Veteran cookbook author and Amherst resident offers Internet help to aspiring bakers.
One could say that Amherst baker Dédé Wilson has always been rolling in the right direction when it comes to her career as a baker.
A contributing editor to Bon Appétit magazine and the author of 14 books, including the best-selling "A Baker’s Field Guide to Cupcakes," "The Wedding Cake Book," and the newest, "Cake Balls," her latest adventure, a new multi-media online content entity called Bakepedia.com, The Baker’s Resource, began when she saw a need for it.
“I am self-taught and Bakepedia is for the avid home baker and that is what I am,” she said. “The more research I did, the more it became clear that there was a need for a site where one could find tested and reliable recipes, professional tips and tricks, equipment recommendations, ingredient information, an encyclopedia, videos, really whatever one would need from a home baker’s perspective.”
Her team launched a beta site last August, four months after their first brainstorming meeting. Bakepedia.com hopes to involve to not only tell you why your cake fell flat, but it become a destination site that connects its users with social community. Their motto: "Helping Bakers Succeed."
“’So many people struggle because at its core, baking is precise. When you make a pot roast, you can decide to use thyme, instead of rosemary, or add sweet potatoes, instead of potatoes, but with baking, you cannot use baking soda, instead of baking powder, just because that's what you have in the pantry," she said.
“Many people don't realize if the recipe says use three large eggs, three jumbos will end up with a poor result. So, think they can't bake. But, we are here to hold their hand and help them understand what they need to know.”
Wilson, who came to Amherst, in 1979, to attend Hampshire College, grew up in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Her passion for food came from a family of food lovers who cooked from scratch.
“My dad was very well traveled, and he would bring home all sorts of authentic recipes, spices and condiments from all over the world when I was growing up. I had no idea that my palate was being refined, but it was,” she said.
Wilson never had a job post-college that wasn't food-oriented. The turning point for the self-taught baker came when she saw an ad for a restaurant pastry chef. She got the job, and took it as a sign that to learn the business hands-on, instead of going to culinary school.
She worked in restaurants, and as a caterer for a handful of years, and briefly owned her own bakery before bringing her love of food and writing together.
“I had always been a writer, so I naively figured, ‘Why not? I will write a book.’ I found a book in the library called 'How to Write a Book Proposal,' wrote one, and sent it out cold to seven agents and got a literary agent," she said.
Wilson’s first book, "The Wedding Cake Book," was published by Macmillan, in 1997, and nominated for an International Association of Culinary Professionals' First Book Julia Child Award. Her second book two years later garnered the notice of Kristine Kidd, then the Food Editor at Bon Appetit magazine, which lead to her first piece for the magazine, where she would later become a contributing editor.
Wilson styled her Bakepedia test kitchen on the Bon Appetit test kitchen. Both she and Lauren Chattman, another area cookbook author, go through a development and testing process for recipes posted on the site.
“This might seem obvious, but believe me, many recipes that are put out there for public use are not developed or tested properly. So many times the home baker experiences failure and they think it is them. Sometimes it is the recipe.” she said.
Wilson has appeared on the "TODAY" show, "The View," and the CBS' "Early Show," and has been host of Public Television's "Seasonings with Dédé Wilson" and co-host of the"The Holiday Table," Bakepedia will also feature how-to videos, with Wilson and visiting baking professionals.
“We want to inspire and teach. Baking is like learning to ride a bike. You have to learn the basic mechanics, but then you can take your hands off the handlebars and fly," she said.
To learn more, visit bakepedia.com.