A Baker’s Note

The intention of this book is to give bakers the recipes and tools to produce delicious and successful German-inspired desserts, specifically Mürbeteige (shortcrusts), cookies, and sponge cake-based tortes, along with accompanying glazes, fillings, and creams. Tools relevant to all the book’s chapters are covered in the main introduction. Chapter introductions provide additional tools needed for handling specific types of dough and batter. Ideally, bakers will read through the main introduction as well as chapter introductions before diving into the recipes. But if you read nothing else, thumb and look over the passage called “Four Crucial Variables in Baking.” Keeping these variables in mind will make all the difference to baking success.