A Passion for Baking: Bake to Nourish, Bake to Celebrate, Bake for Love

In any case, if in doubt, a slight underrise is better than an overrise because you will get more rise in the oven anyway.

Yeast most clearly dissolves, swells, and becomes fully activated when it is in direct contact with warm water.

All baking has spirit, but bread is truly soul food.

There’s no other way to say it: Bread is beautiful.

Your baked goods will look far better dressed up. Add a ribbon and a gift or business card, and you have a gift like no other.

the term plumped and dried means to cover the fruit, such as raisins, with very hot water and let the fruit stand 5 to 10 minutes; then drain and pat dry with paper towels before using in a recipe.

Toast nuts lightly for best flavor.

dried fruit—be it dried cherries, cranberries, or apricots—profits from being allowed to plump in boiling water for several minutes before being added to a recipe.

“Salt is the ‘little black dress’ of baking in terms of how essential and effective it is.”

Kosher salt is an iodine-free, lightly salty, pure salt that is ideal for baking.