Cookbooks: King Arthur Flour, Karen Barker

By JULIETTE ROSSANT My desk is weighed down by the newly arrived King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion (Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press, October 2004), a thick, luscious volume of cookies both rustic and refined. Among the reams of recipes for cookie-jar staples, I found some fun, off-beat cookies like ANZAC Biscuits (p. 83), Lavender Cookies (p. 284), and a picture of cookies that look just like ones my grandmother used to make, Brown-Edge Cookies (p. 63). This book is a treasure trove of chocolate chip and oatmeal cookie recipes. It's an exciting book to have, along with other more personal takes on desserts and cookies, like Sweet Stuff (Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press, April 2004). Barker herself recommends a shelf of books at the end of her volume (A Baker's Bookshelf, p. 353), a smart move since most recipes are built on other recipes and to get beyond a primer often takes up far too much of most cookbooks. But even Barker includes a chapter on the basics (A Baker's Building Block, p. 23) if you don't happen to have your own baking bible handy. Her recipes are strongly American for the home cook –- no far-out recipes here, rather a homey warmth with fun takes on the classics like Black Walnut Angel Food Cake with Sorghum Syrup (pp. 226-9) and Blenheim Ginger Ale Sabayon (p. 189-90). Previous articles: Manju Malhi's India With Passion Madhur Jaffrey: Our Lady of India, CBE Rocco DiSpirito Wins TV Turkey Dinner All Hail Alfred Portale Agassi's Star Palate: Celebrity Chefs