The Messy Baker: More Than 75 Delicious Recipes from a Real Kitchen


Charmian Christie - 2014
    The Messy Baker celebrates baking as it happens in the real world—sweet, messy, fun, not always gorgeous, but a way to show love. Which doesn't make it any less delicious; to the contrary, Charmian Christie's flavor combinations rise far above the ordinary. Why have a raspberry galette when you can enjoy a raspberry-rhubarb galette with drippy, unctuous walnut frangipane? Or how about a Brie and walnut whiskey tart? It's all yours without the rigid perfectionism or complicated instructions of other gourmet cookbooks.Christie's warm, irreverent voice brings the fun back into baking at a time when home cooks—pulled from pillar to post by jobs and errands—need to have fun. The Messy Baker is a full-service book that not only guides the reader through simple, delicious recipes but is also there to help out when things go wrong. For anyone who gave in frustration when that cake collapsed or the frosting smeared, Christie's practical advice is here to rescue even the worst disaster and inspire the baker to try the next recipe.

The Big Book of Soups and Stews: 262 Recipes for Serious Comfort Food


Maryana Vollstedt - 2001
    From a hot and hearty stew for a cold night to a cool, refreshing Vichyssoise for a sizzling afternoon, there's a recipe here for every occasion. Also included are nostalgic classics (like everyone's favorite Chicken Noodle Soup) as well as innovative new creations inspired by the cuisines of the world--from Thai Ginger Chicken to Mexican Seafood. With a wonderful selection of quick bread recipes and a crockpot full of tips and hints to help soup-makers hone their skills, The Big Book of Soups and Stews is the ultimate one-stop comfort food cookbook.

Bringing It Home: Favorite Recipes from a Life of Adventurous Eating


Gail Simmons - 2017
    Gail Simmons is a beloved figure in the food world who has been a popular judge on Top Chef, the number-one rated food show on cable television since its inception. In Bringing It Home, Simmons shares her best recipes and food experiences. From her travels, exploring global flavors and keeping detailed diaries, to her Top Chef culinary adventures with the world's most notable chefs, she is always asking: "How can I bring this dish home to my own kitchen?" Her goal is to make fabulous recipes using accessible ingredients and smart, simple cooking techniques for successful family meals and easy entertaining. From Bloody Mary Eggs to Christmas Brisket Fried Rice; from Summer Vegetable Salad with Charred Lime Vinaigrette to Banana-Cardamom Upside Down Cake with Salty Caramel, there is a recipe for everyone in the family. Simmons also shares ingredient tips, cooking techniques, and many informative "Snippets," as well as personal and behind-the-scenes stories that will appeal to fans and food lovers everywhere.

The All-American Cookie Book


Nancy Baggett - 2001
    She combed through community cookbooks and searched out long-lost heirloom recipes, sure-handedly reworking every recipe in her own kitchen. THE ALL-AMERICAN COOKIE BOOK celebrates regional gems from every corner of the country: Pennsylvania Dutch Soft Sugar Cookies, New York Black and Whites, New Mexican Biscochitos, Key Lime Frosties from Florida, and Mocha Espresso Wafers from Seattle. A sophisticated hazelnut chocolate sandwich cookie that was the closely guarded secret of an Oregon hostess is here, and so is a delightfully crisp (and easy to roll out) old-fashioned gingerbread cookie recreated from a handwritten 1880 notebook. Homespun classics abound: Chocolate Whoopie Pies, Caramel Apple Crumb Bars, Chocolate Chunk Brownies, and Caramel-Frosted Brown Sugar Drops. The collection also features devastatingly delicious contemporary creations like Chewy Chocolate Chunk Monster Cookies and Cranberry-Cherry Icebox Ribbons. For children and adults alike, one of the most exciting chapters will be the lavishly illustrated “Cookie Decorating and Crafts,” which includes everything from simple projects like Christmas cookies and Chocolate Gingerbread Bears to an elaborate gingerbread house. As Nancy Baggett tells the story of America’s heritage, she slips in fascinating bits of history, showing the evolution of our homegrown baking traditions.

Duff Bakes: Think and Bake Like a Pro at Home


Duff Goldman - 2014
    Inside you’ll find the perfect muffin recipe to eat straight while waiting for your morning bus, an easy pizza dough recipe for a quick weeknight dinner, and cookie recipes for every occasion. Filled with Duff’s engaging earthiness and hilarious personality, Duff Bakes includes chapters on different types of pastry dough, a variety of cookies, brownies, muffins, bread, biscuits, pies, cakes and cake decorating, gluten-free and vegan desserts, and much more.Duff provides 130 recipes for a diverse range of goodies, including nutter butter cookies, white chocolate blondies, apple streusel muffins, cereal bars, bacon jalapeno biscuits, banana bourbon cream pie, zucchini lemon cake, and savory bread pudding. Here are a few classics as well, like a re-make of the childhood favorite, Twinkies. Duff Bakes will help both novices and seasoned bakers master the best, most delicious home baked goods, build on their baking successes, hone their skills, and understand the science behind the fundamentals of baking.

Home Cooking


Rachel Allen - 2009
    From school run to bedtime, Rachel has suggestions that even the fussiest eater will love. Treat your loved-ones to nourishing, delicious food with this indispensable, inspirational recipe collection full of wise words, clever hints and tips and, above all, Rachel's irresistible recipes.CHAPTER BREAKDOWN– Breakfast & Brunch– Lunch– Sunday Lunch– Supper– Snacks and treats– Baby Food– Desserts– Sweets– Basics– Plus handy sections explaining meal planning, home freezing, healthy eating and much more!Rachel Allen was brought up in Dublin and at the age of eighteen left to study at the prestigious Ballymaloe Cookery School. Today, she not only teaches at the school, she also writes regular features for national publications, presents highly acclaimed television programmes which have been broadcast internationally and in her spare time authors bestselling cookery books.

Cake Confidence


Mandy Merriman - 2019
    THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE IN LIFE, AND THERE’S NO BETTER WAY TO CELEBRATE THAN WITH SOME DECADENT, MOUTHWATERING CAKE!NO MATTER YOUR CONFIDENCE IN BAKING, Mandy Merriman—the Blondie of the popular blog Baking with Blondie—is here to help you think outside the cakebox and create easy, delicious, beautiful cakes that you’ll definitely want to show off.WITH OVER 50 CAKE AND FROSTING RECIPES, you’re sure to find the perfect cake for any summer extravaganza, neighborhood bake-off, or cozy holiday retreat with flavors including• Hot-Fudge Sundae• Maple Cinnamon• Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter• Brown Butter Banana Salted Caramel• Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry• Cotton Candy• Fruity Pebbles• Caramel Apple Cider• Neapolitan• And more!SO DUST OFF YOUR APRON, mixer, and piping bags and get ready to create some buttercream joy!

Dessert for Two: Small-Batch Sweets for One, Two, or a Few


Christina Lane - 2015
    Finding the willpower to resist extra slices of cake can be difficult; the battle between leftover cookies and a healthy breakfast is over before it started. Until now. Dessert for Two takes well-loved desserts and scales them down to make only two servings. Cakes are baked in small pans and ramekins. Pies are baked in small pie pans or muffin cups. Cookie recipes are scaled down to make 1 dozen or fewer. Your favorite bars: brownies, blondes, and marshmallow cereal treats are baked in a bread loaf pan - which happily serves two when cut down the middle. Newly married couples (and empty-nesters) will be particularly enthralled with this miniature dessert guide. To everyone who lives alone: have your own personal-sized cake and eat it, too.

Cakes to Dream On: A Master Class in Decorating


Colette Peters - 2004
    The ingenious cake decorator - whose miraculous and luscious concoctions have appeared everywhere from White House Christmases to royal weddings - presents a master class in cake design and decoration, alongside an all-new selection of her own cake designs. With Cakes to Dream On, Colette's inspired creations can now be rendered into show-stopping cakes of your own.Cakes to Dream On reveals the secrets to fashioning gorgeous and utterly distinctive cakes for all occasions - whether it's an opulent marriage reception (the majestic Ivory Wedding Cake) or a fanciful children's party (the whimsical Homage to Dr. Seuss). Colette presents designs for cake architecture ranging from the imperial splendor of Dolce de Medici, to the elegant grace of Bride's Vintage Cameo, to the topsy-turvy daydream of Mad Tea Party.Colette begins with the foundations: she illuminates step by step the process of constructing a multitiered cake, from determining serving sizes and choosing appropriate cake pans to making fillings, and ultimately stacking layers so they don't tumble off the table. Cakes to Dream On also discloses insider tricks of the trade: Colette's easy-to-follow instructions in techniques such as sugarwork, gumpaste, brush embroidery, and piping will help readers recreate the spectacular effects of this singular confectioner's toolbox.Bakers - and their enthusiastic audiences - will discover that these sensual masterpieces tantalize the palate as much as they do the eye. Colette's cake recipes include the Coco-Loco Cake, an alluring marriage of coconut and coffee; the Meringue Buttercream and its luscious lemon, raspberry, and mocha variants; and the ambrosial caramel-tinged Heavenly White Cake.As breathtaking as Colette's cake works appear, her clear explanations of technique are meant to stimulate readers' creative instincts and give them ideas for crafting their own distinctive confections. With more than 150 dazzling full-color photographs illustrating both processes and finished presentations, and more detailed instruction than ever before, Cakes to Dream On will inspire readers to create their own mouthwatering masterpieces. Colette's master class is truly a launchpad for cake lovers' own confectionary visions.

Gooseberry Patch: Christmas All Through the House: Over 600 Holiday Recipes, Cheery Crafts and Easy-to-Make Gifts fo r Flurries of Fun!


Gooseberry Patch - 2006
    In the largest Christmas book every published by Gooseberry Patch, readers will find the best of their reader-shared homespun ideas for food, fun, easy crafts, and gifts in one easy-to-use collection. The book's grand size and bountiful content put this all-in-one Christmas book in a league of its own. You'll enjoy: * Over 400 tried & true reader recipes for meals, desserts, snacks, drinks, and more, plus over 200 gifts from the heart--Gooseberry Patch style!* Over 200 craft ideas that include patterns and step-by-step instructions entice you to stitch, glue, and paint to your heart's content.* Over 400 see & do color photos and spiral binding make it easy to use.

The Sweetapolita Bakebook: 75 Fanciful Cakes, Cookies & More to Make & Decorate


Rosie Alyea - 2015
     The world of Sweetapolita is sparkly and sprinkly and charming as can be, with 75 recipes for everything from pretty homemade cookies to decadent layer cakes. But what really sets these treats apart are interactive designs that let everyone in on the fun of decorating: Painted Mini Cakes are served with edible "paint" for guests to personalize at the table, the fondant-covered tiered Chalk-a-Lot cake is paired with homemade edible "chalk," and Rainbow Doodle cookies are made for kids to go to town on with edible markers.  Rosie Alyea, the creator of the Sweetapolita blog, frolics in flour and frosting, and she loves to get her two young daughters involved, too. The pages of her debut book are full of playful ideas that will inspire creativity in bakers of all levels—including a recipe for making sprinkles at home and numerous ways to showcase them, such as the Sprinkle-Me-Silly Pizza with rainbow jimmies and nonpareils galore.  With 75 full-color photographs of cookies, cakes, and more plus step-by-step technique tutorials, The Sweetapolita Bakebook will change the way bakers decorate, while entertaining every kid—and kid-at-heart.

Baking with the Cake Boss: 100 of Buddy's Best Recipes and Decorating Secrets


Buddy Valastro - 2011
    With more than 100 of his most sought-after recipes, including birthday and holiday cakes and other special theme designs, this book is a master course that culminates in the showstopping cakes for which Carlo’s Bake Shop is famous. Following the arc of Buddy’s career from apprentice to master baker, Baking with the Cake Boss offers readers the same on-the-job education earned by everyone who comes to work at Carlo’s Bake Shop, with some of Buddy’s and the family’s memories shared along the way. It builds organically from simple cookies and pastries to pies, flower-adorned cupcakes, and basic fondant cakes, to breathtaking cakes for every holiday and special occasion. And, as you progress from basics to bedazzlements—like the safari cake complete with chocolate animals and a waterfall—Buddy shares his inspiring enthusiasm and stories from the shop in his inimitable voice. He also provides the tools for creating your own personal trademark cakes, with a chart that lets you mix and match cake, frosting, and liqueur syrup for cakes the way you like them. And there are plenty of photos that illustrate artistic flourishes and decorations you can use to adorn your individual creations. With 650 gorgeous, step-by-step instructional photos that let you follow Buddy as if you were next to him in the bakery, Baking with the Cake Boss is an incomparable dessert education that will become an essential reference for aspiring and skilled bakers alike. Bursting with delicious, tried-and-true recipes, how-to boxes and sidebars, and numerous tricks of the trade, Baking with the Cake Boss is a rare treat—a fun, accessible guide to baking, all in a gloriously designed, fully illustrated package worthy of the Cake Boss’s artistic vision.

Edible DIY: Simple, Giftable Recipes to Savor and Share


Lucy Baker - 2012
    Based on the popular Serious Eats column by the same name, Edible DIY includes 75 recipes divided into five chapters: Crunchy, Boozy, Sweet, Spicy, and Jars. With plenty of packaging tips throughout, Edible DIY is the perfect solution for making inexpensive edible gifts in your own kitchen with everything from Chocolate-Peppermint Marshmallows and Coconut Granola to Homemade Sriracha and Espresso Barbeque Sauce. Illustrated with inspirational full-color photography throughout.

The Slow Cook Book


Heather Whinney - 2011
    Meat will be gloriously tender, flavors will combine beautifully - and all with minimal attention from the cook. This book celebrates slow cooking in all its forms. Its 200 recipes range from typical slow-cook fare - hearty, warming stews and pot roasts - to more surprising inclusions such as cakes and bakes. Acknowledging the different ways of approaching slow cooking, it contains two methods for each recipe: one using an electric crockpot, the other using a combination of traditional pots, pans, stovetop, and oven. A practical introduction demonstrates techniques step-by-step and provides information on key ingredients and how to use them for the best results. Find everything you need to become a slow-cook expert in this attractive, but great-value, technique resource and recipe book.

The Rosie's Bakery All-Butter, Cream-Filled, Sugar-Packed Baking Book: Over 300 Irresistibly Delicious Recipes


Judy Rosenberg - 2011
    When you want that real homemade flavor, from-scratch frosted layer cakes, brownies that taste like brownies, and cookies that taste like the ones your grandma used to make, only real ingredients will do: real butter, real cream, real chocolate, and lots of it. That’s how Rosie’s has been baking its award-winning treats for over thirty years, and why the Rosie’s Bakery All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed, No-Holds-Barred Baking Book won an IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award. Now, that book and the follow-up—Rosie’s Bakery Chocolate-Packed, Jam-Filled, Butter-Rich, No-Holds-Barred Cookie Book—are back, updated, revised, and combined into one super recipe collection.Packed with more than 300 irresistible recipes—more than 40 never before published—from Judy Rosenberg, owner of Rosie’s Bakery, the famous chain of New England bake shops that has won numerous Best of Boston awards, The Rosie’s Bakery All-Butter, Cream-Filled, Sugar-Packed Baking Book is for holidays, birthdays, pick-me-ups, the cookie jar, bake sales—when only genuine homemade goodness will do.Fabulous cakes and cupcakes: Lemon Coconut Layer Cake, Velvet Underground Cake, Chocolate Custard Sponge Roll, Sour Cherry Fudge Cake, Coconut Pecan Oatmeal Cake, Maya’s Little Butter Cupcakes, and Coconut Fluff Babycakes. Delectable cookies and bars: Pecan Crunchies, Fresh Ginger Crisps, Dagwoods, Honeypots, Noah Bedoahs. Plus the unspeakably delicious Chocolate Orgasms, and more.