Matt Lewis

Renato Poliafito

As featured on The Martha Stewart Show and The Today Show and in People Magazine! Hip. Cool. Fashion-forward. These aren’t adjectives you’d ordinarily think of applying to baked goods. Think again. Not every baker wants to re-create Grandma’s pound cake or cherry pie. Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito certainly didn’t, when they left their advertising careers behind, pooled their life savings, and opened their dream bakery, Baked, in Brooklyn, New York, a few years back. The visions that danced in their heads were of other, brand-new kinds of confections . . . Things like a Malt Ball Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting, which captures the flavor of their favorite Whoppers candies (and ups the ante with a malted milk ball garnish). Things like spicy Chipotle Cheddar Biscuits that really wake up your taste buds at breakfast time. Things like a Sweet and Salty Cake created expressly for adults who are as salt-craving ?as they are sweet-toothed. Which is not to say that Lewis and Poliafito sidestep tradition absolutely. Their Chocolate Pie (whose filling uses Ovaltine) pays loving homage to the classic roadside-diner dessert. Their Baked Brownies will wow even the most discriminating brownie connoisseur. And their Chocolate Chip Cookies? Words cannot describe. Whether trendsetting or tried-and-true, every idea in this book is freshly Baked.

New Frontiers in Baking

Baked

div Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito’s 2008 Baked was published to national critical acclaim and raved about across the blogosphere. Since then, their profile has gotten even bigger, with continued praise from Oprah and Martha Stewart; product availability in every Whole Foods across the U.S.; and a new bakery in Charleston, South Carolina, with even more traffic than their original Brooklyn location. Now, in Baked Explorations, the authors give their signature “Baked” twists to famous desserts from across the country. Here is their take on our most treasured desserts: Banana Cream Pie, Black & White Cookies, Mississippi Mud Pie, and more—from the overworked to the underappreciated. Readers will love this collection of 75 recipes from breakfast treats to late-night confections and everything in between. Praise for Baked Explorations: "They might look like another pair of fresh-faced Brooklynites (retro tie and mustache? check), but Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, the owners of the Baked sweet shops in Brooklyn and Charleston, are media-savvy butter fiends . . . Those whoopie pies? Four sticks of buttery fun. Oh to be young, decadent and baked in Brooklyn." -The New York Times "Lewis and Poliafito take on more underappreciated desserts, giving beloved treats like black-and-white cookies and whoopie pies a modern makeover." -New York Daily News /DIV

Classic American Desserts Reinvented

Baked Explorations

DIVIn their third cookbook, Baked Elements: Our 10 Favorite Ingredients, acclaimed authors Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito present 75 inventive new recipes revolving solely around their 10 most-loved ingredients—from peanut butter and caramel to malt and booze. Lewis and Poliafito celebrate these favorite elements—chocolate, for instance, or bananas—baking each one into a variety of delicious cookies, bars, cakes, milkshakes, and more, sweets perfect for everyday cravings, special occasions, late-night celebrations, and weekend get-togethers. Complete with the signature stories and commentary that fans adore, chapters also include feature-ingredient infographics with quirky facts and charts and helpful Baked notes that make creating these desserts as easy as pie. Praise for Baked Elements: "It’s official. I’m a goner. I love this cookbook. . . . While many restaurant pastry chefs around the country are out there pushing the envelope and falling off the cutting edge adding savory ingredients to deconstructed molecular gastronomy masterpieces, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito have delivered another collection of uniquely approachable and delicious baked creations to satisfy any craving." —Austin Chronicle "Nobody, nobody has a better grasp on the kinds of recipes that make people happily gum up the pages of a book with cookie dough or retire their grandmother’s famous recipe for cinnamon rolls (because it didn’t include pumpkin) than the Baked guys. This book is full of the stuff of American bakery-case dreams." —Deb Perelman, creator of Smitten Kitchen /div

Our 10 Favorite Ingredients

Baked Elements

From the creators of the famous Baked bakeries: Seventy-two inventive new recipes featuring ten irresistible ingredients. In Baked Elements, the dynamic owners of Baked NYC and Baked Charleston, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, put their favorite flavors to the test with seventy-two all-new recipes featuring ten essential ingredients: peanut butter, lemon and lime, caramel, booze, pumpkin, malted milk powder, cinnamon, cheese, chocolate, and banana. From outrageous cakes, such as Lacy Panty Cakes with Whiskey Sauce, to unbelievable cookies, such as Lime Tarragon, to bars, milkshakes, pies, brownies, tarts, and more, these sweets are delicious enough to satisfy everyday cravings and special enough to spice up any celebration. Praised by Deb Perelman, creator of Smitten Kitchen, as “full of the stuff of American bakery-case dreams” and hailed by Serious Eats as “drool-worthy,” this essential tome is filled with infographics, quirky facts, and helpful notes that make baking show-stopping desserts as easy as pie.

Our Ten Favorite Ingredients

Celebrating a year in desserts, BAKED’s beloved duo Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito offer cookies, puddings, whoopie pies, cakes, brownies, and more to commemorate holidays both expected and unexpected. Rum-infused Hair of the Dog Cake for New Year’s Day and Peanut Butter Sheet Cake for Texas Independence Day join Praline Ice Cream Cake for Mardi Gras, Chocolate Pop Tarts for Halloween, and 12 Days of Cookies for Christmastime. With 65 gorgeous photographs and 75 unique recipes, you’ll have everything you need to create a wide range of sweet treats for quirky festivities and traditional holidays all year round.

Renato Poliafito

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