Rose's Baking Basics: 100 Essential Recipes, with More Than 600 Step-by-Step Photos

by Rose Levy Beranbaum

The ultimate baking book for everyone from best-selling author and "diva of desserts" Rose Levy Beranbaum

In this book of no-fuss recipes everyone should know, trusted baking expert Rose Levy Beranbaum guides you through every recipe for can’t-fail results—with a streamlined, simplified approach and more than 600 mouthwatering and instructive photos. Whether you're a baking enthusiast or just want to whip up the occasional treat, you will be able to easily make perfect brownies, banana bread, holiday pies, birthday cakes, homemade bread, and more, with recipes Chocolate Sheet Cake with Ganache Frosting, Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints, Beer Bread, Apple Walnut Muffins, Peach Cobbler, Milk Chocolate Caramel Tart, and more. Throughout, Rose shares her unique tips and methods for unlocking the secrets to the best flavors and foolproof results, for a treasury of essential recipes you'll use forever.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Culinary, Food and Drink

400 pages, Hardcover

Published September 25, 2018

About the author

Rose Levy Beranbaum is an award-winning American baker and cookbook author.

Reviews

[Martha Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to finish up the year, especially as I have made a resolution to bake more next year. This book has delicious looking recipes, helpful hints, and easy to follow instructions. I look forward to using it!

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Rose’s dream book and it is also the perfect book for anyone who would like to make some excellent desserts for yourself or to impress some friends or family. Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Rose’s Baking Basics has provided step-by-step directions that are accompanied by superior photographs to guide the way for beginner bakers or to assist the advanced baker. The book is divided into Cookies, Cakes, Pies and Tarts, Bread, and Toppings and Fillings. More importantly, the author included 3 sections in the beginning of the book which should prove invaluable to any level of baker.. 1. Top 10 Golden Rules for Baking. 2. Essential Equipment for Baking. 3. Essential Ingredients for Baking. Then pick a recipe and go for it. I have The Baking Bible which also has detailed instructions, but as I read it I was becoming overwhelmed. I do not feel this way about this book. With the added photographs in Baking Basics, I believe that I can have success or at least a stronger chance of success. One reason for this is I have always thought one ‘should eat dessert first’. My congratulations to the author! 5 stars.

[Lisa Lutts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love to bake and this cookbook has been an eye opener for me. I tend to be a messy and often chaotic cook. Something that you can't do with baking. This book helps me to go step by step and she showed me the importance of measuring with a scale and having all your ingredients prepped and ready to go. So far, everything I've made has come out beautifully. Well, my pie crust still needs some work, but this was be best tasting crust I've ever made. Sure, it takes time to bake even simple things using Rose's methods, but its worth it!

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

No question that R.L.B. is the reigning queen of the perfection in baking techniques, but I take slight umbrage to her “Apple Cider Cake Doughnuts” (p. 123) in that they are nothing more than a cake batter baked in doughnut shapes. Sorry, Rose, but doughnuts are FRIED.

Also a little incongruous in a book on baking basics is an entry for “Chocolate Butterscotch Toffee” which is far from baking, but pure confectionery.

[Clwseattle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew! This beautiful book Rose's Baking Basics wore me out just reading it. Rose's Baking Basics has everything I love in a baking book: measurements in weight, great pictures, incredible hints and detailed instructions. The instructions might be too detailed. Just reading some recipes confused me - and I consider myself an experienced baker.

I agree with another reviewer that the recipes are rather common which are great for the new baker, but (and I can't believe I'm going to say this) I think that so much information might be intimidating to the new baker as well. I agree with another reviewer that multi-page recipes is just too many pages, and I celebrate with yet another reviewer the fact that I too always review a cookbook from the library before I buy it.

4 stars and found it interesting that a candy was dropped in the middle of a cookie chapter, but YUM! I can't wait to try the Chocolate Butterscotch Toffee!

[tiasreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

First let me say that every cookbook should be required to come with a pretty pink ribbon bookmark. No other color will do now, lol.

This cookbook is mislabeled. The recipes are not 'the basics'. RLB doesn't do basic. These recipes are The Essentials.

This is not the book for you if you're looking for anything new and different. (No cronuts in sight.) This book is about honing technique, reinforcing the foundation that you've built on, even if you've been building on it for over 35 years like I have.

If you're new to baking, don't bother with the rest- start here and get it right the first time. If you're an experienced baker, get this book if you're ready to level up.

[Dan Stern · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been following Rose for about 6 years and I even have a tag for her on my blog so yes i have to consider myself a hugh fan. I think its fair giving that backstory before I get on to the review. Her book Rose's heavenly cakes were my very first digital cakebible and whenever someone asks for a cake that isnt red velvet or poundcake that book is where I start looking for inspiration. This book on the other hand is not about baking the most difficult cake with the weirdest pronounced name or where each cake has milelong ingredientlist followed by 2-3 pages on how to cut the basil the right way before you boil it 10 secs in carbonated water - this book is all about the basics and how to. Even if you have baked your entire life there is always some new tricks you can learn and this book has a lot of them. The recipes are - as always with Rose - well written, easy to follow and filled with good pictures with instructions and when you think the recipe is over and you turn the page to the next she gives you variations on how to make it, for example change a single pie to 8 smaller ones and what to use and timers and temperatures. Brilliant. It might seem like a small thing but for a lot of people this should come handy. The index is sorted as it should, all cookies with cookies not by holidays or ingredients or the worst example ive seen which was sorted after seasons. Another winner for me as a non-american is that everything is listed with both american meassurements and grams, no need to convert, its already there. If you feel insecure about baking this is the book for you also if any person out there wanna start baking with little to no experience this is the book I would buy. There are a lot of "how to" books out there and internet has even more info and guides if you are into that sort of things but this book has it all in an easy written and pics not to mention a great collection of cookies, cakes and pastries. Dont miss out.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exceptionally well-crafted and thought out cookbook. Lots of step-by-step photos, measurements for all ingredients are listed both by weight and volume, and ample discussion of technique. The recipe selection is great, full of classics that you will actually make on a regular basis with a few fun twists. The biscuits I made from this were *divine*, but I do have a small quibble that a cookbook that proclaims to have "no-fuss recipes" had me sieve the yolks of hard-boiled eggs. So, perhaps not for somebody looking for the easy way to bake things, but would be a great choice for a home baker wanting the best recipes for classic bakes that they will make again and again. Highly recommended for adults (and older teens who are serious about baking).

[Pamela Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a pretty good home baker. Cakes, cookies, even bread are all do able for me. I do struggle with pie crusts. The directions for pie crust were confusing. Lots of options and that made it a jumbled mess in trying to follow. But I did follow it. I doubled and tripled checked every step. The dough was so dry it would not stick together at all. I would knead it together and then like a sand castle with the slightest touch it would fall apart into grains of flour and bits of butter. I finally put it in a bowl drizzled it with 2 Tablespoons of ice water to get it to slightly stick together and stuck it in the fridge. It's probably going to be tough from my repeated kneading to try and get it to come together. Looking for a simple and good pie crust? This is NOT it.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the book I needed to remind me why I don't bake. But...………………..may develop a need in the future. Baking is just too precise for me and also takes a long time before the satisfaction of eating. This really is the basics from equipment and tools to procedures and methods to make your confection a perfection. Some mouthwatering recipes are in store for you as well. This is a wonderful cookbook and will be a hit for all baking lovers.

[Mairzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good baking book with well photographed and easy recipes. Unlike many of the baking books I read over the last months, this one does not rely on exotic ingredients or unusual flavors which is a refreshing change. But for a book that purports to provide the basics, it would have benefited from more careful editing. Sometimes the steps in the recipes don't match those in the photos. And sometimes the instructions aren't as clearly written as they should be.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved looking at this cookbook and found it fascinating. And . . . fussy. I won't be trying to make any of these, because peeling skin remnants off of toasted walnuts with my fingers does not josh with my current lifestyle. Nor does going through a multipage recipe--for six muffins. But it was pretty to look at and nice to read.

[Joan M · Rating 4 out of 5]

RLB is my favorite baker and her cookbooks are always my "go to" books when baking something new. She approaches baking like the science that it is. Her instructions are detailed and books are beautifully illustrated. It may be a bit more detailed than the average home baker may be looking for, but following her instructions makes a foolproof product.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have I told you how much I adore checking out cookbooks from the library? Ah well, yes I do.

While I won't buy this one, it's a solid choice for the recreational baker and those who can attempt to perfect some pretty good looking desserts.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've already tried several recipes and all were so good and so many more I want to try, that I've purchased a copy. Really would have given 4.5 stars. Not 5 stars because it says these are baking "basics" yet some recipes are way too complicated and time consuming to be "basics".

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking to learn the basics of baking and then go way beyond the basics, this is your book. It teaches you the basics, the pantry needs, and then provides recipes that range from easy to difficult. Great book to keep in your cookbook library.

[Kyriana · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a "no fuss" baking book, there sure are a lot of stipulations on how exactly to measure, store, purchase, and incorporate each ingredient. I'm sure the end results are wonderful, but this is hardly no fuss.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book lives up to it's title.
A great reference for anyone starting to bake or wanting to learn more techniques - one to come to if you want a specific technique or basic recipe.
helpful pictures

[Margaret Gerberding · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all her books! This one has great baking basics like yellow cake, chocolate wafer cookies,and bread. I can't wait to make the chocolate biscotti!

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent cookbook. I wish I had this book when I first started baking. It would have saved me a lot of baking mishaps.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really beautiful book for anyone who wants to learn the basics and beyond.

[Dray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book, great exposition. Nice photos.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great resource.

[Brie Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Borrowed from library but didn't have a chance to make any of these delicious treats! Will borrow again- love the step by step photos!

[Aasinathena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated ! Next in line to admit to my library !!! Thank you for the great work !!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The techniques here are not my cup of tea, at all. And, who writes a recipe for 8 cupcakes?! And another for 10 cupcakes?! I love you, Rose, but no.

[Beth Kellum · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t care for the layout and step by step instructions. Nothing unique in this one. Just not for me.

[Meghan Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Acquainting myself to baking terms to get cookin

[Jo Lin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book in RLB's signature, detailed style. Love it.

[Mariko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource for beginning and intermediate bakers. Fantastic layout and instructions, easy to understand.