The Kosher Baker: Over 160 Dairy-free Recipes from Traditional to Trendy (HBI Series on Jewish Women)

My mom bought this when it first came out and some of our favorite recipes are in it. It's easy to follow as a beginner baker. I bought my own copy when I moved out and I love all the recipes.

Claim to fame is no dairy so that all baked goods can be eaten with milk or meat, consistent with Jewish dietary laws. The absence of dairy is what makes this book "kosher" – it goes without saying that there is no lard or animal fat or gelatin made from animal sources. In a word, everything is "parev" – neither meat nor dairy. Do we really need to eat "cheesecake" with a meat meal? No doubt the book contains many good recipes for delicious cakes and pastries, but reliance on non-dairy substitutes for all things dairy is not for me, though I grant that this is great for vegans, lactose intolerant people, and those who keep kosher but want to serve "dairy" with meat – I find it hard to imagine a "cheesecake" following brisket, even for someone who does not keep kosher. So, when cooking for those who avoid dairy, I prefer recipes that simply do not call for dairy in the first place. There was a day over a century ago when Crisco was the answer, but no more, with avoidance of hydrogenated fats,.

Until this book I considered myself more of a cook than a baker. New to kosher lifestyle, cooking was hard enough of an adjustment...baking seemed impossible for a Shabbos meal.I started with the easiest of desserts, the chocolate mousse...it takes maybe 15 minutes if you're average and the family went nuts over it. Next I tried the tea cake on the cover...another winner! Then I got brave and tried her Challah recipe which is now my standard and although I am proudly adept at a six braid Challah, her instructions for the double braid are much easier and gets more oohs and ahhs. Then I got REALLY brave and tried a more complicated cake that uses chocolate meringue for the layers...what a surprise...the crunchy meringue softens with the chocolate icing and melts in your mouth...this will be a Passover dessert for sure!No matter what your level, this book is for you if your looking for parve desserts. Keep in mind if you're looking only for non-dairy desserts the ingredients call for a lot of non-dairy topping, margarine and soy substitutes for dairy like tofu cream cheese or sour cream. I thought these ingredients would cheapen the flavor...I was wrong.I find this to be a great book for baking...period, an amazing book for kosher bakers!Highly recommended for yourself or a present for a new bride or someone new to kosher cooking.

I was waiting for this book to be released ever since I heard about it, and I was not disappointed. I'm not the most accomplished baker out there, but I was able to follow along and bake some desserts that tasted so good that no one (especially myself!) believed that I actually made them.The book is organized into sections by the amount of prep time needed for each recipe, which is especially helpful if you need to make a dessert on short notice and want to try something new. The steps are well described and are pretty easy to follow, and the accompanying stories and descriptions of each item are fun to read.My favorite recipes so far are "Bubba (Jam Button) Cookies", "Scones au Chocolat", "Almond Tuilles", and "Everyone's Favorite Chocolate Cake."The pictures of the desserts are truly mouthwatering, and the black/white photos detailing the more difficult steps make the book that much easier to understand.Finally, I am in debt to the author for giving the best description I've seen of how to caramelize sugar for Crème Brulee. I never had gotten it right before (although, like her children, I'm always happy for the excuse to play with a blowtorch in the kitchen).A great addition to my cookbook shelf!

I encountered difficulty in finding a baking cookbook in which the recipes included eggs but not dairy. An alternate title for this cookbook could be "The Dairy-free Baker." My daughter has tried a few of the recipes and they turned out quite well. I highly recommend!

This book is for all those people that are clueless on what to prepare for dessert on a kosher meat dinner.You can find different level of recepies from very easy to more complicate, all are easy to do.The reading of the recepies is Pleasant and enjoyable. I am not great in the kitchen but I have to say everything I made come out really good!I love the choccolate mousse, it seemed difficult to do but in reality it is very easy and now one of my favorite.

I bought this cookie book because I always find it a challenge to make good parve desserts. I made the almond tuilles and they were incredibly good and then I made the orange cigarettes. This is the same as the almond tuilles but for adapted for Passover. Also delicious. I have many pages marked to try other yummy desserts with great confidence that they will be just as good. I would certainly recommend this cookbook for any jewish or non- jewish baker.

I have been a "kosher baker" for almost 30 years and thought there was nothing new under the sun. How wrong I was! I have made two recipes already (only recieved the book last Wednesday) and they were terrific!The book itself is lovely, the recipes are artful and the directions are very clear and detailed enough that even a beginning baker should not have trouble! All in all - I (and my family) are very happy with this purchase!

I think this is a handy book for those with a kosher kitchen, as the recipes are dairy free and allow you to maintain the separation between milk and meat required under kosher law. These cakes can therefore follow 'meat' meals.The recipes are varied and interesting and I think the cakes taste are good. There are all the obvious Jewish recipes you'd expect plus a few interesting additions.I would say that the cakes don't have the richness or indulgence often found in recipes by Nigella etc (probably down to the non-use of cream/butter) but that is not so much the Jewish style of baking.It's handy to have a book with lots of baking recipes in one place - a rarity in the kosher world.All that said, I am not sure that it justifies such a hefty price tag. £26 for a cookery book is rather a lot I think, but depending on your need for Kosher baking recipes you may decide it's worth it, as I did.

It's a great cookbook.