Feather-light biscuits, buttery poundcake, rich pecan pie, fragrant lemon squares--the flavors and aromas of baking have a timeless and incomparable appeal. Writer, teacher, and food historian Damon Lee Fowler is both steeped in the classic Southern cooking and involved in its evolution. His new collection brings home cooks the best of the Southern welcome table, with a modern twist.

Every classic mainstay of Southern baking is brought to life here, from skillet-baked cornbread to velvet cakes. Each is infused with essential flavors that work just as well today as they did one hundred years ago, and Fowler also creates new interpretations of favorite recipes that are destined to become classics themselves. The tantalizing recipes include Savannah Cream Biscuits, Bourbon Pecan Squares, Gingered Apple-Pecan Sticky Buns, French Creole Baguettes, Brown Velvet Cake with Dark Fudge Frosting, and of course a mouthwatering selectin of pies, such as Marion's Key Lime Pie and Sweet Potato Custard Pie.

An accomplished and engaging writer, Fowler incorporates personal reminiscences and a generous helping of cultural and historical perspective, as well as detailed suggestions and informative baking tips. New Southern Baking is a delightful cookbook that will be indispensable to bakers whether they're north or south of the Mason-Dixon line.