“Are apps making cookbooks obsolete?” Such was the headline in a popular New York Times article last week, which went on to praise Baking with Dorie a critically-acclaimed new baking app from FOF Dorie Greenspan, one of our FOFeatured Women. We went straight to the source, Dorie herself, to get the scoop on what makes apps so well-suited for the kitchen and whether or not cookbooks will go the way of the dodo.

Plus, 3 FOFs will get to try Dorie’s app. Enter, by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post.

Who knew that one of the most buzzed about cooking apps would come from an FOF chef and not a 20-something!
I’m excited about new technology. I’ve had an iPad from day one and thought it was a miracle. I have 84,000 followers on Twitter. I feel like a baking evangelist. I want everyone in their kitchens baking. Apps and social media are tools to help me reach new bakers. You thought a new app would come from someone in their 20s, but it was my hope that by doing the app, I’d reach people in their 20s. 

Do you think cookbooks are dead?
No. The best apps supplement cookbooks–they give you something that a cookbook can’t. I’m not giving up cookbooks; in fact, I’m working on a new one now. But, I’m thrilled we have this technology and excited about what it can do and how it’s going to evolve.

What does your app give someone that a cookbook can’t?
You can get my recipes in the book. The app is me with you in your kitchen. When I write recipes for a book, I try to include many visual clues so they know what they are doing is right–for instance, what color a finished cake will be and the way it should spring back when you press the top. An app brings this alive. My app has a ton of video, which gives me a way really show home bakers the techniques.

So what specific techniques are best learned from the app?
There’s a way that I knead dough that I can describe in a book, but when you see it, it’s completely different.

One feature that foodies have been buzzing about is the unique ways a user can view recipes in your app. Tell me about that.
CulinApp, the company that created the app, presented each recipe in four different ways because they understand that people learn in different ways. There’s “cookbook view,” where the recipe looks like a traditional cookbook. There’s “spin view,” where you can spin a carousel to choose pieces of the recipes you want to see. There’s “step-by-step” which is the videos in order with the steps beneath it in text. Then there’s “CulinView” which is a flow chart of the whole recipe so you get an overview of everything that needs to be done.

What’s your favorite view?
My preference is step-by-step.

So cookbooks will still have a place in our kitchen a few years from now?
Yes, for sure. Although, the other day, I saw a picture of kitchen cabinets that are built to hold iPads. I think it’s the wave of the future.

3 FOFs will test Dorie’s app. Enter to win, by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post.

By entering this contest you are agreeing to read and submit a written review of this app to FabOverFifty and to send a photo of yourself to accompany the published story.

(Contest closes 11/24/2011. See all our past winners. See official rules. Our panel of editors will choose winners based on the quality of their written comments. We look for clear, concise writing; creativity; and thoughtfulness.)