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The Kosher Baker

Over 160 Dairy-free Recipes from Traditional to Trendy

Paula Shoyer

Producing flavorful and appealing kosher desserts has been a challenge in Jewish households throughout the ages. Without access to butter, cream, milk, cheese, yogurt, or other dairy products, creating a tasty and memorable dessert for family and friends requires more than simple substitutions and compromises. Now pastry chef and teacher Paula Shoyer provides the inspiration and innovation to turn the age-old challenges of parve baking into delectable delights in her one-of-a-kind kosher cookbook. The Kosher Baker is your indispensable kitchen companion to a wide range of dairy-free desserts, from family favorites and time-honored holiday classics to stylish and delicious surprises of Shoyer’s own careful creation. It even includes desserts not usually found on a kosher table, such as creamy key lime pie, luscious flan, and rich tiramisu. You’ll find everything from cookies, biscotti, breads and muffins to pastries, tarts, fancy cakes, and mousses. Shoyer guides you through more than 160 mouth-watering recipes and expands every non-dairy baker’s repertoire with simple, clear instructions and a friendly yet authoritative voice. The Kosher Baker is organized as a tutorial into three primary sections—Quick and Elegant Desserts, Two Step Desserts, and Multiple Step Desserts—allowing the busy home baker to choose a dessert based on both taste and time constraints. The first section presents the fundamentals of simple kosher baking in the form of everyday treats like Amaretto Cookies, Orange Tea Cake, and Apple Pastry. The next two sections teach increasingly more challenging desserts, from a Challah Beer Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce to Chocolate Babka. A special fourth section includes chapters on baking Challah, Passover desserts, and no-sugar-added desserts. The Kosher Baker has something for everyone in the Jewish household for any occasion or holiday. It spills over with detailed information, including tips on storage, freezing, and thawing; tools; must-have ingredients; and tips and techniques. Anyone baking for those with special dietary needs such as food allergies or diabetic concerns will also find recipes to love in this comprehensive collection. It even includes recipes for nut- and gluten-free desserts, and vegan desserts. No Jewish home should be without this essential cookbook!

Cover Image of The Kosher Baker: Over 160 Dairy-free Recipes from Traditional to Trendy
Cloth: $29.95 | E-book: $14.99
ISBN-13: 9781584658351
Pages: 348 | Size: 8 in. x 10 in.
Date Published: August 17, 2010
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Reviews

  • Pastry expert and baking instructor Shoyer proves that readers don't need to deprive themselves of sweets just to keep kosher in this outstanding collection for all seasons and faiths. Bakers with access to parve (kosher) versions of cream, cream cheese and other key ingredients (tips and name brands are provided) will find a litany of recipes for the Passover seder and other special occasions. Yes, there are babkas, rugelach, hamentaschen, and challah, but there is also a rich chocolate mousse truffle cake, easy and impressive cinnamon palmiers, classic French macarons, a pistachio and raspberry tart and the ingenious scones au chocolate, virtually all of which are within the reach of most bakers and budgets. Grouped by effort, from quick desserts requiring only one bowl (amaretto cookies, for instance) to more advanced dishes like coconut cake with lime filling, Shoyer gives bakers plenty of options for all tastes with copious instructions and photos throughout. Simple but crucial tips like keeping a few sticks of margarine in the freezer so it'll behave more like cold butter when it's time to make pie or tart dough ensure dishes turn out the way they were intended, making this a can’t-miss collection of classics.

    Publishers Weekly (starred review)
  • Amaretto cookies, challah beer bread pudding with caramel sauce, and chocolate babka are among the delectable desserts featured in this beautifully illustrated cookbook. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. Both novice and experienced cooks will enjoy having this book in the kitchen.

    Jewish Book World
  • Delectably delicious desserts (all pareve!) Plus: It's enhanced with gorgeous photos and a pleasing design.

    Chicago Jewish Star
  • “The Kosher Baker” offers a wonderful range of recipes that will delight both new and experienced bakers. The book contains over 160 recipes, all of which are pareve (dairy-free), making them good options to serve after any kind of meal. ... This book is a wonderful addition for the cookbook shelf for all community, public and synagogue libraries.

    American Jewish Libraries
  • It's a terrific cookbook and the cinnamon bun recipe was a winner, and not too difficult to make.

    A Kitchen in Brooklyn

About the Author

PAULA SHOYER is the owner of Paula’s Parisian Pastries Cooking School in the Washington, D.C., area. She teaches classes in French pastry and Jewish cooking both locally and around the country. She received her pastry diploma from the Ritz Escoffier Ecole de Gastronomie Française in Paris in Paris in 1996 and is the editor of the popular Susie Fishbein cookbooks Kosher by Design Entertains and Kosher by Design Kids in the Kitchen.

Table Of Contents