Cookbook Reviews: The Fearless Baker

by Emily Luchetti and Lisa Weiss

Well, Z lost out on this one!  She is the cook of the pair of us, and her fingers grab these cookbook goodies like the claws of an eagle!  It’s been a while since Z and I could gab together on these reviews, and that is because Z actually has a LIFE!  Me, I just hide under the books that line my closets, my living room, my bedroom and my kitchen. 

So when this delightful, utterly indulgent cookbook arrived from the hands of Hachette (Little and Brown if you are smart enough to immediately order it on Amazon), I sat down with a sigh, put aside my Ann Rand “Atlas Shrugs”, and reluctantly opened the page!  DELIGHT, Delight!  Now you all know I am in a new relationship and I will give you an oyster of info – FOOD as we all know is the key to a man’s heart!

So now I have a sudden and ignored passion for cooking!  Cooking delectable meals and desserts is an offering of love and always has been.  Z has known this all along.  Me, I just didn’t GET IT! 

A NOTE HERE:  always copy your best friend’s habits that you envy a tad, and love a lot.  That’s what Z offers me.  And Luchetti and Weiss have it down pat.

 The Fearless Baker is not your usual cookbook.  But rather than indulge my love of words, here’s the recipe (get ON WITH IT!, Broad A- okay Z!)  This delight of a cookbook creates a banter between two adoring friends who share their little asides like a pair of butterflies.  Flitting in and out between the simplicity of creating these elegant desserts, these two women allow us into their friendship, and their culinary secrets with a wit and banter that I adore!

Chock full of labors of love in the form of simple instructions, which are so complete and step by step easy, Luchetti and Weiss form a team that Chef Gordon Ramsey would kill for!

OK enough of the chatter.  My fave recipe, on page 144, is for Coffee Chiffon Cream Tarts.  On the left side of the page, the authors give extremely detailed directions, with notes about convection ovens versus regular ovens, how the timing is different, three or four different notes on appliances to use and alternatives (great for me, I wouldn’t know a food processor from a mixer if you put both in my hands).  On the right side of the first page, the authors list a “What You Need” list.  Oh my goodness, thank you.  They also give places to buy ingredients.  On the bottom of the What You Need list, they banter with information NO ONE ever tells you.  I’m from the South.  My mother in law always left out the “secret” ingredient.  ALWAYS.  That’s why I hate cooking! NOT these two ladies.  They give the goods and give it straight.

On the right page of every recipe, the two banter some more, telling us all the ins and outs that no one every tells.  I can’t figure out how to turn my convection oven on – but here is Weiss and Luchetti with their instructions!  THANKERS ladies!

The recipe pictures, in black and white, do not show the Martha Stewart version in bright color that NEVER looks like yours!  No, these two ladies show the REAL picture of their recipe delights, so I never feel like I should run and get on bioidentical hormones in order to feel competent as a woman who is trying to bake!  BRAVO!!!!!!!!

As to my Coffee Chiffon Cream Tart – here it is!

First, the authors discuss the ins and outs of GELATIN, which makes this tart what it is.  They discuss exactly how much water, how much time to let it set, and that it should be eaten  within two days.  They talk about the little specks of dark coffee in the filling, and that you won’t taste them although you see them.  I AM IN LOVE with these two women!

This is one amazing cookbook.  It reads like a novel, enters into my kitchen with such implicit instructions, detail and answers those questions that only my mother could answer – and she’s not around to tell me.  You cannot BUY such help!  Well, I guess you can.  If you are smart enough to buy this book, you have 25 cousins, moms, aunts and even an uncle or two showing you how to make your indulgent dessert, with the ease of family cooking!  PLEASE ladies, will you adopt me?

AMAZING and the best cookbook I have ever seen!

The Fearless Baker: Scrumptious Cakes, Pies, Cobblers, Cookies, and Quick Breads that You Can Make to Impress Your Friends and Yourself  is available for purchase – and you DON’T want to miss this one.

Ratings are based on a 5-star scale

P.S.  My boyfriend asked me to move in after eating this tart!  Now that is another story for another day, but don’t underestimate your  cooking skills ladies – Luchetti and Weiss haven’t!