We all have friends whom we see often and oth­ers with whom we have not been in con­tact for weeks, months, or years — but the rela­tion­ship is still vibrant and can be rekin­dled at any moment.

That is pre­cise­ly the feel­ing I have each time I pick up Mar­cy Goldman’s books. This friend is always true, sound, and almost a fam­i­ly mem­ber. She nev­er fails me. Her breads, her cakes, her pho­tos, her hints, her encour­age­ment, her cook­ies, her tartlets, and her guid­ing spir­it are all there. This time, in the 10th Anniver­sary Edi­tion, she has added a new bonus chap­ter to her bak­ing won­ders, reflect­ing her ​“savory cook­ing.” 

Each year, our fam­i­ly pre­pares her famous ​“My Trade­mark, Most Request­ed, Absolute­ly Mag­nif­i­cent Caramel Mat­zoh Crunch” which she and we call ​“sub­lime.” Anoth­er pop­u­lar seder dessert is the ​“Mock Chest­nut Torte” which, need­less to say, con­tains no chest­nuts. 

Go ahead, try the chal­lahs, the var­ied haman­taschens, the cof­fee cakes, the cholent, and any­thing in the tome and you will hear only ​“oohs and ahs” from your admir­ing tasters. 

Gold­man, who has been nom­i­nat­ed for a Julia Child Cook­book Award, is a pro­fes­sion­al pas­try chef and the cre­ator of Bet​ter​Bak​ing​.com. Index; source guide for equip­ment, tools, and ingre­di­ents; met­ric con­ver­sion chart.