This is embarrassing thing to write. Very embarrassing. On the positive side I get to tell you about a remarkable baking book, Baking Style by Lisa Yockelson. In the past 30 years, Lisa has graced us with 10 lovely cookbooks. This one, from 2011, is both lovely and heavy. The 500 oversized pages are dense with a variety of information. The book’s subtitle is Art, Craft, Recipes. Art and craft do play as important a role as the luscious recipes here.

Suzi and I have  had this book for five years and I knew it was somewhere. But it was not until our Fall Reorganization that I found Baking Style, stashed on a shelf, hidded from view. I knew I had sinned by not consulting it back in 2011. I showed it to Suzi who’s only response to me was: “You should be ashmed of yourself. Don’t ever do this again.”

I am. I won’t.

We are baking 2-3 recipes a week here and finding that we want to make almost everything is this book. You’ll see our baking results here very soon. I have to tell you now, in advance, that if you remember that thick luscious chocolate frosting from decades ago, that perfect fudgy frosting you cannot find anymore, then fear and tear no more. It is here. And, it is even better than you remembered. It is lick the bowl perfect. I know. I did.

Lisa is an exceptional, and a very different writer. This book, Baking Style, reflect the fact that she has writing style. You’ve never seen a book quite like this. Consider the chapters here. It’s not: Pies, Cakes, Cookies. No, here is a sample of some, but not all, of the long and intense chapters with my explanations:

Pure Flavor offers recipes with single dominant flavors like cinnamon, chocolate and lemon.

Past Perfect presents classics that we can always enjoy, like her Indulgent Coconut Cake.

Plan Old-Fashioned offers “not quite classics” that are still addictive; cornbera, banana caek,and chocolate chip cake.

Very Naughty provides you with ideas you will not be discussing with your doctor: Cocoa Waffes with Chocolate Cream Spread or Doughnuts wth Vanilla-Maple Glaze.

Dreamy Regal suggests ideas that will have your table levitating: Chocolate Babka or Brownie Babka or Cinnamon Babka Morning Cak.e

Texture Exquisite recognizes that the “first bite” often decides your opinon of the dish. So here we have Rich, Richer, Richest Sticky Buns, stiky enough to pull the crowns off your teeth. Or a bevy of oh-so-tender cookies: Vanilla Jewels, Pecan Gems, and Chocoalte Chip Sables.

In Contour Fanciful the shape, and how it affects that first bite, that dominates: a Loopy Bubble Bread, Flatbread with Cheese, and Raisin Soda Bread with plenty of spices and buttermilk.

Intense Bold recipes double up on flavor: the Aroma of Cinnamon brunch cake or Candy-Crunched Golden Cupcakes.

Polished Sophisticated recipes provide elegance for your table: Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Chips, a Dense Butter Cake in a Bundt Pan accompanied by Syrpy Red Wine Prunes.

Lush Exuberant suggests an acceletated Brown Sugar Toffee Cake or a Fruit Bread with Ginger Preserver Glaze.

These recipes are presented with pages of headnotes and background. The recipes are often a tad complex, a couple of pages with will over a dozen igredients. They take time and patience. But the reward is exceptional. Proof? Here’s that chocolate cake I mentioned: Chocolate Comfort Cake with Cream Chocolate Frosting. I think the frosting is more fudgy than creamy, but that’s for you to decide. I’ll post the recipe this weekend. For the love of God, bake that one first. You really, really deserve it.