"Baking With Julia" by Julia Child (2005 - )

[kiliki]

Somehow I've never noticed this thread, which is a shame because I love this book. It was my first baking book and I learned so much from these recipes. I'm really inspired to try the cardinal slice now.

It's a bit late for this, now that summer has passed and great fresh fruit is largely gone, but the butter cake recipe that is the foundation for the Rhubard Baby Cakes became one of my summer staples. I made the recipe as one cake, and I used whatever fresh fruit I bought at the farmer's market that week (peaches, blueberries, etc). I dusted a little confectioner's sugar on top once it cooled, and it was always fabulous. The directions say that a cast iron skillet works great for this recipe, and I did do that with a rhubarb cake, but I tasted a bit of metal in the final product so I stuck to pyrex from then on.

[srhcb]

And, since I seems to have been bread impaired, I held out little hope

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I should be so "impaired"!

SB (happy to be camera "impaired", and thus unable to show my latest results)

[sugar plum]

It was a stupid choice--being it's almost November--but I've been longing to bake the White Chocolate Patty Cake (p.284-285) since I first flipped through this book. I mean 12 ozs of white chocolate...how can that be bad??!!

In fact, it didn't turn out very well at all. First, I overbaked the cake so when I patted down the edges they basically crumbled beneath my fingers. When I re-attempt this recipe next summer (during raspberry season!), I'll remember to take it out after the suggested 26-28 mins. I had it in the oven for over 45 mins because the middle of the cakes still appeared to be raw. Secondly, my raspberry crush was very liquidy. I tried to rectify this by poking holes in the cake as to absorb some of the "raspberry lake" that was forming on it. We'll see how this worked when I slice into it later on...

Not a very successful 2nd attempt from this book (my first attempt was the Mocha Brownie cake) but it's all part of the learning process, eh?

[srhcb]

Sorry that despite good intentions I haven't baked anything from The Book recently, but I did make Pommes Anna from Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home, which turned out excellent, as usual!

Anyone else....?

SB (not living up to his name )

[sphar01]

I've been making some of the simpler cookies from the book in the last book.

One night I made a plated dessert from New Classic Desserts, a chocolate creme brulee with caramelized bananas, and a brazil nut brittle (there was a sauce which I accidentally threw out five minutes after making it. So much anger...). My father ate the nuts and left the creme brulee. I brought out the ginger snaps from Baking With Julia and my dad ate all but 3 of them.

I also made both versions of biscotti from the book. I've never made them before, as I didn't like them until recently. The cantuccini were wonderful! The biscotti were also tasty, but I liked them less. I believe they had a fewer eggs, and I noticed a difference in the texture - the biscotti seemed to go from soft to completely crisp. But I'm new to biscotti and still experimenting.

[MarkIsCooking]

I've recently been involved in an informal little group in the cooking forum devoted to trying out the same recipes at our own locations and reporting to each other on our progress.  Through this group, I've had occasion to bake my first loaf of bread and make my first puff pastry.  Neither of these efforts was a complete success, but my halting first steps into the world of baking have made me realize that I love the feel of dough, the smell of yeast, and the sound of the mixer.

I want to make a lot of bread and pastry.  Anyone else want to do it with me?

I have several books that are relevant to such a project.  I own Torres' Dessert Circus, and Payard's Simply Sensational Desserts.  I also own Child's Mastering the Art (vol. 1) and Child/Pepin's Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, both of which contain dessert recipes, and Kamman's New Making of A Chef, which contains a bunch of souffles and probably other dessert stuff besides.

But the book I just acquired that has really motivated me to get started is Baking With Julia.  I've read very good things about the book, and when it arrived yesterday, I flipped through it and found myself drooling over the prospect of making the delights contained within:  country bread, challah, croissants, savory tarts (in which I have a little more experience), sweet desserts and cakes, and what seems like a thousand other delights.   

Furthermore (I'll drone on just a little longer), I've ordered Jackal10's sourdough starter and I plan to make his sourdough recipe as my first project.  And I want to work in somewhere an attempt at Jeffrey Steingarten's recipe for Pane Genzanese, which he describes as the best bread he's ever baked (It Must Have Been Something I Ate, page 311). 

I'd like to make something every two weeks or so.  It doesn't have to be that often, though.  And people could drift in and out of the group.  It can be completely informal.  But we could report to each other in real time; ask each other questions as we're baking; learn a lot from each other and from more experienced members of this board, if they're interested in throwing in their two cents.  (It seems like we've got a lot of professional bakers around these parts.)

You may say I'm a dreamer.  But (I hope) I'm not the only one.

What do you think?  I'm open to other plans, other books.

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The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard is one of my favorites. It's a fabulous combination of great recipes AND real education in the way she presents master recipes and the variations of them. Check it out!

[achevres]

I would like to make the Ruffle Cake, or a variation on it. As of now...I have 2 questions. I have to buy the baking pans, because I don't have 8x2 or 8x3. This is not a problem, since I'm dieing to try the Magic-Line pans with the removeable bottoms, but do I really need both? My question is, do I really need to get the 8x2 to bake the genoise, or can I bake the genoise in a 8x3 and then assemble it in that too?

My other question is, when assembling the cake, can I use a cake board on the bottom instead of the original metal bottom?

Thanks in advance!

[BarbaraY]

I have had the book since it was first published and used it often but it sort of fell by the wayside in the past few years as I haven't been baking much,

Today I made the Rustic Potato Loaves which I baked many times in the past. They really are very good. Forgot to get pics, though.

[Becca Porter]

I have been staring at the picture of sweet berry fougasse on page 170 for a couple years now. Finally a couple days ago I made the focaccia dough. I refrigerated it for 36 hours like the recipe says. This morning I made the berry version, as well as one with sliced granny smiths.

They were wonderful. I do think I would cut the salt a bit for the sweet version, though I may have just over-measured. I believe the photo in the book shows them sprinkled with powdered sugar. I will definitely eat one with some next. The berries stay a bit tart (which I love) so they can tolerate a little extra sugar on top. I thought they were beautiful.

[Tri2Cook]

Nice! I haven't had that book out in years, I may have to flip through it and find some of the things I meant to try and never got around to.

[lancastermike]

Had this out the other day and it is all stained and the spine is even broken. Really my favorite all around baking book. I had a request for the potato bread and just wanted to take a peak. I have made it often and it is always a hit. Very easy for the novice as well with lots of yeast for short rising times. Can all be done in a day.

Dorie Greenspan did a marvelous job writing the recipies and the tex so that anyone can ude them. Even some of the more advanced techniques are presented in a way the novice may want to try.

I really like this book

[Katie Meadow]

I'm a little late to the party, but my daughter and I spotted BWJ and impulsively bought it for her dad for xmas; he's the one in the family who has a way with flour, and he's devoted to an earlier version of Julia's pie crust.

So far my daughter made the buttermilk scones (she added currents), which were excellent. My husband made the very plain White Loaves and I thought they were the best white loaves I ever tasted. We had slices still warm with soup the first night. It makes spectacular toast and sandwiches and, if we can save enough until tomorrow morning, I am guessing it will be great French toast. I can't get over how good this bread is, and how picture perfect the loaves.

Has anyone made the pumpernickel? The addition of prune lekvar in this recipe is sort of surprising. That's the only ingredient not in the house. In fact it's been a gazillion years since I tasted that.

[Kayakado]

I apologize that this will be a gripe. I do love Baking with Julia and it inspired my mother to take us on all kinds of culinary journeys exploring the recipes.

HOWEVER....

It burns my butt that the recipes in the book are not the same recipes from the show. Ingredients are left out or changed and many actually change the flavors or texture of the recipes. I only discovered this recently when I was watching a re-broadcast of the show and comparing recipes to the book as it went along. Is this common in all the printed companion books for her shows?

It also burn my butt that the show had 26 episodes and the DVD will only have (8 Amazon or 18 as per another source) -- I haven't yet figured out who will be missing, but it really detracts that anyone has been cut.

Thanks -- moan over.

Edited January 12, 2010 by Kayakado (log)

[John DePaula]

I apologize that this will be a gripe. I do love Baking with Julia and it inspired my mother to take us on all kinds of culinary journeys exploring the recipes.

HOWEVER....

It burns my butt that the recipes in the book are not the same recipes from the show. Ingredients are left out or changed and many actually change the flavors or texture of the recipes. I only discovered this recently when I was watching a re-broadcast of the show and comparing recipes to the book as it went along. Is this common in all the printed companion books for her shows?

It also burn my butt that the show had 26 episodes and the DVD will only have (8 Amazon or 18 as per another source) -- I haven't yet figured out who will be missing, but it really detracts that anyone has been cut.

Thanks -- moan over.

I, for one, love the book and it's one of my favorites; but I haven't seen many of the shows. Could you elaborate on the differences you've found?

[lancastermike]

It is important to note the book, which I too love, was written by Dorie Greenspan in conjunction with the show. When she researched the recipes for the book they may have indeed been a little different from what ended up on TV. I believe the book to be better as TV shows can be edited and re shot and chopped up. Both the show and the book are great stuff in any case

[Kayakado]

I disagree about the book recipes being better. For example, the show recipe for bagels calls for what appears to be a much more highly hydrated dough and the addition of barley malt for extra flavor. The show version also calls for bromated flour which has fallen out of favor. I've ordered the dvd, so I'll get to get a more detailed look at the differences.