2012. In 1997, she was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America. She was a charter member of the IACP and served as the organization’s president. 

The talented baker inspired home cooks and aspiring professionals alike. “She was so exacting in the way that she wrote her books and the way she explained baking,” said Celia Sack, owner of Omnivore Books in San Francisco. “Whether in person or in writing, if felt like she was there holding your hand.”