I became a fan of Genevieve Ko a few years ago when I received a copy of her 2016 baking masterwork, “Better Baking,” as a holiday gift.
I learned many important lessons from that book — the value of investing in a good rimmed baking sheet, for one — and return often to its simple yet profound premise, which is rooted in the idea that minimally processed ingredients, used intelligently, can deepen the flavor of something as familiar as a peanut butter cookie, and make you long for a chocolate sheet cake made using, of all things, creamy