By REESE AMOROSI
In her debut cookbook, Mother Grains: Recipes for the Grain Revolution, Roxana Jullapat told us that “The key to better, healthier baked goods is in the grain,” and she had the recipes to prove it. Now, in her second endeavor, Morning Baker: Recipes and Rituals for Breakfast and Beyond (W. W. Norton & Company), Jullapat is back, this time with co-writer Ari Smolin and over 100 gloriously grainy recipes.
In this new cookbook, Jullapat shares the routine and rituals she follows in her life as a “Morning Baker” and the owner of LA’s Friends & Family bakery. We learn how her team collaborates to create the “golden, caramelized, glossy, sugary and scrumptious creations” for which they are famous. We see how Jullapat artfully arranges their beautiful breads and perfect pastries in the shop’s display case. We look at those remarkable results and wonder, “Could I possibly bake anything nearly that good?”
The answer is a resounding “yes,” as Jullapat is both a supremely skilled baker AND a top-notch teacher. From flour selection to finished goods she is a master at explaining how – and why – specific ingredients work.
Each of Jullapat’s recipes includes tips about the whole-grain flour(s) used, recipe origins and inspirations, serving ideas and variations. Throughout the book there are highlighted techniques such as “How to Read Bread Dough” and “How to Create Steam in Your Oven.” Toward the end of Morning Baker there is even more flour information detailing Jullapat’s favorites, plus a handy list of sources for ingredients and equipment.
I would treasure Morning Baker for the croissant chapter alone with its primer on how to cut the pastries including Salted Honey Croissants, Pistachio-Almond Croissants and Espresso Pains au Chocolat, but all of the recipes are tempting. Standouts include (but are certainly not limited to) Apricot Butterscotch Muffins, Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Scones, and a whole grain Dutch Baby (pictured at right). There is even a recipe for my personal favorite canelés now reborn as cornelés with the addition of cornmeal.
Jullapat’s first outing, Mother Grains, is a touchstone for those aspiring to learn about whole-grain flours and incorporate them into their baking. Morning Baker is a brilliant follow-up that continues on that path; it is a must-have cookbook that bakers will be referring to and working from for years to come.
Photos by Kristin Teig
For more information visit W. W. Norton & Company
