Classy Rustic Baking

Red Truck Bakery Cookbook – Brian Noyes with Nevin Martell (Clarkson Potter)

There is an interesting story (maybe a bit too much) about the launch of the Red Truck Bakery, how a city mouse, became a country mouse and found success serving up classic, rustic baked goods and more. Brian Noyes is a newspaper man at heart, but turned his second love, baking into a successful business.

The business, Red Truck Bakery, takes its name from the lovingly restored, classic, 1954 Ford D-100 pickup truck that was purchased from designer Tommy Hilfiger, and was utilized to deliver Noyes initial forays into selling his wares. There is a heartland feel and flavor to the story and the recipes contained in the Red Truck Bakery Cookbook, that Noyes compiled with Nevin Martell.

I thought it was a nice touch that Noyes gives you the lay of the land up front, spelling out the specifics of his ingredient choices and tools of the trade; mixers, knives, cutters, etc. He also doles out some useful kitchen advice upfront, before you get too far along in the proceedings.

When you do finally bust into the goods, it runs the gamut from breakfast goodies to pies, cookies, bars, cakes and even buckles. While I can hold my own in the kitchen when it comes to main courses, I fully admit to struggling on the baking side of things, so a buckle, a streusel toped fruit-based desert was a new one for me.

By in large, I found most of the recipes pretty easy to follow and none of the ingredients were so far off the reservation that they would not be in easy reach for most bakers, with no need to special order from far flung places. The photography that accompanies the recipes are rich and beautiful. A couple of the recipes I tested won me thumbs up reviews from friends and family at the Thanksgiving festivities, so it’s likely I will be back to delve deeper into the Red Truck Bakery Cookbook.