Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe

Chang's Flour has a well-deserved high rating on Amazon reviews. This concurrence, therefore, was delayed, until it became obvious that this book is one of my main go-to cookbooks for a wide variety of baked goods, many of which are personal favorites. Here is a list of some of my favorites: cookies - oreos, oatmeal raisin (the best, but make sure to use at least 34 grams of dough per cookie), chocolate chip, rosemary shortbread, and cornmeal lime, brioche - basic brioche ( better than the many that I have made over the years), sugar+spice brioche buns, pain aux raisins, brioche au chocolat, sticky sticky buns, pop tarts (can use pasta roller for rolling out pastry dough), pies - apple, lemon marshmallow meringue, and pumpkin (my household winner in past two-year bake off for Thanksgiving day), bread (although for sourdough I would recommend Glezer's Artisan Baking), strawberry shortcake (wow), and finally lemon curd (superb with either eureka or meyer lemon). Although some recipes may seem to be old standards, she perfected them. The directions are clear and concise. The photographs are good. The chapters on techniques, equipment, ingredients and Joanne's Top 12 Baking Tips are well-written. The ingredient equivalencies from volume to weight are consistent from recipe to recipe. The stories before the recipes are always a nice short read. The baking times, as with all cookbooks, are to be used as a guideline. Please note that some reviewers had problems with baking time but timing depends not just on temperature as measured by a thermometer, but on individual characteristics of the oven, such as natural convection, radiation as affected by wall color, oven size, thermal mass, etc. For me, baking time was usually shorter than stated. Some reviewers state that the printing can be difficult to read. Agreed. The ingredient list is in a small grey font. The recipe instructions are in a thin san-serif typeface with too much leading. It would have been nice to see straightforward old-school black ink, white paper, and serif typefaces. I have made most of the recipes in the book. Not a single failure. There are a few recipes that I prefer from other cookbooks, such as Beranbaum's Lemon Poppy Seed Cake in Heavenly Cakes. There are some recipes that I have not tried because I have a great recipe from another cookbook, such as croissants from Prueitt's Tartine. There are other recipes that are on par with other cookbooks, such as Scherber's cornmeal-lime cookies and savory cheese and scallion scones in The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread or Pate Brisee from Prueitt's Tartine or Lenotre's Desserts and Pastries. And, there are some recipes that I combined with a recipe from another cookbook and made into "my" own recipe. (This is what I did to get a very tasty, perfect popover. "My" recipe co-mingles Chang's brown sugar popovers with Cunningham's popover in The Breakfast Book. Am happy to share "my" popover recipe.) J. Chang's scientific mind shines in every aspect of how the cookbook and recipes are laid out. And, to top it off, her taste buds must be superb. She readily shares her recipes so more people will be able to enjoy her treats. How lucky for us. Highly recommend.

The book begins with a baking overview of sorts. It gives an explanation of techniques that will be used throughout the book. Then, it goes over baking equipment. Next, the book has a short discussion of ingredients. The section on ingredients offers quite a bit of information on things like the right temperature for the ingredients and reasons why unsalted butter is better than salter butter in the recipes. After that, the book has Joanne's Top 12 Baking Tips with explanations for each tip. The author also has quite a few explanations on the science behind the tip or technique throughout the book. The book covers breakfast treats, cookies, cakes, pies & tarts, other sweets, and breads. Each chapter has popular treats (i.e. red velvet cake, sticky buns, and chocolate chunk cookies, which are wonderful) and also has more unique recipes, too (i.e. hazelnut-almond dacquoise, lemon marshmallow meringue pie, and rosemary shortbread). There are also recipes to make homemade versions of popular, American treats, such as oreos, pop tarts, and fig newtons. One downside to this book is that there are few pictures. For example, only about four of the twenty-five recipes in the cookie section have a picture, which is a shame because the pictures in the book are beautiful. One note - the carrot cake recipe calls for baking the cupcakes for 50 minutes, but mine were done after 25 minutes. I'm not sure whether that was a typo or whether I just have a hot oven. *Update 11/7/10* The chocolate chunk cookies were some of the best chocolate chip cookies that I've ever made. I also really liked the Chunky Lola cookies. The surprise hit so far, though, was the cornmeal lime cookies. They were surprisingly addictive and the perfect end to a Latin-flavored meal. *Update 12/13/10* I took this cookbook home for the holidays. We made a huge batch of the sticky sticky buns, and they were incredibly rich and so yummy. They taste like a cross between a honey bun and a traditional sticky bun. A couple notes - One, you may want to put a cookie sheet under the rolls as they cook. We had quite a mess to clean up when the goo from one of the rolls bubbled over. Second, baking the rolls in a glass pan seemed to help them cook more evenly than baking them in a metal pan. *Update 1/27/11* After reading reviews of other cookbooks on here, I felt that I should note that this book has the ingredients listed by weight and by volume (i.e. grams and cups). I know that a lack of weight measurements can be a make or break issue for some people with a cookbook, so I wanted to make it clear that this book does have measurements listed both ways.

I purchased this book due to some of the reviews although as most of my family will tell you, I certainly do not need another cookbook. The book had sat on my shelf for months until this week. I have tried 5 recipes so far and each one has been a stand out. The two I must comment on are the maple oat scones and the raspberry rhubarb muffins. You will find scones and muffins in almost every cookbook and I have tried too many to count and had decided to give up on scones and muffins, refusing to money and my time. Well I had some fresh rhubarb and fresh raspberries that I needed to use up so decided to give the muffin recipe in FLOUR a try...wow...this is the first muffin I have made that I actually enjoyed without a but at the end of the sentence. I will go as far to say, this is the first muffin I have tried even from bakeries, in years that I actually like. Once the muffin recipe was a success, I decided to try the maple scone. I had some dark amber maple syrup and figured it was worth a try...once again...wow....the first scone I have made that actually did not crumble like dust in my mouth and yes I know it is all in the mixing but until trying the recipe in FLOUR, I have only had failures even following the recipes in my go to, no fail, baking books. These two recipes alone made this book a great purchase for me. As to an overall review, I like the introduction Ms. Chang gives for each recipe and the extra info she adds when needed. She has a friendly yet knowledgeable way of writing which I enjoy reading. [' The recipes themselves are easy to read and understand. Unlike many chefs, the directions and explanations are not so overdone as to make the challenge of trying a new recipe overwhelming. I get the feeling of..Oh, I can do this as opposed to...ugh, this is too much work and will take to much time. More pictures would have been nice but I guess you can't have everything. The size of the book is interesting. Something about the size and shape, it looks quite large and yet fits my hands very easily, I don't feel like I am juggling a tomb when I try to use it. Although some will say you can find many of these recipes in any cookbook, the fact is, who doesn't enjoy a really great scone and if your recipe is exceptional why wouldn't you include it in your book. The vanilla frosting (old fashion ermine frosting I think) on the red velvet cake is also awesome. I have no negatives and can't wait till I have the time to try my hand another recipe.

So I just got this book and had to start immediately after a thorough reading. I took the author's advice and ordered a food scale, also from Amazon, in order to measure my ingredients. So with book, scale and ingredients on hand, I tackled my first recipe: Raspberry-Rhubarb Muffins. Except, as the author suggested, I substituted blueberries for the raspberries and rhubarb as she gave several alternative ingredients. I weighed everything completely and followed her easy and exact instructions. I tested the muffins on some visitors and my three little boys and husband. Every person said that they were amazing and bakery quality. We gave away and/or ate all of them yesterday so it was requested of me that I bake another batch today. The second recipe was for the Intense Brownies. I went to World Market to buy the best chocolate that I could find. I put the brownies in the oven and saw my measuring cup of melted butter still on the counter. I quickly put the brownie mix back in the mixing bowl and incorporated the butter. Then, back into the oven she went! The resulting brownies might be the best I've ever had. My 8yo chocoholic son, who I made them for, was in brownie heaven and chocolate overload! They weren't too sweet at all. Perfectly sweet but intensely chocolate. The trick is watching the baking time. The recipe was very easy as long as you have really good quality chocolate on hand. So we are batting two for two with recipes. They look amazing. I'm hoping to work up to the brioche soon. So today I'll make more muffins and probably another recipe just to try. There are so many recipes that look tempting. The ingredients aren't fussy or difficult. I will say that I imagine that, just like with chocolate, your food tastes as good as the quality of your ingredients. I only buy organic butter and eggs and use raw milk. My flour is unbleached and usually King Arthur or from Azure Standard's farm in Oregon. Use aluminum-free baking powder and use sea salt. Weighing your ingredients and using the best ingredients plus careful attention in the oven will give you bakery quality products that you will be proud and happy to serve to your family and friends. LOVE this cookbook!!

My baking experience is at a novice level but I wanted to make cupcakes from scratch and found this book. I have had the book for a while now and have made the following recipes: Basic Brioche, Cream Puffs, Chocolate Cupcakes with Crispy Magic Frosting, and Rosemary and Olive Oil Focaccia. All, with the exception of the cream puffs, have turn out absolutely, perfectly delicious! I have yet to figure out what has gone wrong with the cream puff pastry but the cream was very tasty. I was particularly impressed with the basic brioche as I was completely unfamiliar with brioche. I'd never heard of it, seen or eaten it so I had no idea what it corrected looked or tasted like. I followed the directions and got the most wonderful treat! It was perfect. Ms. Chang's instructions are clear, concise, and detailed and if followed will produce a beautiful product! I recommend reading her helpful tips at the front of the book. I also suggest using King Arthur Flour. This is the flour she uses in her bakery. I used a few different brands but can taste a difference! As far as the yeast I have used both the cake and dry packaged in the focaccia and cannot tell a difference. I also suggest weighing the ingredients if you have a scale. One change I did make is with the second focaccia I made I omitted the corn meal. I did not like the texture. I oiled my entire sheet pan very well and had no problem. The focaccia sled right off onto the cutting board. Unlike with some cookbooks (of which I own several) there is a good variety of recipes in this book. I'm excited to try the "New Tiramisu', "Mom's Granola," all of the muffins, scones and breads to mention a few. Actually, this book, in my opinion, is so good that I may try them all! I really believe this book is should be in anyone's kitchen who has a desire to fill their home with a pleasant aroma and the tummies of family and friends with eatable love! Bon Appetite!

One of the most engaging cookbooks written in years, Ms Chang's book actually made me want to bake her recipes. She wrote the book with neophytes in mind, with attention to detail that is a pleasure. Using the brioche dough recipe as a base, we made 2 recipes, the "brioche au chocolat" (rectangles filled with vanilla pastry cream and dark chocolate) and the sticky buns (love that simple yet fabulous "goo"). Everyone loved them. Also made the "classic currant scones" which had a wonderful texture (also filled them with chocolate chips/shavings). I personally found a taste of too much baking soda or powder in the scone, but when comparing her proportions to other recipes (such as those from Sarabeth's Bakery or The Clinton Street Bakery or Cook's Illustrated) she actually uses quite a bit less than usual, so the next time I made them I reduced the quantity of both the baking soda and baking powder by 1/8 teaspoon and was much happier with the result. She uses creme fraiche (home-made) as well as buttermilk in the scone recipe so the resulting scone still has body but the right amount of lightness. One of the best scone recipes I've made so far. Also tried her "buttermilk biscuits with parsley and sage" for Thanksgiving dinner (I shortcut the recipe by using the food processor to pulse the butter into the flour to make 2 quick batches) and everyone loved them ( but with my experience with the scones, I reduced the baking soda and baking powder by 1/8 tsp each, and reduced the salt to under 1 tsp and was very happy...using 1 1/4 tsp of salt instead of the called for 1 1/2 tsp of salt was too salty for my taste). Very highly recommended this book, and its become my new go-to baking book for fun tasty recipes.

I live near the original Flour Bakery, and am addicted to a lot of the goodies sold there. I bought the cookbook a month ago and have made about 6 recipes so far -- the raspberry-rhubarb muffins (just got the fruit to make those again), raspberry crumble bars (twice), the moist banana bread, clafoutis, oatmeal cookies and chunky lola cookies. All excellent recipes so far! I feel like this book will make me a better baker. I'm going to cook my way through the book, which will probably take a couple of years, since the recipes are so tasty I'll make lots of repeat recipes. Highly recommend this book. It's not 'show-off' baking, it's delicious stuff. (And I still go to Flour regularly because it's such a fun place to eat.) 2012 Update: I continue to try new recipes from the book, and nothing has disappointed. The latest was the chocolate eclairs which are pictured on the cover, at the request of my 8-year-old son. Wow! While not a quick recipe, it was surprisingly easy to do, and so good. I have already made them again for a dinner party, but as smaller cream puffs, and they were a huge hit. The almond macaroons with ganache filling are excellent as well. This cookbook is a treasure, and I am looking forward to buying any more books Joanne writes. I also appreciate the detailed advice that empowers less experienced bakers to try new techniques and not feel intimidated.

I've had this cookbook for over a year and a half now, and I can honestly say that I don't know where I would be without it! It is absolutely fantastic. I have made 'almost' everything in the book, except for a few cakes and the bread recipes at the end. When people ask me where I get the recipes I give them, or ask about the treats they have eaten from me, I always steer them to this cookbook. It is one of the Top 5 cookbooks that I consistently turn to for great recipes. In my opinion, the best section of the book is the pie section. The Coconut Cream Pie and Pumpkin Pie are the best recipes of their type that I have ever tried. My new favorite cookies are the Chunky Lolas, cookies made with shredded coconut, pecans, oats, and dark chocolate chips. I was never a fan of coconut before I bought this book- a testament to the wonderful recipes that I now eat it in baked goods on a regular basis. The Raspberry Shortbread Bars were also a hit with everyone that tried them. The pan was empty in less than an hour. As one person addressed in their negative review, the book features a few recipe instructions that can be overly verbose in a distracting/off-putting way. I love how the author's voice shines through in her notes before recipes, but the instructions themselves have several sentences that could have been cut. However, that does nothing to detract from the fact that the book is accessible enough for the intermediate baker (I'm not so sure I would recommend this for a beginning baker, as some of the recipes are complicated- her croissants in particular, as well as the sticky buns). I will say that two recipes I did not care for were the sticky buns and the Yellow Birthday Cake, which came out dry and lacking in that 'yellow' flavor we all love. My kids thought the chocolate icing for the cake was "adult food" since it wasn't very sweet, but I had no complaints about it from adult friends, and I thought it had a great flavor. I also made the Milky Way Tart and did not have a candy thermometer on hand for making the caramel. I followed her instructions on timing to a "T" and the caramel came out with the perfect consistency, even without a thermometer. Definitely recommend for bakers who know their way around a kitchen, and possibly the beginning baker who is up for a challenge. You will not be disappointed! Edited 2/2/2012 to add: I just got around to baking the Maple Oat Scones, and the cooking time listed is waaaaay off. The recipe calls for 40 minutes baking time, which I knew immediately was wrong, because other scones I have baked were done around the same time as biscuits- or approximately 15-18 minutes. I baked for 18 minutes and the scones came out perfect. The recipe is delicious, but the cooking time is wrong. Edited 3/7/2012 to add: Tried the Lemon Ginger Scones and found that the cooking time listed is also off. It cooked in relatively the same time that the Maple Oat Scones were done: 18 minutes.