Baking and Pastry: Mastering the Art and Craft

I bought this book for my doctor as she mentioned she wished she could bake, her husband does the cooking. So since I graduated from the CIA I figured I will get her one of their textbooks. I was in the profession for years yet I didnt want to give the book away when I got because its so informative and covers all the baking subjects so well. The thing about the CIA that differs from a book that is written buy one individual is that the CIA has years and years of input from professionals who have tried and true methods for success. Baking is fun but its a science whether people realize it or not, you cant throw in another handfull of flour or sugar and expect a recipe to work. So its rigid but once you get a handle on basic techniques its easy to follow recipes and then the best part is you can create your own recipe. Its a great book to learn baking with. Have a nice day.

The best baking book in the world. The only downside is having to divide recipes sometimes, but that’s fine with me haha.

This book is special; it contains everything a pastry chef needs. I loved it from the moment I saw it; its hardcover cover is perfect. I highly recommend it.

Book arrived on time and in perfect condition! This again, is a text book and not for someone looking for a basic recipe book, it can be very intimidating! It has great detail and explanation. If you are interested in actually learning the full technique and not just mix and bake this is a very extensive book to help you get there. I’m not a student or professional but just your basic housewife that loves to cook! I have other books from the school and I quite enjoy reading them. Though I consider myself to be quite good in the kitchen, I find myself learning new things or techniques of doing things, sometimes it’s the little hidden things that change your recipe from great to outstanding. My only complaint and again, this book is made for a class so it understand the reasoning is the portion sizes. Some recipes make one pie while others make sixteen or what have you…. But if u read the book it teaches you how to create formulas so you can adjust a recipe to whatever quantity you need. I also wish that the portions were listed better, for example it says creates two pounds of whatever… ok, but how many loaves of bread is that? Again a textbook but I love it and highly recommend for any one truly interested in learning

I loved this so much I gifted one as well!!

I have pre booked this book, got it almost after one year huh, and i kept waiting. However the book itself is good and great recipe but the formulas large I am wondering if anyone tried 1/2 or 1/4 or the recipes specially the quick breads. I mean a home baker won’t bake 6 loaves at one time, so what are they doing. Farah

I was really surprised at the book when i got it. Lots of recipes and hands on teachings. Its a wonderful book that will get used over and over again

I have three of these expensive, large ,textbook-style books, and this is my favorite. It has great photos and the recipes are not just standard fare. It is huge and thorough. It is a textbook, mind you, so it is not for everyone. The author's voice rarely intrudes and most of the discussion is about technique. It's a straight up education, not a book of pretty pictures with overwrought autobiographical, self-congratulatory musings by some famous or hoping-to-become-famous chef. If I had time to haul one baking book out of my burning house, this is the one I would grab. But remember: lift with your knees. It's a brute.

This is a substantial volume and contains literally hundreds of pages of useful baking and pastry information. My wife was very impressed with this book, and so was a very jealous neighbour to whom she showed it in passing. It is a slickly-produced and nice heavy volume which will provide hours of reading pleasure for bakers as well as much useful instructional information. My wife is most eager to try some of the recipes and techniques described in this hefty volume!

great book covers all areas of pastry

The book is amazing, everything you want to know about baking and pastry. Not just a book with a few recipes, this book shows you the thinking behind many recipes. I have books from the CIA (Culinary Institue of America) and also Francisco Migoya who is one of the most experienced pastry chefs you could ever wish to learn from. These books are not cheap, but nothing as good as these will ever be cheap, you will never regret the purchase of this book.

By far the best pastry/cooking book I have bought. The recipes are amazing, really love the book

The hole CIA series is a class of its own