Weekend Cooking: Bake Like a Pro by Falynn Koch

I'm a big fan of First Second comics, and I'm always looking through their catalog for new titles. I nearly whooped out loud when I saw Falynn Koch's Who Can? You Can! Maker Comics: Bake Like a Pro! (out on February 5). I mean, a cookbook and a comic? Yay!

The book starts out like a graphic novel, as a graduating class from the Wizard Academy gets sorted into their apprenticeships. Our young hero, Sage, gets assigned to Alchemist and Baking Wizard Korian (yes, I love the names!).

Sage is upset because she wanted to learn magic. After all, what magic was there in baking, especially when almost everyone knows how to cast an instant cake spell? She, of course, learns that a lot of magic goes on in a kitchen.

After a rocky start and and a change in attitude, Sage learns the five main baking methods and discovers what happens when different ingredients are mixed in different ways.

Boy, Bake Like a Pro was so much more than I thought it would be. Yes, this comic is a learn to bake book, made fun with the addition of talking ingredients and colorful and helpful drawings. However, it is also a book on the science of baking.

Ever wonder what happens when your ingredients are the wrong temperature? Perhaps you noticed that gingerbread cookies don't spread the way chocolate chip cookies do. Why is that? Or maybe you're curious about the difference between a biscuit and scone. Bake Like a Pro has the answers. You don't just learn to make a pizza crust, you learn two different ways to bake your crust and how each affects the outcome.

I've read through the book once, and I guarantee that I'll be reading it again--several times more. I consider myself a fairly experienced baker, and I still learned a lot. There is so much great information, presented in an entertaining way, that new and experienced bakers alike will fall in love. For example, I just adore the butter art (at right; click to enlarge), especially that melty guy on the right.

The scan to the left is the first page of the sponge cake section. Again, you'll have to click to enlarge the image, but it shows you how technical information is presented right along with the practical how-tos and gives you another look at the great artwork.

By the way, recipes are presented in a more traditional way at the back of the book, so you don't have to read through the panels each time you set out to bake from the book.

The target audience is supposed to middle grade readers, but I'm telling you, Falynn Koch's Bake Like a Pro is for all kinds of curious bakers. Young or old, new to the kitchen or an old hand, this book will encourage you to get out ingredients and equipment, read through a recipe, preheat the oven, and commence stirring or kneading, baking and--best of all--eating!

Thanks to First Second for the digital copy of How to Bake Like Pro. The scans are used here in the context of a review, and all rights remain with the original copyright holder.

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