'Miette' Is a Cookbook for Folks Who Enjoy Baking for Others

January 29, 20251 yr

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Welcome to “Cookbook of the Week.” This is a series where I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While finding a particular recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has a magic all its own.

I’m always happy to see new cookbooks on the scene, but in truth, most weeks I’m flipping through my archives; revisiting older books I’ve picked up along the way. Some cookbooks I keep because they’re a treasure trove of reliable recipes (like this one), and others I keep because there are a few dishes in there that I’ve always loved.

One of the latter is Miette. This week’s cookbook comes from the eponymous bakery in San Francisco. I bought this cookbook of sweet treats many years ago, when I worked at Borders bookstore—before I went to culinary school, before I had ever been to San Francisco, and before I knew how baking would shape my life. The vintage cake designs, scalloped edges of the pages, and classic recipes like walnut brownies, shortbread cookies, and salted caramels drew me in, and in these pages I could sense that baking would be a tool of comfort and meditation for me.

A bit about the book

Miette first published in 2011, and comes from Meg Ray, the chef and founder of Miette bakery in California. Like many cookbooks that hit the market, it all starts with a popular restaurant or bakery, and if all is going well then a cookbook is sure to follow. I get the appeal. The bakery’s offerings are European in backbone but have a distinctly retro American look. The desserts are classic, and true to how the bakery produces their products. That means you end up seeing recipes that are simple, like the shortbreads, and others that take patience and a bit of know-how.

Keep in mind that you’re looking for the most recent version. The 2011 cover features their three layer Tomboy cake. You’ll want to grab the 2023 updated edition here, which has their single layer Old Fashioned Cake on the cover. The newest edition includes corrections of errors that were in the first publication.

A great cookbook for someone who bakes for others

I admit that I don’t use all of the recipes in this cookbook (I have other cookbooks I rely on for excellent cake recipes), but I love the small, packable recipes in Miette because they make beautiful gifts for my friends and family. Among many things, I’m a sucker for giving gifts, and if it’s something I’ve baked then I enjoy sharing it even more.

This book is great for bakers who ship cookies out every holiday season, the person who drops off treats to their neighbors just because, and the coworker who brings in peanut butter cookies to share with his colleagues when they all go into the office on Thursdays. The cookies are often cut to have fluted edges, the brownies can be baked individually in cupcake pans, and the caramels can be wrapped like miniature gifts of their own. These treats were born to be gifts.

The dish I made this week

This week I was completely torn between the walnut brownies and the thumbprint cookies. If you’ve come across my hallongrottor post then you’re aware that I have a severe dependency on jam-filled baked goods. After a few back and forths, I marked the page for thumbprints.

The recipe is very simple and that’s what I like about many of the cookie recipes, like the graham crackers or peanut butter cookies—Miette is not reinventing the classics. This thumbprint recipe has everything you might expect, flour, sugar, egg, butter, baking powder, and extracts. Solid.

A close up of a wine cork poking a cookie and other cookies with an indent in the center.

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

The instructions lean toward how they do production in their bakery, so you’ll mainly see mixing methods that use stand mixers. However, when cookie batches are small for home production I’ll often just do it by hand. This recipe was one of those that work just fine in a bowl with a wooden spoon.

I mixed, I scooped, I rolled, and I thumbprinted. (Well, I use an old wine cork, actually—corks are superior to thumbs, here). This recipe, unlike many others, has the jam go in the imprint after the bake instead of before. It’s a little bit of a different vibe, but the jam stays glossy and doesn’t become a chewy disk after baking.

Raspberry thumbprint cookies on a plate.

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

The cookie was exactly as I hoped: pudgy and round with a dollop of sweet raspberry. A classic thumbprint cookie perfect for serving to friends or dropping off to your grandkids. The dough includes a healthy dose of vanilla extract, which I questioned at first, but not for very long. The cookie reminds me of raspberry vanilla ice cream and I’m not mad about it.

How to buy the book

The hardcover of Miette is available online or as an ebook. I highly recommend supporting your local brick and mortar bookstores by asking them to order it to their location if they don’t already have it in stock.

Miette: Recipes from San Francisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop (Sweets and Dessert Cookbook, French Bakery)

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