Get Baked right in your own home.
The dudes behind the beloved Red Hook bakery, Baked, are sharing their secrets — again — with “Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts.”
Two years ago, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito published their first cookbook, “Baked,” a collection of classic recipes, from chocolate pie to brownies, but with their signature flair (take, for instance, the spicy Chipotle Cheddar Biscuits).
This time around, the two turn their attention to desserts that are, how you say, underappreciated, said Lewis.
“We took unloved recipes that weren’t so trendy that needed a revamp,” said the DUMBO-based Lewis. “Take, for instance, the grasshopper pie, a popular dessert in the 1950s. There’s a lot of horrible versions of it, but a lot of people like it, or like the idea of it.”
Among the 75 recipes, ranging from breakfast treats to late-night confections, there’s that grasshopper pie, of course, as well as banana cream pie, black-and-white cookies, and Mississippi mud pie — all with a Baked twist.
“We always punch up the flavor,” said Lewis. “The main focus is on the flavor profile and making sure it’s intense. If I’m making a pumpkin dessert, I want to make pumpkin be front and foremost. If I’m using peppermint, I don’t want people to go, ‘Is there peppermint in this?’ ”
On Nov. 16, help the two celebrate their new cookbook at Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene. There will, of course, be dessert.
“We don’t do straight readings, basically tell some of the more interesting aspects of how the recipes came into being,” said Lewis.
Sounds pretty sweet.
Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito at Greenlight Bookstore [686 Fulton St. at S. Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 246-0200], Nov. 16 at 7:30 pm. Free, with desserts. For info, visit bakednyc.com.
