In 2018, one of our resolutions is to up our baking game. We won't be going it alone though, we'll be doing it with the support, feedback, and guidance of 11,000 of our closest friends in our Baking Club. If that sounds good to you, too, join us as we bake through a new baking book each month and learn from each other along the way.
We'll be kicking off the new year with Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel, so get ready for classic French breads and pastries galore. Read on for the full lineup of what books are coming up next and all of the details on how to participate, too.
- January: Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel
- February: Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan
March: The Fearless Baker by Erin Jeanne McDowell
Bonus Book: The Baking Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum
What is a bonus book? Well, when the community rallied around the creation of the Baking Club, one member suggested calling it "Baker’s Dozen," with the idea that we'd focus on one book a month, but have one extra book that members could cook through the whole year long, too. The idea was a hit, so while we didn't use the name, we incorporated the idea! The group will not only have more time to cook through Beranbaum’s book, but members will always have this book as an option to bake from if they don’t have access to the book of the month.
For those eager to know what we'll tackle after March, in an effort to plan ahead, we generally hold votes for three months' worth of books at a time—it's especially helpful for library reserving, and book purchasing and shipping purposes. We'll vote for the books for the second quarter of the year (April, May, and June) in February.
If you're new to the Baking Club, here's a quick primer on how to join in the fun:
1) Get the Book(s)
Buy a book or two—either online or from your favorite local bookstore. Or, if you’re not ready to commit quite yet, check them out from your local library or borrow a copy from a friend.
2) Read & Cook
Rather self-explanatory, as this is one of the most important parts of participating in a cookbook club, right? If you’re not sure where to begin, take a page out of our former Cookbook Editor Ali Slagle's playbook. When she'd review a cookbook, she would read through the entire introduction as well as 15 headnotes and recipes, and then cook at least three recipes.
3) Share Your Opinions
We chat in our Facebook group all month long! Join the Baking Club here and post pictures of what you bake from the books and share reviews, too. Fill everyone in on what you thought of the dish (remember to share the recipe name and even the page number, if possible). You can share photos on Instagram as well, just remember to tag them with #f52bakingclub.
If you're ready to get in on the action now, we've been baking through Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh's cookbook Sweet: Desserts from London's Ottolenghi in December—there's still a few days to jump in!
See what other Food52 readers are saying.