The James Beard Foundation Lists The 13 Baking Books You Need to Buy Now

With only weeks to go until it releases the American food universe's greatest list of all, the James Beard Foundation has put forth into the world another, more gluten-filled list: the "Baker's Dozen," or 13 best baking books.

The list -- which is presented in alphabetical order -- includes plenty of familiar names, like Dorie Greenspan, Martha Stewart, Jim Lahey, and Rose Levy Beranbaum, the latter of whom was most recently seen objecting to the service at the Breslin. The bald man himself is also on the list for his 1973 Beard on Bread. While it's a bit surprising not to see the likes of David Lebovitz and Nancy Silverton on the list, and while we're shocked -- shocked! -- that the Cake Mix Doctor is nowhere to be found, the following offer an impressively solid foundation on which to build knowledge of the craft.

1. Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006)

2. Beard on Bread by James Beard (originally published 1973; reprinted by Knopf 1995).

3. The Book of Great Desserts by Maida Heatter (Andrews McMeel, 1999)

4. The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart (Ten Speed, 2001)

5. The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum (William Morrow, 1988)

6. Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000)

7. Cocolat by Alice Medrich (Warner Books, 1990)

8. The Fannie Farmer Baking Book by Marion Cunningham (Gramercy, 1996)

9. Great Pies and Tarts by Carole Walter (Clarkson Potter, 1998)

10. The Italian Baker by Carol Field (William Morrow, 1985)

11. Martha Stewart's Cookies by Martha Stewart (Clarkson Potter, 2008)

12. My Bread by Jim Lahey (W.W. Norton, 2009)

13. The Simple Art of Perfect Baking by Flo Braker (Chronicle, 2003)

[Via Grub Street]

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