It’s a joy when a new baking cookbook offers something exciting

Where do you find new recipes?

My path used to be a direct line to my large cookbook collection, where I could find a cookbook, such as Italian or bread, and start reading. Today, my path is nearly all electronic.

In the past, receiving “review copies” from a new cookbook’s publisher was one of the benefits of being a food columnist.

One publisher, Milk Street, still sends me their about-to-be-released cookbooks for my consideration. The person who founded the highly regarded Cook’s Illustrated magazine in the early 1990s, Christopher Kimball, founded Milk Street.

Milk Street’s newest cookbook, “Milk Street Bakes,” landed on my front porch this week with a thud (it weighs nearly 4.5 pounds).

My first thought: “The last thing we need in this world is another $45 baking book.” I own 16 baking cookbooks; how could this be any different?

It is significantly different based on Milk Street’s basic concept: sharing authentic, international recipes. My first stroll through this book showcased that idea: Skillet Spanakopita, Mexican Sweet Corn Cake, Limpa (a Swedish Rye bread) and Homemade Corn Tortillas.

Yes, recipes for each may be found in other cookbooks. Chances are, though, those recipes do not also have in-depth recipe headnotes like the one for the tortillas, which begins by sharing a Mexico City story, part travelogue with a recipe.

One of the things I expect in any expensive cookbook is excellent photography. “Milk Street Bakes” nearly over-delivers on that point. Not only does each of the 110 recipes show an exquisite picture of the finished version, but many recipes also include step-by-step photos. That’s huge.

Baking anything, whether bread or brownies, requires precision. The recipe ingredients are shown by volume (cups) and weight (grams). Professional bakers use accurate measurements to produce consistent, quality results.

The first 17 pages of the book share everything about ingredients and tools, so the reader is not required to be a “professional.”

The cookbook’s general sections are Quick Breads, Muffins and More, Sweet and Savory Breads, Flatbreads, Pizza Plus, Pies and Puddings, Loaf Cakes and Small Cakes, Cheesecakes, Bundt Cakes, Tortes and More, and Cookies, Bars and Brownies.

Here is one recipe from each of those sections: Colombian Cheese Buns; Portuguese-Style Sweet Potato Rolls; Roman Cloud Bread; Slab Pizza with Sausage, Chard and Onions; Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie; Pistachio-Cardamon Cake; Swedish “Sticky” Chocolate Cake and Australian Oat-Coconut Cookies. So much from which to choose, so little time. Sigh.

This is not a book to be read in your lap unless you want numb thighs. Setting it on a table and strolling through it is great fun. I know that’s what I did.

Milk Street permitted me to share a recipe and pictures from their new cookbook. I’ve made this cake before, and even though it looks plain, with no frosting or filling, it’s incredibly rich, and those additions would gild that lily.

One more thing. This column celebrates its 32nd birthday at the Daily Herald today. I could not be more grateful that then-Food Editor Olivia Wu picked me to write this column in 1992. I’m deeply grateful for my amazing Daily Herald readers. I love writing this column and love you for reading it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

• Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe makeover requests. Write to him at 1leanwizard@gmail.com.

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Double Chocolate Loaf Cake

This loaf cake comes together quickly and easily, and boasts a remarkably deep color, intensely rich flavor and a plush, velvety crumb. The recipe came to us by way of Claire Ptak, of Violet Cakes, a bakery-café in East London. To achieve the cake’s deep, complex chocolatiness, she uses a generous amount of bittersweet chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder. Any type of bittersweet chocolate will work, but we recommend using one that’s tasty enough to eat out of hand and contains about 70% cocoa solids. Serve slices with spoonfuls of crème fraîche, which has a subtle tang and creaminess that are fantastic foils for the cake. Store leftovers at room temperature, tightly wrapped, for up to three days.

Don’t use natural cocoa. Dutch-processed is best because the alkali used in its production gives the cocoa a richer, deeper hue and smoother taste that’s important for color and flavor intensity. If your cocoa does not indicate type on the label, check the ingredient list. If it reads “processed with alkali,” the cocoa is Dutch-processed.

200 grams (7 ounces) bittersweet chocolate (see headnote), finely chopped

198 grams (14 tablespoons) salted butter, cut into several chunks

195 grams (1½ cups) all-purpose flour

214 grams (1 cup) white sugar

43 grams (½ cup) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon table salt

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup boiling water

Heat the oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle position. Mist a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray, then line it with an 8-by-14-inch piece of kitchen parchment, allowing the excess to overhang the long sides of the pan.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring 1 inch of water to a simmer. Put the chocolate and the butter in a large heatproof bowl and set the bowl on top of the saucepan; be sure the bottom does not touch the water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are melted. Remove the bowl from the pan and cool until barely warm to the touch, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt.

Add the eggs to the cooled chocolate mixture; whisk until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and stir with a silicone spatula until evenly moistened; the mixture will be dryish and thick. Gradually stir in about half of the boiling water; when fully incorporated, whisk in the remaining boiling water. The batter will be smooth, glossy and fluid. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake until the center of the cake rises, forming deep fissures on the surface, and a toothpick inserted at the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 55 to 60 minutes.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes. Lift the cake out of the pan using the parchment and set it directly on the rack. Cool to room temperature. Peel off and discard the parchment before slicing.

Makes one 9-inch loaf cake

— Excerpted from “Milk Street Bakes” by Christopher Kimball. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company, New York, N.Y. All rights reserved.