You the guy who bought the bench from amazon the other day? Nice croissants by the way. May I suggest you try and find Rose Levy Bernbaum https://www.amazon.com/Rose-Levy-Beranbaum/e/B000APEDSA/ref=ntt_aut_sim_6_2/163-1711285-2211169 and Flour cookbooks by Joann Chung https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Spectacular-Recipes-Bostons-Bakery/dp/081186944X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474851190&sr=8-1&keywords=flour+cook+book and try Gaston Lenotre as well for classic french style https://www.amazon.com/Gaston-Len%C3%B4tre/e/B001K7WQWW. I'm not advocating amazon by any means but while you may have heard of Rose you might not have of Gaston. I have a few of his books and when I was running my own kitchen I was happy to get his company's stuff flown in frozen and baked off fresh. I watch this for inspiration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q89O0x4Mlm8&index=31&list=PLaFS8pB0obRCsHQ2voyS0wf5WV5xFCRAH

I used the recipe from Flour Cookbook, which is a collection of recipes from Joanne Chang's Flour Bakery in Boston. I also recently attended her croissant making class, so I got to see the laminating technique first-hand which was very helpful. Unfortunately, I can't find the recipe online (probably because it's like five pages long).

I have a cookbook obsession, I have roughly 500 that are somewhat organized so I feel like I can be of great use here. I will break it down by type to make it easier.

Bibles

• Baking Bible
  
• Cake Bible
  
• The Pie and Pastry Bible
  
  Bread
  
  
• Beard on Bread
  
• Bread
  
• Bread Baker's Apprentice
  
• Flour Water Salt Yeast
  
• Josey Baker Bread (I just genuinely like this guy tho lol)
  
• All of the Tartine books (just get all of them, Chad is the man when it comes to bread)
  
  Caramels/Candys/Ice Cream
  
  
• Ample hills creamery
  
• Artisan caramels
  
• Chocolates & Confections
  
• The Sweet Book of Candy Making
  
• Sweet Cream And Sugar Cones
  
  Jack of all trades
  
  
• Baked Occasions
  
• Baker's four seasons
  
• Flour
  
• Flour Too
  
• Model Bakery Cookbook
  
• Momofuku Milk Bar
  
• Ovenly
  
  Pastry/Pies
  
  
• The Art of French Pastry (this is one of my all time favorites)
  
• Creative Eclairs (whole set is great for beginners to intermediates)
  
• First Prize Pies
  
  Textbooks
  
  
• Baking and pastry
  
• On Baking
  
  
  I'm sure I am leaving out a bunch of great ones but if I had to suggest just 1 to anyone it would DEFINITELY be The Art of French Pastry. Best for somebody who has done basics already and looking to try a little more. Even as a professional baker I find myself coming back and just reading the little spots like how he burned himself on his caramel. Great, great book!

I'll try to remember to dig it up when I get home, but I'm going to a concert tonight and liable to forget, so PM me tomorrow if I don't get it to you by then.

It was the first ice cream we've ever made and it comes from a cookbook written by the owner of our local bakery cafe: Joanne Chang - Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe

I did some research about how to get the best ice cream consistency out of a home ice cream maker (we have the KitchenAid attachment), so I used a lot of the process suggestions from Cook's Illustrated.

For the meringue themed week, I made meringue clouds. I have never been a huge fan of meringue cookies because they are too crispy and sweet, but I decided to give these a try because the author mentioned that the meringues would be soft and chewy when baked as written. As expected, the outside was crispy, and the inside was much softer than meringues I’ve had in the past. The slight bitterness of the chocolate pieces provided a much-needed contrast to the incredibly sweet meringue as well as an excellent textural contrast from the larger pieces. Because they are still very sweet, I would likely make them about half the size if I make them again. As is, it was a bit too much to eat at once.

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Meringue Clouds

Recipe from Flour: Spectacular Recipes From Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe by Joanne Chang

Makes 8 very large cookies

Ingredients

• 8 egg whites
  
• 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
  
• 1 cup (140 grams) confectioners’ sugar
  
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  
• 1 cup (100 grams) sliced almonds, toasted
  
  

  Directions
  

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 175 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment (or a handheld mixer), beat the egg whites on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes, or until soft peaks form. (This step will take 6 to 8 minutes if using a handheld mixer.) The whites will start to froth and turn into bubbles, and eventually the yellowy viscous part will disappear. Keep whipping until you can see the tines of the whip leaving a slight trail in the whites. To test for the soft-peak stage, stop the mixer and lift the whip out of the whites; the whites should peak and then droop.
   
2. On medium speed, add the granulated sugar in three equal additions, mixing for 1 minute after each addition. When all of the granulated sugar has been incorporated into the egg whites, increase the speed to medium-high and beat for about 30 seconds longer.
   
3. In a small bowl, sift together the confectioners’ sugar and salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold the confectioners’ sugar mixture into the beaten egg whites. Then, fold in the almonds, reserving 2 tablespoons for garnish.
   
4. Use a large spoon to make baseball-size billowing mounds of meringue on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them 2 to 3 inches apart. You should have 8 mounds. Sprinkle the reserved almonds evenly on top of the meringues.
   
5. Bake for about 3 hours, or until the meringues are firm to the touch and you can remove them easily from the baking sheet without them falling apart. For meringues with a soft, chewy center, remove them from the oven at this point and let them cool. For fully crisped meringues, turn off the oven and leave the meringues in the closed oven for at least 6 hours or up to 12 hours.
   
6. The meringues can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
   
   

   Variation
   

• CHOCOLATE MERINGUE CLOUDS: Replace the almonds with 3½ ounces (100 grams) bittersweet chocolate (62 to 70 percent cacao), finely chopped (about ½ cup). Reserve about 3 tablespoons for garnish and fold the rest into the batter as directed.

A lot of the top line ones have covered the good ones so a few niche ones I’m digging right now:

Flour by Joanne Chang

Really great bakery in Boston opens up some of their best recipes (and there is a sequel if you dont love the recipe mix)

Eat What You Watch

Because /u/OliverBabish is the best and it’s an insanely fun book (a friend is currently doing a recipe/movie weekend every month)