Series is serious about baking

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - The fall collection of new cookbooks is arriving, and if the lineup is any indication of food trends, we'll be doing some serious cooking.

"The Art and Soul of Baking" by Cindy Mushet (Andrews McMeel, $40), the latest addition to Sur La Table's cookbook series, features 275 tested recipes for pies, cakes, tarts, souffles, meringues and cookies, but best of all are the primers at the beginning of each chapter. Baking questions are answered, and essential ingredients and baking methods are explained.

Recipes include peach-gingerbread dumplings, lattice-top nectarine-blackberry pie, classic baklava with pistachios and cardamom, date tart with sesame-almond frangipane, and pumpkin spice cake with maple-cream cheese frosting.

"The Cook's Country Cookbook" is from the editors at America's Test Kitchen, where they test recipes for Cook's Country and Cook's Illustrated magazines. The editors think that good cooking is based on "a foundation of objective technique."

"Some people like spicy foods and others don't, but there is a right way to saute, there is a best way to cook a pot roast, and there are measurable scientific principles involved in producing perfectly beaten, stable egg whites. This is our ultimate goal: to investigate the fundamental principles of cooking so that you become a better cook." The book is $34.95.

"The Test Kitchen's Family Baking Book" is for the cook who is more interested in preparing quality meals for the family than impressing guests. It is in a five-ring binder that includes recipes for beginners and experienced cooks. Recipes range from pancakes to wedding cakes. The cost is $34.95.

"Sauces" by James Peterson (Wiley, $49.95) is a complete revision of the James Beard Award-winning classic published nearly two decades ago. Peterson has updated it to include 60 new recipes, and it has charts for easy reference on classic white sauces, derivative brown sauces, classic French fish sauces and crustacean sauce variations.

Recipes include chicken breasts with smoked jelly, sabayon-style mayonnaise, sauteed pigeon breasts with giblet sauce, and Chinese-style braised short ribs.

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PEANUT BUTTER BUNDT CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE GLAZE

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

˝ teaspoon baking soda

ľ cup buttermilk, room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 Ľ sticks unsalted butter, cut into chunks and softened

2 cups sugar

ľ cup crunchy peanut butter

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 large egg yolk, room temperature

Chocolate glaze (recipe follows)

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle ­position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk buttermilk and vanilla together.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar and peanut butter together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Beat in eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, until combined, about 1 minute.

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Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of flour mixture, followed by half of buttermilk mixture. Repeat with half of ­remaining flour mixture and the remaining buttermilk mixture. Beat in ­remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Wipe any drops of batter off sides of pan and gently tap the pan on the counter to settle batter. Bake cake until a wooden skewer inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.

Let cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then flip it out onto a wire rack. Let cake cool completely, about 2 hours. Drizzle chocolate glaze over top and sides of cake. Let glaze set, about 25 minutes, before serving.

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CHOCOLATE GLAZE

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

1/3 cup heavy cream, hot

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Ľ teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch salt

Whisk all ingredients together in a medium bowl until smooth and let mixture sit until thickened, about 25 minutes. Pour glaze over the top of the cake after it has cooled completely, letting the glaze drip down the sides. Let glaze set before serving, about 25 minutes.

_From "Family Baking Book"

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© 2008, Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.).