The first English written reference to toast appears in 14th century cookbooks. Back then, after grilling your bread over the fire, you didn’t slather on butter or jam. Instead, toast was served soaked in ale or hot wine and spices. (They called this dish sops, which turned into our words soup and supper—a light evening […]
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1. Butter tastes better You can’t tell just from looking at a cookie or a piece of cake whether it’s been baked with butter or shortening. The bottom line on baked goods’ flavor is that butter tastes better. It’s also about ten times more costly, so many bakeries make the choice to use less expensive […]
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Excerpted from the new Zingerman’s Bakehouse Book In order to open Zingerman’s Bakehouse, we had to be able to bake great Jewish Rye Bread for Zingerman’s Delicatessen, which was our first (and at the beginning our only) customer. It’s not possible to have a superb Reuben sandwich without authentic Jewish rye bread. We wanted our […]
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It’s not as traditional as pumpkin pie, or as familiar as apple pie, but I’m going to go ahead and say it: pecan pie is the ideal Thanksgiving dessert. It has deep American roots. It has warm, caramel, nutty flavor. And while it’s fancy enough for a holiday spread, it’s also homey enough to serve […]
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One day, several thousand years ago, the very first would-be farmer was out looking at some wild grains, and she had an idea: what if, instead of eating the healthiest, most robust plants, she carefully harvested them, collected the seeds, and used them to grow healthy plants again next year? The idea worked, and for […]
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A few decades ago, hummingbird cake was the brainchild of a Jamaican marketing exec. Today it’s a beloved American classic, used to celebrate everything from holidays to Tuesdays. It’s the Southern belle of fruitcakes: sweet, a bit sassy, pretty, popular with everyone from brides to grannies.
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In 1329 the Bishop of Naumburg held a Christmas baking contest. Imagine a medieval fair and you’re on the right track. The trick was that the baked goods had to be okay for the Advent, which meant no butter and no sugar. The winner was stollen. It might have looked pretty similar to the cake […]
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The story of rugelach, the most popular Jewish pastry in America, dates back several hundred years to a Viennese cookie called kipfel (incidentally, also the ancestor of Hungary’s kifli). “Kipfel” means crescent, the cookie’s shape; “rugelach” probably comes from the Yiddish word rog, or corner—so rugelach is “little corners.” Throughout history, as Jews moved they […]
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The top of the daily task board for the pastry chefs at Zingerman’s Bakehouse always says “Bananas?” Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes no. But there’s no telling. You could be knocking out the thousand other things on your list or you might be peeling bananas that day. And when that happens, it’s banana bread time.
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