Making the world a little sweeter one pastry tip at at time.
Macaroons – those little sweet cookies with the hamburger-like appearance. If you’ve ever tried one, you know how tasty and addicting they are. But if you’ve ever made them, you can appreciate the work that goes into them, and savor them as they are eaten. …read more
Flour Water Salt Yeast isn’t a basic bread cookbook but rather a recipe and guide book for artisan breads. I’ve been hoping for a book like this, and Ken Forkish explains and shows in detail how to make gorgeous breads. While he uses professional terminology …read more
I’ve always had a soft spot for old recipes. Thumbing through dusty piles of vintage cookbooks always brings something new to my baking and usually leads me to explore new flavor combinations or techniques. Julie Richardson brings old recipes to new life in her book Vintage Cakes. Her re-discovered treasure trove of old recipes left by the previous occupants of her Baker and Spice Bakery in Portland, OR, was put to use, as well as collecting books and suggestions from family, friends, and strangers alike.After updating, tweaking, revising, testing, and generally creating something new from something old, Richardson tailored old-time sweets for today’s palettes. You’ll find old-fashioned favorites such as Wacky Cake, The Harvy Wallbanger, and Blackout Cake.
Richardson’s commentary and research on the recipes are a treat throughout the book. A favorite recipe of mine from Vintage Cakes was her Shinny Cake – her take on the celebrated Lane Cake made famous by the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Her version has a filling made of toasted coconut, dried cherries, hazelnuts, and of course, bourbon.
Her ‘deconstructing’ old recipes and bringing them back to their former glory is appreciated. In her exploration, she discovered that some recipes started off as homemade but turned to commercial mixes when boxed cake mixes were all the rage in the late 1940s. She worked to bring them back to homemade using modern ingredients, and as she states in the introduction, ingredients that may be more wholesome and of a higher quality than those that were available in the early 1900s.
And while she mostly stays true to the original recipes, she shook things up and made some old recipes her own. The Italian Cream Cake is traditionally frosted with a sweet cream cheese frosting but she instead used a chocolate ganache enriched with toasted pecans.
Vintage Cakes is an old cookbook collector’s dream, not only for recipes that bring back memories, but for modernizing them using ingredients familiar in today’s kitchens. It’s always a treasure to serve something to a new generation that was honored a generation before you.
Book Information:
Yes, there is more than one way to mix a cake, and depending on the recipe and the resulting cake, it could be firm and dense, light and airy, or coarse and crumbly. Choosing the right recipe will enable you to choose the right cake for …read more
I get this question a lot, so I figured it would fit with the June theme for this blog – What is a dariole mold? A dariole mold is a small, round mold, and can be found by different retailers by the name of ‘aspic mold’ or ‘baba mold’. These …read more
The book contains all the basic recipes needed on any given day or holiday: Breakfast; Breads; Cookies & Bars; Cakes & Cupcakes; Pies & Tarts; and Custards & Souffles. The recipes include both sweet and savory treats. The author’s recipes are intermingled with notable contributors: Bakerella’s recipe for Mini Banana-Maple Pancake Muffins is included and Pearl Bakery’s Blueberry-Huckleberry Grand Marnier Tart makes you want to leave for Portland, OR, to try it first hand.
Besides the fun layout and photos, Home Baked Comfort has something else going for it: the recipes are uncomplicated and sound. Laidlow writes that the Chicken, Leek, and Wild Mushroom Potpies is ‘the gold standard for potpies’ and I have to agree. My favorite recipe is her Sour Cherry “Toaster” Tarts. I, too, am a child from the ’70’s, and I remember making a version with my grandmother.
For a reference baking book to have on hand, this would be hard to beat. Sound baking advice combined with really great photography and tasty recipes make this one to flip through, and work from, often.
Book Information:
; by Kim LaidlowDisclosure: This digital galley copy was provided to the author by the publisher. Any opinions are the author’s own.
I was eager to open the cover of the book as soon as I received it. The Sweets of Araby (Muna Salloum and Leila Salloum Elias, Countryman Press, 2011, ISBN: 9780881509298) is a beautifully illustrated pastry book interwoven with 25 tales of Scheherazade followed by a dessert. All …read more
November fell into place and went by quickly. December usually goes by fast, too. Stretch the holidays by making each day festive for the month of December. How to accomplish that? Here are some ideas for sharing cakes, cookies, confections, and candy, all relating to …read more
Vegan desserts are those that are obviously meatless and completely animal free. Vegan Pie in the Sky: 75 Out-of-this-World Recipes for Pies, Tarts, Cobblers, and More provides fun and tasty desserts for any diet.
Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero have teamed up again to produce Vegan Pie in the Sky. Their previous team works include the books: Veganomicon, Vecan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. They are also the backbone of the The Post Punk Kitchen.
Vegan Baking Tips Good for Non-Vegans, Too
I’m not vegan, but loved trying the recipes. Vegan Pie in the Sky gives great tips on ‘boozy’ pie crusts, or those containing vodka, and crusts made with solid coconut oil. I’m always looking for new ways to make pies and using coconut oil was new to me.
Vegan Pie in the Sky Chapters and Contents
The book is separated into two main parts: How to Create the Universe or Bake a Pie From Scratch; and The Recipes. Since this is a baking book focusing on fruit desserts and pies, pies, tarts, and cheesecakes are all covered as well as these popular fruit desserts: cobbler, betty, crisp, pandowdy, and buckle. For those looking for recipes, they give good, tested recipes in these chapters: Pie Crusts; Fruit Pies; Creamy Pies, Harvest Pies, Chocolate Pies, and A Few Toppings.
The Base and the Top
If you’ve never made a pie before in your life, the authors have documented the work over several pages with their steps:
These are true no mater what kind of pie your making or what ingredients are inside. The first section on pie crust also gives ideas on making the edges pretty and ways to top them. The last chapter offers different recipes for topping (and decorating the top of) vegan desserts. The featured recipe, ‘Rad Whip’, contains unroasted cashews and coconut milk, and sounds rich enough to satisfy any sweet tooth.
Recommended for Vegans and Non-Vegans
While this cookbook is obviously geared for vegans and those who would like to create desserts that are completely animal-free, this is also a good baking book on its own. The baking tips throughout the book on the subject of pies are sound, the color photos are appetizing, and most recipes use ingredients already found in many family pantries so sourcing out special ingredients is unnecessary.
Vegan baking isn’t just about recreating something out of tofu. Successful vegan baking begins with the vision of a great tasting dessert. Vegan Pie in the Sky shows readers that vegan baking can embody the use of fresh ingredients and finish them in a tantalizing way – that just happens to be completely animal-free.
Book Information:
Link to Amazon:
Vegan Pie in the Sky: 75 Out-of-This-World Recipes for Pies, Tarts, Cobblers, and More
Link to Publisher Detail Page with Author Links:
Vegan Pie in the Sky: Da Capo Press
The Healthy Baking Seminar closes on March 11, 2010 and will be held in Aneheim, CA at the convention center. http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=e01648be-5b38-43bf-927f-73112636f519 Agenda Speakers Cost
