The Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts by Sherry Yard

  • Master ganache

    from The Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard

    • Categories: Mousses, trifles, custards & creams; Dessert
    • Ingredients: unsweetened chocolate; heavy cream; store-cupboard ingredients
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Notes about this book

  • Eat Your Books

    2004 James Beard Award Winner

Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Lemon pound cake

    • willinzuri on July 23, 2020

      Wow, so delicious and makes awesome muffins as well! If making muffins, it’s better to let them cool off before adding syrup. they're too doughy in the middle otherwise. A delicious keeper.

  • Buttermilk birthday cupcakes

    • Amdona on February 27, 2017

      Made for my grandsons 3rd birthday party. Excellent. Made the cream cheese icing in same book (omitting rum flavor) very delicious.

  • Carrot cake

    • purpleshiny on September 30, 2013

      The brown butter is a nice add, but the proportion of mix-ins to cake and the lack of height is a problem. The flavor is nice, but this isn't my favorite recipe. Would definitely recommend baking in 9" pans instead of 10".

  • Luscious cream cheese frosting

    • scparks on February 16, 2021

      page 174. Lucious it is indeed.

  • Lemon ginger cookies

    • swegener on February 01, 2015

      These are SO good, I just baked some from dough I've had in the freezer for a while. I love the flavors, and the pack of ginger and lemon.

  • Classic croissants

    • Dionysiaca on May 04, 2020

      This is my go-to recipe, even though I've tried more than a dozen others. Trouble-free; rolls out and bakes up perfectly.

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  • ISBN 10 0618138927
  • ISBN 13 9780618138920
  • Published Feb 06 2004
  • Format Hardcover
  • Language English
  • Countries United States
  • Publisher Houghton Mifflin
  • Imprint Clarion Books

Publishers Text

2004 James Beard Award Winner for Baking

2004 IACP Award Nominee for First Book: Julia Child Award


Secrets of Baking is a comprehensive primer that guides the cook through the world of baked goods and other desserts, from time-honored classics of the French patisserie to the inspired and fanciful creations that made Spago the famous restaurant it is today. At the same time, it advances a radically new understanding of these recipes, one that will give the baker greater flexibility and confidence in the kitchen.

Instead of grouping desserts into traditional categories (pies, cakes, cookies), Sherry Yard arranges them around crucial master recipes. Starting with these recipes -- simple, basic guidelines for making caramel, chocolate sauce, lemon curd, pound cake, and brioche, to name just a few -- Yard shows the cook how to create dozens of variations. Knowing how ingredients interact opens the door to a multitude of baking possibilities. For example, cream puff dough forms the foundation for éclairs, profiteroles, and the caramel-coated tower the French call croquembouche, but understanding how and why it behaves the way it does allows the cook to create deep-fried beignets, mascarpone-filled cannolis, or simmering-hot dumplings.

This authoritative, friendly bake-shop bible contains fascinating mini-lessons on food science, illuminating bits of baking history, and time-saving tips. Newcomers to the world of baking will feel at ease with such simple, homey desserts as Banana Bread and Mississippi Mud Pie, and elaborate show-stoppers like Chocolate Brioche Sandwich with Espresso Gelato and Blackberry-Lime-Filled Doughnuts with Blackberry Sorbet and Berries will transform amateur bakers into expert pastry chefs.

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