Author Jeni Britton Bauer Wins Media Award in the Cookbooks: Baking and Desserts Category

“Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home” (Artisan, 2011) has received a James Beard Foundation media award in the “Cookbooks: Baking and Dessert” category. Established in 1990, The James Beard Media Awards are the country’s most coveted honor for journalists, broadcast media and authors writing about food and the culinary arts. The cookbook is written by founder of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Jeni Britton Bauer. This is her and the company’s first James Beard Award.

“I like to say we make slow ice cream, and we wrote this book slowly, too” said Britton Bauer during her acceptance speech. “It takes time to source the best ingredients and develop new flavors, so we wanted to take it slow and make sure this book featured only the best techniques and recipes we could create.” This philosophy is the centerpiece of her Columbus, Ohio-based company, which uses grass-fed, local milk and cream, Ohio produce and handcrafted spirits, essential oils and single-origin chocolate and takes months to develop ice creams that truly resonate with American and world cultures.

With “Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home,” a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, Britton Bauer sought to redefine the process of at-home ice cream making. Her book instructs home cooks to produce creamy, scoop-shop quality ice cream with over 100 recipes, paired with stories about the company’s fruitful relationships with the farmers whose ingredients help make her ice cream so popular.

The 2012 winners were announced at the Media & Book Awards dinner on Friday, May 4, in New York City at Gotham Hall.  The awards were hosted by two James Beard Award Winners: Food Network Iron Chef and co-host of ABC’s The Chew, Michael Symon and CBS news correspondent Martha Teichner.

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams was also voted “Best Ice Cream” by “The Munchies: People’s Choice Food Awards,” which were announced on General Mills’ Tablespoon.com the morning of Friday, May 4. “Bizarre Foods” host Andrew Zimmern was part of the panel of experts that nominated Jeni to be among the contenders, who were then voted on by thousands of people for the top spots across twenty categories.