As winter comes to a close and we shift into sweeter, sunnier days, we bakers begin to reap the rewards of the first seasonal strawberries, fresh herbs, and bakes fit for a spring celebration.
With this issue full of flavors and features both familiar and new, we can’t wait to revel in all the fun that spring is sure to bring. We start this issue with one of my favorite golden ingredients,browned butter, in our From the Test Kitchen feature. Weshare every tip, trick, and tool for getting a beautiful beurre noisette every time. And speaking of the test kitchen, we
couldn’t be more excited to show you our new home base and state-of-the-art test kitchen space, housed in our new office that we lovingly refer to as the Hoffice on 2nd. The behind-the-scenes feature in this issue is our way of sharing our beautiful new space with all of you. Our Bake from Scratch Magazine March/April 2023 issue also celebrates the start of one of our favorite seasons: spring strawberries! From deliciously sweet and salty Strawberry Pretzel Thumbprint Cookies (page 62) to our gorgeous cover star, Strawberry Layer Cake (page 64), this feature is full of bright, berry-filled bakes. If you’re looking for even more cake inspiration, our Easter cakes feature covers all the classics, from coconut cake to carrot. Fresh herbs also get their time in the sun with our Harmony of Herbs feature. The Sage Browned Butter Biscuits (page 100) are savory and entirely satisfying, and our Chicken Pot Pie Danish (page 103) give the pot pie a revolutionary remake.
These pages also promise plenty of adventure, with flatbreads from around the world and a bakery tour with our dear friend Kylie Mazon-Chambers from Cooking with Cocktail Rings.
With the help of some friends, we share recipes and stories for flatbreads from Greece, India, Colombia, and China. And our bakery tour with Kylie takes us to Thessaloniki, Greece, a beautiful port city with plenty of seaside charm and a spectacular bakery scene. We even share a couple Greek inspired recipes for some of our favorite treats we enjoyed on the trip. Needless to say, it was a phyllo and feta fiesta! Seeing these features has me all the more excited for the adventures to come this year. As I begin to think about all the Bake from Scratch Magazine retreats planned for 2023, I can’t help but reminisce a little, too. In 2022, we traveled near and far, bringing together amazing groups of bakers all over the world We started our year with a visit to Ireland in March. The Emerald Isle was a dream, with acres upon acres of green pastures, fields of sheep, towering stone castles, and quaint seaside towns galore. Starting in the capital of Northern Ireland, Belfast, bakers got a chance to bake at Tracey’s Farmhouse Kitchen, dine at Rayanne House to enjoy the historic Titanic menu, and stop in at Lazy Claire Patisserie to get their fix of French-inspired pastries. From there, the bakery tour continued in Dublin, with visits to two of the city’s best-known bakeries, Bread 41 and Pepper Pot Cafe. Then we took to the winding countryside roads, with baking at Ballymaloe Cookery School and Ryeland House Cookery School outside Kilkenny, visits to Waterford and Galway, and a grand finale at the storied and majestic Ashford Castle. Along the way, bakers learned to make quintessential Irish recipes, including scones and soda bread, while also learning regional recipes such as potato farls.
Our next retreat kept us a little closer to home with our Cake Baking Retreat in Minneapolis, Minnesota, home to Nordic Ware and the Bundt pan. We learned the ins and outs of Bundt cake baking at the source, and our partners, Swans Down and Nordic Ware, provided the most beautiful bakeware and cake flour, taking our cake baking to a new level. Bakers also learned how to successfully build and decorate layer cakes, an art form all its own. From baking at Cooks of Crocus Hill St. Paul to touring the Nordic Ware factory for a behind-thescenes look at how Bundt pans are made, it was truly a celebration of all things cake.
Next was our journey to France in the fall. Beginning in Lyon, home to lively boucheries and specialties such as pâté en croûte, attendees headed to Plum Lyon, where they learned how to make les religieuses, a delightful vintage pâte à choux pastry filled with wonderfully rich crème pâtissière and topped with craquelin and fondant. Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, a gastronomic destination in Lyon, was another essential stop. There, we tried Lyon’s famous pralines, then took a trip to chef Thierry Rodolphe’s restaurant in Vieux Lyon, where lunch was followed by a pâté en croûte baking workshop. Next, we traveled to Aix-en-Provence, where we explored the markets of southern France and strolled along the iconic Cours Mirabeau. The trip ended with two
days of baking at Provence Gourmet, where bakers got to work with fresh, local ingredients to make a Provençal classic, gibassier, as well as peach clafoutis, tomato tartlets, and rustic loaves of bread. Making friends, memories, and a lot of baked goods, this trip was pure magic. Like a retreat family reunion, our Birmingham Holiday Baking Retreat brought bakers from far and wide to share in the merriment as we introduced our new “Hoffice” in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, and baked our way through an array of festive bakes perfect for the holiday season. From make-ahead cranberry pecan pumpkin muffins to a shows topping peppermint bark twist on entremet cake, our bakers got to call our shiny new test kitchen home for the weekend. Schermer Pecans, Mariani, and Swans Down supplied our bakers with only the finest fresh pecans, dried cranberries, and cake flour, adding unmatched flavor and texture to all that they baked. And, using tools and pans from Williams Sonoma and Nordic Ware, our team and attendees were able to bake with the gold standard of Bundt pans and bakeware. Plus, a stay at the historic Elyton Hotel just a couple of blocks away meant bakers could explore all the Magic City has to offer. Full of fun, laughs, incredible kitchen tips, and friendships new and old, our Birmingham Baking Retreat was the perfect celebration of our new space.
We closed out 2022 with our Holiday Baking Retreat in London and Paris, where we witnessed the magic of Europe during the yuletide season firsthand. Streets, cafés, and holiday markets were festively adorned, painting a glorious winter wonderland backdrop for our trip. From hands-on classes showcasing classic British holiday recipes to baking alongside our friend Benjamina Ebuehi, cookbook author, food stylist, and The Great British Bake Off quarterfinalist, we were able to make breads, pastries, and more at Leiths School of Food and Wine and La Cuisine Paris, two cookery schools that are practically a home away from home for our team. We even got to visit with Julie Jones, whose pies and pastry are true works of art. With incredible lessons from amazing teachers, pastry chefs, and friends, everyone left with a rich knowledge of French and British holiday traditions and recipes.
In 2023, we can’t wait to continue these beautiful baking adventures. I hope to bake with you this year.
Happy baking,
Brian Hart Hoffman
Editor-in-Chie

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• Cook’s Illustrated – March-April 2023
• Conde Nast Traveler USA – March 2023