Lovely Book Review from the Vanilla Queen

Jul 06, 2010 | From the kitchen of Rose in Web Appearances

My wonderful friend and owner of The Vanilla.COMpany has just posted a delightful review. Here's the link!

New Interview from FastRecipes

Jun 08, 2010 | From the kitchen of Rose in Web Appearances

Just posted: Please click on Baking Recipes.

Author of the Day!

May 27, 2010 | From the kitchen of Rose in Announcements

This is a great site you should know about which offers both author profiles and recipes. Check out Cookstr.com.

A Very Special Review

May 09, 2010 | From the kitchen of Rose in Publications

I haven't heard from my old friend Cornelius O'Donnell for many years now but what a way to hear from him now! This was send by another dear old friend, Blake Swihart (whom I always think of as 'sweetheart'.

Neal's Meals, early May 2010

The Diva of Desserts does it Again

I often listen to a couple of classical music programs on FM radio. And both have hosts that are - to put name on it - gushy. And the delivery of one weekday announced is downright breathless. These guys feel that way about Brahms, Beethoven, and Bach. I feel that way about great food and food writing. So humor me and let me gush it up in describing a new cook book.

The "Diva" in question is Rose Levy Beranbaum, and anyone who likes to bake, or would like to learn to bake, should run to the bookstore and order most all of Rose's nine books. You may know her first book - The Cake Bible - published in 1988 and named the Cookbook of the Year by the International Association of Food Professionals, a group I once was part of. Then came Christmas Cookies (a James Beard Foundation Award Winner in '98). The indefatigable Rose also produced The Pie and Pastry Bible in 1998.

More recently, praise was heaped on her 2003 Bread Bible. (I'm pretty sure she was the instigator of all the "Bible" cookbooks that others have published, for better and worse, in the last several years.)

Rose's Heavenly Cakes

Not content to rest on her laurels, Heavenly Cakes was published last year just in time to qualify for the 2009 book awards. You guessed it; the new book again won the IACP "Book of the Year." And when you pick up a copy it's easy to see why. There is no question that "Heavenly" will join the "Bible" in that pantheon of books that become instant classics. Gush. Gush.

I was impressed with the almost four pages of "Acknowledgements," including a photo of her associate Woody Wolston who painstakingly tested and retested the recipes. You really get the sense of confidence in using the recipes. Baking is so rewarding when your creation comes out perfectly. But it's one aspect of cooking that requires precise measurements. A half teaspoon too much or too little and you might have a dud instead of a delight.

I like the way the recipes are written and the feeling that Rose is beside you guiding you to perfection. Incidentally for you scientifically minded cooks, ingredients are listed by volume AND weight - in both grams AND ounces.

Add the valuable sections on the nuts and bolts of baking: special effects and techniques, ingredients and sources, equipment etc. Gush. But I caution that you'd best have ample counter space or one of those cookbook holders. This is a large format book, heavy enough to be a doorstop, and almost 500 pages long.

Restraint and Elegance

Have you seen those cake-making competitions on the tube? Zany, improbable, and wobbly-fragile creations are (maybe) fascinating to watch, but get real. What home cooks want - unless I'm nuts - is to produce desserts that are simple, attractive, and most of all tasty. And this is the time of year when cakes can celebrate graduations, anniversaries, birthdays, reunions, and weddings. The book has some stunning and doable wedding cake ideas. None of the Styrofoam layers and plastic pillars for our Rose, eh Hyacinth?

Turn the pages of the book and start by reading "Rose's Rules of Cake Baking;" no long treatise, just succinct and practical advice. Then come the recipes divided into sections: Butter and Oil Cakes; Sponge Cakes; Mostly Flourless and Cheesecakes; adorable Baby Cakes; and those wedding cakes.

While I was sorely tempted to give you a sample of such delights as the Red Fruit Shortcake in anticipation of our fresh fruit season to come, it is too long for this space. Likewise the No-Bake Whipped Cream Cheesecake, Heavenly Coconut Seduction Cake (a precursor of the wedding cakes, perhaps?), Lemon Meringue Cake, Chocolate Streusel Coffee Cake, and even the two trifles so beautifully photographed. And while I've made and loved Rose's signature Lemon Poppy Seed Sour-Cream Cake, let's try the Whipped Cream Cake. It's simple, suitable for many occasions, and a perfect foil for a few fresh berries to garnish the plate.

May 03, 2010 | From the kitchen of Rose in Web Appearances

My recipe posted on David Leite's blog leitesculinaria while I was away (his beautiful book, The New Portuguese Table, also won an IACP award for best first book). Here is the posting and recipe now for those of you who may not have my new book Rose's Heavenly Cakes!

Thought-Provoking Interview with Andrew Gray

Jan 28, 2010 | From the kitchen of Rose in Web Appearances

Andrew has a great new site called cookbooker. Click here for the Q & A we did this week!

It's Fruitcake!

Dec 20, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose in Web Appearances

Food writer Jeff Houck runs an annual fruitcake haiku contest in the Tampa Tribune. This year, I got to be the judge! Thought you'd all enjoy some of the hilarious submissions.

Click here

On another note, be sure to check the blog this Thursday for an inspiring Christmas photo from Hope!

Cookstr.com

Nov 16, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose in Web Appearances

I'm delighted to share a new link with you where you will find tons of recipes from many of my favorite colleagues. Here's the link to mine:

http://www.cookstr.com/users/rose-beranbaum/profile

Super Chef Review of RHC

Nov 10, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose in Web Appearances

This review is dear to my heart, not just because it is so well written, but because through it I discovered that the author, Juliette Rossant, author, journalist, and poet, is the daughter of the renowned food author and journalist Colette Rossant, and also the renowned architect James Rossant.

Colette and I met over 21 years ago on a culinary trip to Japan. As a result of this trip Colette wrote a book on Japanese/French fusion cuisine and I wrote my first article for the New York Times on eating desserts in Tokyo. What a great treat to be acquainted with her daughter through the internet.

http://superchefblog.com/2009/10/28/rose-levy-beranbaum-roses-heavenly-cakes/

Review of Heavenly Cakes and Gourmet Cookbook

Oct 26, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose in Web Appearances

Jenifer Lang, who together with her husband George Lang owned the famed New York restaurant Café des Artistes, is now writing a web column for a stylish new blog 212DressingRoom.

The blog describes itself as "...fuses fashion culture, art and commerce from a New York City perspective for the progressively minded fashion and design community."

Jenifer has just posted this review which is so brilliantly written and such a perfect commentary on today's cookbook scene (or should I say situation?!) that I am sharing it here with this link:

http://www.212dressingroom.com/blog_more.php?id=5174

Whole Wheat Flour Posting on Chowhound

Jun 26, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose in Web Appearances

Please click on the link to find some useful information on using whole wheat flour in baking.

Http://www.chow.com/stories/11726

Bread Primer Launched on Epicurious!

Feb 04, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose in Bread

Here it is: all the basic techniques, ingredients, equipment, and recipes for bread baking. I worked with Epicurious for many months to create this useful primer. It just launched today and I couldn't wait to share it with all of you.

If you're new to bread baking. this primer will give you a great jump start. If you're already a pro you may learn a few new tricks and recipes.

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/howtocook/primers/bread

A Fantastic Holiday Gift from the UK

Nov 20, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose in Web Appearances

Dan Lepard, of the Guardian in London, has put together an impressive offering of baking tips from some of my favorite bakers around the world and others whom I'd love to get to know as well! The link to his site is at the very end of this posting.

Here's what he wrote to me:
"I thought I'd email with some good news, especially with all the bleakness in the world today. I've been thinking, what can I do that's helpful and doesn't cost everyone something? So from Thursday, 20th November, at Guardian Online I've put together an exclusive list of baking tips straight to you from the great bakers of the world:

US
Shirley O. Corriher
Jim Lahey
Rose Levy Beranbaum
Dorie Greenspan
Sarah Phillips
David Lebovitz
Matt Lewis
Jeffrey Hamelman
Peter Reinhart

UK
Yotam Ottolenghi
Gerhard Jenne
John Rolfe

Scotland
Robert Winters
Catherine Brown

Ireland
Rachel Allen

France
Eric Kayser
Pascale Weeks
Clotilde Dusoulier
Fanny Zanotti
Sandra Avital

Australia & New Zealand
Donna Hay
John Downes
Dean Brettschnieder

Canada
Elizabeth Baird
Cliff Leir
Marcy Goldman

Norway
Gunn Borrowman

Sweden
Johan Sörberg
Jan Hedh

Denmark
Camilla Plum

Continue reading "A Fantastic Holiday Gift from the UK" »

A Fun and Informative Blog Posting

Apr 17, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose in Announcements

I was asked by Roxanne Webber of chow.com to offer my opinionas to the suitability of beans as pie weights and whether they remain edible after baking. If you are interested in my response click on this link: http://www.chow.com/stories/11054 I can promise you will be pleasantly surprised!

Hector's Great Video Tape of My Lecture/Demo on Flour

Jan 31, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose in Web Appearances

Hector has done a heroic and magnificent job of editing the video tape of my presentation on flour for the NYU Experimental Cuisine Collaborative. It was really a labor of love and he did it for all of you who could not be there and expressed regret at not being able to hear and see it. Now thanks to him you can do both. And thanks to Woody for manning the camera between prepping the cake samples--all those great zooms are his doing!

You can see the video file here: http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/RoseECC.mov (it's 150 MB, a very big download).

Photos and another copy of the same video are available on Hector's site: http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/ECC/index.html

My First Wedding Cake Podcast

Jun 14, 2006 | From the kitchen of Rose in Web Appearances

I was interviewed recently for a podcast just in time for the June wedding season. The interviewer was delightful, asking questions that ranged from technical, to practical, to fanciful in which I had the chance to tell about the cake I made and transported to Westport Ct., to appear both for my niece Joan Beranbaum's wedding and in Martha Stewart's wedding cake book!

For fascinating lore on weddings and traditions through the ages, be sure to listen to the second interview with Nicolas Fletcher, author of "Charlemagne's Table" on the same podcast, immediately following mine.

To listen, click here. For full details on how to get the show to play if it doesn't start automatically, go to the Eat Feed site.

Web Sites I've Appeared on

Feb 28, 2006 | From the kitchen of Rose in Web Appearances

Newest to Oldest...

May 2006: Kuhn Rikon interviews Rose - www.kuhnrikon.com

March 2006: Three Layer Cake interview -
www.threelayercake.com

December 2004: Favorite Lemon Butter Bar recipe -
www.starchefs.com/features/holiday_baking/2004/html/index.shtml

November 2003: Chef in Residence on Patricia Rain's website - www.vanilla.com

October 2003: article on Marcy Goldman’s website - www.betterbaking.com

Welcome to Real Baking with Rose, the personal blog of author Rose Levy Beranbaum.

Heavenly Cake Bake Along

Hector's Take on Rose's Cakes