Great Gifts for Bakers

Baking Chez Moi, by Dorie Greenspan
Greenspan’s book doubles as a culinary jaunt through the patisseries of Paris, teaching home bakers how to turn out the kind of tarts, eclairs, and galettes you find filling your Instagram feed when your lucky friends are spending their honeymoon in France. The recipes range from beginner-friendly (Green Tea Sablés) to Black Diamond (Gingerbread Bûche de Noël), and any of them are the perfect excuse to spend a cold winter’s day in your oven-warm, sugar-scented kitchen.

The Baking Bible, by Rose Levy Berenbaum
Anyone familiar with legendary baker Berenbaum will know not to take this book’s title lightly: her recipes will become revered texts in your kitchen, to be passed down to the next generation, and to all your friends who won’t let you leave their potlucks till they’ve pried the recipe for Berenbaum’s Pumpkin Pecan Pie out of your hands. This book brims not only with fabulous recipes for every occasion, but with ingenious tips and “golden rules” designed to foolproof home baking. Classics (Rugelach, Blueberry Crumb Coffee Cake) rub elbows with deliciousness only Berenbaum could dream up (Sugar Rose Brioche, Brandy Snap Cannoli) in an epic cookbook you’ll want to bake your way through year round.

Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes, by Dominique Ansel and Thomas Schauer (Photographer)
With his creation of the Cronut, a hybrid dessert delicacy people literally line up to eat, revered pastry chef Ansel became a sensation even beyond foodie circles. But eaters in the know have been making pilgrimages to his eponymous New York bakery since it opened in 2011, to try out sweets with such irresistible names as “Magic Soufflé” and “Gingerbread Pinecone.” With the release of his first cookbook, Ansel is bringing his wildly inventive brand of baking alchemy into home kitchens, so that anyone with an ambitious sweet tooth can turn out bakery-worthy sweets with style.

Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François
Your gluten-averse friends love fresh baked goods, too! It’s easier than ever to find gluten-free breads and pastries, but daunting to try to make wheat-free baking taste amazing on your own. Enter this incredibly accessible book, which promises maximum results with minimum labor. If the cover image—of baguettes and other loaves you’d never guess aren’t wheat—doesn’t sell you, maybe the index will: Hertzberg and François move beyond classic recipes like Panettone and Deli-Style “Rye” to include delicacies like Sticky Pecan Cinnamon Rolls and Sweet Provençal Flatbread. Their recipes are prefaced with an informative opening section on gluten sensitivity, tips and techniques, and a rundown on all the things a gluten-free baker needs to know.
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