Shirley Corriher Rides Again

Published on Tuesday, March 3, 2009, by Kate Ramos / Edit Post

The excitement in the test kitchen was palpable when we heard Shirley Corriher was coming out with another cookbook, BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking.

The recipes that have been saved by following the advice in her first book, CookWise, are innumerable. So when we heard she was putting together a baking book, we knew the salvation of many more recipes was at hand.

Shirley’s background as a chemist and her Southern charm make her books irresistible. There are many who try to explain the science behind cooking, but few who offer it in such plain language that even us cooks who failed chemistry can understand. And no other cooking-science books offer delicious recipes that you actually want to make over and over again. Blueberries with honey mascarpone cream in walnut-oat meringue anyone?

BakeWise is full of scientific explanations of various cooking methods, information on the chemical makeup of ingredients, and mathematical equations for spotting poorly written recipes, all conveyed in a lighthearted, conversational manner that makes you actually feel smarter, not intimidated.

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POST A COMMENT |3 Comments

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  • Well, BakeWise just won the James Beard award earlier this evening!

  • Bakewise was published a little more than four months ago -- on Oct. 28, 2008 -- and, at this writing 37 of the 50 amazon.com reviewers give it either 4 or 5/5 stars. Shirley Corriher's first book, Cookwise, was a great achievement that no serious cook or food reviewer should be without.

  • Bakewise was published some time ago. I was going to buy it until I read the reviews on Amazon. A number of them said that the salient information duplicates what's in Cookwise (which I own and refer to frequently) and that the layout leaves a lot to be desired.