Flour maker King Arthur sells cookbook

By Jerry Schwartz
Associated Press

But it's not. It's a cult.

For anyone who loves the magic alchemy of baking — part science, part art — King Arthur flour is the gold (medal) standard of flours because of its quality and because of its mystique.

King Arthur is Vermont. King Arthur is warm and fuzzy, home and hearth, steaming bread straight from the oven as a fireplace roars in the corner.

King Arthur has sponsored baking workshops around the country, distributed newsletters and catalogs, and hosted an online baking forum.

There is an element of self-promotion in all of this — bakers buy flour, after all — but mainly, the folks at King Arthur are moved by an evangelical fervor for baking. Now they have produced "The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion," a $35 compendium from Countryman Press that promises "baked goods that feed not just the body, but the soul."

"You're a link in a limitless line of bakers: The sticky bun recipe you pass along to your son or daughter today will continue to be shared long after you're gone," the editors write. "And the guiding hand you place atop a friend's as she kneads her first batch of bread dough will in turn be placed atop her grandchild's one day."

The "Companion" offers some exotic recipes — things like crostini with basil, goat cheese and sun-dried tomato topping, and Paris-Brest framboise — but mostly, its 620 pages cover haimish favorites like almond toffee bars, sourdough bread, hot buttered pretzels and faux-reos (King Arthur's version of Oreos). There are crisps, crumbles, cobblers, buckles, grunts, slumps, clafoutis and even a raspberry roly-poly.

Do not mistake lack of pretense for a lack of rigor. There is a wonkish side to King Arthur — recipes are tested, adjusted and tested again, until they meet a master baker's standards. Every recipe includes full nutritional information, and ingredients are measured by both volume and weight.

"At King Arthur, we've held a long debate about what a 'cup' of flour weighs," the editors write, and you just know that's not an exaggeration.

The recipes are clear and detailed, many accompanied by step-by-step illustrations. A hundred pages are given over to information about ingredients and tools, and there are numerous side trips, like the one that explains starters, sponges, poolish, bigas and levain to novice bread bakers.

Altogether, it is a book that will fire ovens and bakers' passions for years.

"Come with us now into the kitchen, and let's bake," the editors write.

Let's do.

This recipe makes a rich, buttery bar gilded with a sweet, dark-caramel-like topping.

Almond Toffee Bars

Cookie base:

• 1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) butter
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) confectioners'
• sugar
• 2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping:

• 1 cup (8 ounces) brown sugar, packed
• 5 1/3 tablespoons (2/3 stick, 1 3/8 ounces) butter
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) milk
• 1 cup (3 ounces) sliced unblanched almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the base: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream the butter, then add the almond extract and the confectioners' sugar, beating all the while. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, and stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Press the dough into an ungreased 15-by-10-by-1-inch baking sheet, coming up the sides just a little. Bake the crust 15 to 20 minutes, until it's golden brown. Set aside.

Topping: Combine the brown sugar, butter and milk in a saucepan, stirring over low heat just until the brown sugar is dissolved and the butter has melted. Spread this mixture over the cookie base. Sprinkle with the sliced almonds.

Put the pastry under the broiler until the top bubbles, 3 minutes at the most. After 2 minutes, open the oven door and watch the bubbling action. As soon as the nuts are golden brown, remove the bars from the oven. (It's easy to burn this if you're not careful.) When cool, cut into small squares, about 1 1/2 inches.

Makes about 48 bars.

Per 1 g serving: 98 cal., 6 g total fat, 15 mg chol., 86 mg sodium, 4 g complex carbohydrates, 1 g protein, 5 g sugar, 40 mg potassium, 51RE vitamin A, 23 mg calcium, 19 mg phosphorus.

(Recipe from "The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion," 2003, Countryman, $35)