cover image The Model Bakery Cookbook: 75 Recipes from the Beloved Napa Valley Bakery

The Model Bakery Cookbook: 75 Recipes from the Beloved Napa Valley Bakery

Karen Mitchell and Sarah Mitchell Hansen, with Rick Rodgers. Chronicle, $35 (208p) ISBN 978-1-4521-1383-8

Who knew a dinner roll could look so beautiful? A dozen pillow-like puffs of dough, perfectly dusted with flour, one split open and topped with ample pats of butter, grace the pages of this inspiring title. The Mitchell mother-and-daughter team is behind the Napa-located Model Bakery and here, reader’s will find 75 of the bakery’s recipes. Chapters are broken down by Breads, Yeasted Sweets, Breakfast Favorites, Cakes, Pies and Tarts, and Cookies. Beginning bakers may feel somewhat intimidated by the lengthy instructions in recipes and by sections such as the 6-page wedding cake spread, and the noted “pricy”-to-prepare Chocolate-Raspberry Cake, but those comfortable with a bowl and whisk will delight in the perfected Morning Bun recipe, the multigrain bread, Struan loaf, and the ideal-for-company Plum Galette. Not for the beginner, the book includes beautiful photographs with top-notch food styling, making this a favorite to keep in the kitchen, or the coffee table. (Nov.)