A New Way to Bake: Re-imagined Recipes for Plant-based Cakes, Bakes and Desserts

by Philip Khoury

A New Way to Bake reinvents and reimagines cakes, bakes and desserts, using plant-based ingredients that are available globally.

Chef Philip Khoury has delved deep into patisserie in an attempt to make desserts that are ‘cleaner’, and that present finer flavors and textures. In A New Way to Bake , Philip transforms the traditional building blocks of baking by using plant-based, natural ingredients or ingredients that have been in use for over 100 years.

A New Way to Bake uncovers a brief history of baking before setting out the Plantry, where the main ingredients and their functionalities are explained. Full of delicious bakes, from Apple Pie to Banana Bread, to Lamingtons and Tiramisù, there are sweet treats for any occasion.
Recipes are broken down into digestible steps, with explanations as to why steps are important, and tips along the way too. Plus, there are even QR codes to help navigate through the recipes.

Written in an informative yet approachable style, A New Way to Bake is a comprehensive guide that arms readers with a new outlook and tools to bake a better future.

   ·Classic bakes made plant-based
   ·Easy recipes with no branded or territory-specific ingredients that are heavily processed (e.g. egg replacements), just natural ingredients
   ·From a well-connected pastry chef at the top of his game, who is plant-based himself

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

Published September 19, 2023

Reviews

[Kathleen H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d been looking for a foundational French patisserie cookbook for the plant based and oil-light life I love, and this fits the bill! You had me at a Vrioche made with sweet potato!

[Ming Suan Ong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m Not vegan but I am interested in baking. I found the idea that you can leave eggs and butter out of a brioche or cake and still make it work. I tried to make something from every section but only got round to making the following : vrioche (sweet potato, tangzhong and oil!) which my kids absolutely love and is pretty close to the original. Also made the banana chip cookies which were good, chewy but the crisp exterior goes so it’s more like a cake but still delicious. My least successful attempt was the lemon drizzle loaf which sank in the middle and has become quite gummy - my mistake could be baking it at 180 Celsius without fan as I followed everything else according to instructions. Might have to try another cake recipe to test it again as from google it appears this gummy texture is a common problem with vegan cakes. Also made the fluffy baked silken tofu cheesecake which wasn’t bad - light but I could taste the soy from the tofu. Definitely needs more lemon zest in the filling despite what Phil Khoury says ! As you can imagine butter and cream is replaced mainly by olive and coconut oil and soy milk.

[Khadagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book. I’ve been looking for quite a while for a good vegan cookbook for classic western baking and this is it. In a lot of vegan recipes I find cop outs like ‘use your favourite egg-replacer’ or use a particular branded cream that is hard to find and not to mention unhealthy. Recipes in this book use olive oil which suits me very well since I use a lot of it already and always have it in the house. I also used it in baking, but sometimes the flavour of olive oil is overwhelming in what I make myself, in this book everything comes together very well and the recipes are very well thought out. So far, I’ve made tahini biscuits, chocolate chip biscuits, the two layer chocolate cake, madeleines and a lemon cake. The last one I didn’t like as much, but somehow my family and I still managed to destroy the entire cake within two days.

In short, the recipes are simple to follow, well explained, easy to read, lovely photo’s as well. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to bake.

[Sam Gherrity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ive bought many vegan baking books and had mixed results, but this book is legit. The recipes are high quality and well-researched. Phillip has a wealth of pastry experience and walks you through how to execute each baked good properly. If you’re tired of mediocre vegan baking books, get this! I especially liked his chocolate chip cookies and babka recipes.

edit: I continue to be amazed by my results with this book. Both the lamingtons and the chocolate lava cakes were incredible, best I've ever made. Do not hesitate to buy this!

[book_fairy04 Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

„Für alle Naschkatzen, die nach einer neuen Art zu backen suchen.“ (Philip Khoury)

„Natürlich vegan backen“ von Philip Khoury / Verlag: Südwest

Neben der charmanten Vorstellung des preisgekrönten australischen Autors libanesischer Abstammung, der zwar keine Anstellung in London bei der Queen erhielt, jedoch als Chefkonditor bei Harrods eine der weltweit größten Pâtissier-Brigaden übernahm, gewährt dieses Buch spannende Einblicke in seine Arbeit.

Dort konnte er experimentieren und erfolgreich eine Linie rein pflanzlicher Köstlichkeiten etablieren.

Philip Khoury präsentiert klassische Backwaren ebenso wie neue Kreationen: von Hefegebäck über zarte Tartes und Pies bis hin zu Kuchen, Torten und Desserts. Als erfahrener Pâtissier zeigt er eindrucksvoll, dass Backen ohne tierische Produkte keinerlei geschmackliche Einbußen oder Nachteile in der Konsistenz bedeutet, ganz im Gegenteil.

Besonders hilfreich sind die pflanzlichen Grundrezepte, etwa für Mürbeteig, Blitzteig, Schlagcreme, Konfitüren oder Glasuren.

Darüber hinaus stellt Khoury verschiedene Trieb-, Binde- und Geliermittel vor, erklärt, welche Öle sich am besten eignen, und erläutert die Unterschiede zwischen den verschiedenen Pflanzendrinks.

Ganz wunderbar finde ich die Angaben zu unterschiedlichen Backformen bei den einzelnen Rezepten, das habe ich bislang in keinem anderen Backbuch gesehen.

Genial sind auch die QR-Codes bei vielen Rezepten. Sie führen direkt zu YouTube-Videos, in denen man dem Pâtissier Schritt für Schritt bei der Zubereitung zusehen kann.

Zu jedem Rezept gibt es eine persönliche Anmerkung mit Tipps und Tricks sowie sympathischen Einblicken des Autors.

Die stimmungsvollen Fotografien von Matt Russell setzen die Kreationen gekonnt in Szene und machen große Lust, auch außergewöhnliche Rezepte selbst auszuprobieren.

Ein inspirierendes Backbuch für alle, die pflanzlich backen möchten oder einfach neugierig auf neue Wege in der Pâtisserie sind.

[Jaydub · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a cook, baker, host, in the service industry and looking to expand your repertoire, buy this book. I am not a vegan, I will never be one; I am blessed with not having a severe casein allergy.

This is a pastry baker book that any cook/baker would be proud to have in their library. Every single recipe is written clearly; the ingredients and pantry are explained. An elegant solution to plant-based baking that doesn't require a modernist pantry (as some professional plant-based dessert sweet recipes contain) and revolves around accessible ingredients to the average home cook.

I have made the intense, crackle-top soft chocolate brownies with resounding success and multiple rebake requests from non-vegan peers and friends; the amaretti cookies with Amarena cherries are beautiful chewy almond confections. The book does have a mixture of recipes that are also nut-free.

I have not come across a more refined, thought out baking book and I am simply in awe at how fantastic the products are that come out of this book. Highly recommend.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love what Philip Khoury is doing here. It literally is 'A New Way to Bake', as he has created a book of plant-based recipes that use known ingredients—so no overly-processed alternatives that have an ingredient list as long as your arm—to create innovative recipes that he made during his time as Head Pastry Chef at Harrods. His recipes are not only good for the environment but healthier for you too, as Khoury explains that with the exclusion of eggs and dairy in baking, it requires less sugar and fat to taste delicious, which tracks on the food chemistry side of things he discusses.

So far I have made his Two-Tone Chocolate Mousse Cake (page 175), which was delicious and I'll definitely be making it again! The next recipe I plan to try is his divine-looking Tiramisu.

I highly recommend giving his recipes a try! I see this book becoming a requirement in any pastry chef's kitchen going forward. I think it's important that we look to more sustainable options now for our future, and Khoury's book is certainly the baking answer to that.

[Dimana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book!
I appreciate the clean and well-thought-out design too!
The divider lines between each ingredient, the way the ingredients are listed in the order they are being used; the tips in italic placed right under the step they are meant for (instead of below the entire recipe when it's already too late :D); the QR codes with videos - brilliant idea!!
I have already made 2 of the recipes (banana bread and banana cookies) and they were easy and absolutely delicious!
I can't wait to try the more complex ones.
Personally, I cannot recommend this book enough!

[Turlough · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great Cookbook! A good selection of high quality recipes and very clearly written instructions as well as QR codes to videos of the author making the recipies.
It's made baking possible and accessible to me again after becoming vegan for which I'm very grateful

[BingeReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

My type of baking where plant based ingredients are used! The images look great too.

[bookcookery]

Hands down, this is my favorite dessert cookbook. The recipes are precise and thorough and yield results that are delicious and impressively professional-looking. If you want to serve a treat that looks like it came from a high-end bakery, this is the book to reach for.

So far, I’ve made the Cinnamon Slice, Hot X Buns, Anzac Biscuits, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Banana Chip Cookies, Chocolate Tahini Cookies, Apple Pie, Lemon Tart, Carrot Cake, Fluffy Scones, Victoria Sponge, Banana Bread, Double Chocolate Brownies, Molten-Centre Chocolate Cakes, Crème Caramel, No-Churn Chocolate Ice Cream, and Coconut Sea Salt Caramels. Both chocolate cookie recipes and the lemon tart have become routine bakes.

Some of the mixtures and emulsions may require a leap of faith (and do have somewhat different properties than the items that they're designed to mimic; for example, the Thick Whipped Vanilla Bean Cream used for the Victoria Sponge has a surprisingly long and squishy shelf life), but Khoury’s YouTube videos (though occasionally slightly different from the printed instructions) are a useful resource for checking textures and techniques. I’ve picked up several new skills and a newfound appreciation for apple pie. As someone who once assumed apple pies were doomed to be soggy and sad, this recipe was a revelation: crisp, delicate, and bright with lemon.

One caution: while the book’s recipes are sweet enough, they tend to favor finesse over indulgence. For example, the no-churn chocolate ice cream wasn’t particularly creamy or rich, so if you're after decadent, home-style comfort desserts, this might not fully satisfy that craving.