The happy time

People ask me all the time how many cookbooks I own (never count them) and do I actually use them all (I certainly use a lot of them).
Inevitably I’m asked which ones are my favourite and that’s a really tough one to answer as so many are near and dear to me.
I’m happy to say that I can add Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery to that list.
I first heard about Thomas Keller in 2005 when I was planning a trip to California. Like many, I embarked on a (futile) attempt to book reservations at the infamous The French Laundry. While I was unsuccessful, I ended up at Bouchon Bistro, another of Keller’s restaurants .
My family and I had a lovely lunch and were thrilled to find the bakery next door. We were going to visit relatives in the afternoon and decided we’d bring some pastries. I stepped into Bouchon Bakery and was immediately smitten. I don’t remember now if we brought cookies or a combination of cookies and tarts, but it was all delicious.
I haven’t been back to a Bouchon Bakery since (much to my chagrin), but I was so excited when, during the summer, I found out that Keller would be releasing a baking book based on the delicious creations at his bakery.
Plus the book was scheduled to be published on my birthday so if that’s not a sign then I don’t know what is …
My first impression was … this book is heavy .
But that’s a good thing because it’s full of incredible recipes, pictures and instructions.
Many of the bakery favourites (i.e., TKOs) can be found in the book, which means you can stop feeling badly if you haven’t made it to a Bouchon Bakery yet.
While the book is accessible to all, I would say that some baking experience comes in handy.
I was very impressed by the detailed instructions but you will need to have some baking equipment handy, most important being a kitchen scale.
While I am a huge supporter of using a kitchen scale for precision in baking, I sometimes feel that it can be a deterrent for folks who might be a bit intimated to start baking.
I’m not going to sugar coat it, you will need a kitchen scale to maximize what you get out of this book.
But it’s totally worth it cancer chinese medicine.