- professional baker who is also a professional writer on food.

Even if we don't have time to bake on a regular basis, holidays are something different--special occasions that encourage us to pull out the cake pans and present our family and friends with a gift of homemade love. And this is particularly true of the Jewish holidays, which are so centrally focused on special foods--and, of course, special desserts.

From the round raisin challah that symbolizes the sweetness and continuity of life for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, to triangular, jam-filled hamantaschen for Purim, to a Chanukah dreidel cake, to the best flourless Passover cakes in the world, Marcy Goldman offers recipes that are traditional as well as those with an innovative flair.

Jewish or European-style baked goods--coffee cakes, strudels, cheesecakes, rugelach--are so universally popular that they have become as American as apple pie, and now, with A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking, every home baker will have access to the secrets of how to make them. As if she were a mother passing down techniques to her own children, Marcy Goldman's voice is warm, encouraging, and inviting, as well as authoritative, clear, and knowledgeable. She provides not only detailed instructions that yield delicious baked goods every time, but also a wealth of information on holiday customs and history.

Here is, indeed, a treasury to be welcomed by those who grew up with such recipes, those who are seeking to reestablish traditional holiday celebrations in their own home, and those who simply want to know the secrets for producing a wide range of delicious cakes, pastries, and pies.