“I’m a cook, not a baker.” If you’ve ever said this, it’s likely because you’ve screwed up a baked good or two in your life and are too intimidated to try it again. And if that’s the case, Samantha Seneviratne wants to ease your mind.
Seneviratne’s new cookbook, Bake Smart: Sweets And Secrets From My Oven To Yours, out on November 7, is essentially a baking pep talk. “A friend told me that he can always spot my recipes because they contain the words, ‘don’t worry,’” Seneviratne told The Takeout.
As an in-demand food stylist, recipe developer, and author, Seneviratne wants her fourth cookbook to encourage people who might shy away from attempting cookies, cakes, and other treats because they’ve failed in the past. (An easy recipe is included below.)
“It’s just about practice,” she says. “I think people are scared to bake because they don’t do it as much as they cook. You cook more often, so you are more comfortable with it.”
Rather than write a “Baking 101” type of cookbook, however, Seneviratne wanted to “be in the kitchen with you and give you some helpful tips and tricks. People need reassurance or a little more information than a recipe can give.” That led to the cookbook’s format.
Each recipe in Bake Smart is broken down into steps, with Seneviratne adding a couple of annotated tips that explain something important to that method. The book is arranged by types of ingredients, ranging from butter to yeast, with suggestions for using each kind. Below, she offers some practical tips—hopefully they boost your ego a bit, too.