Features
Ring-bound: 414 pages
Publisher: Better Homes and Gardens; Lslf edition September 15, 1998
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0696207990
ISBN-13: 978-0696207990
Product Dimensions:
9.9 x 8.5 x 2.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
With an excellent section on bread baking and a few scattered recipes for savory baked goods, this collection of 600 recipes remains mostly a celebration of American desserts, offering a glimpse into the kitchens and dining rooms of middle America from the 1930s to the present. The quirky, but surprisingly effective, organization underscores the point: the section "Old Fashioned Desserts" features vintage recipes from the magazine, the Apple-Cherry Pandowdies, Blackberry Cobblers and Baked Custards of our grandparents' Sunday dinners. The abundance of cheesecake recipes (18 in all, including a Cafe Au Lait variation) conjure up 1970s dinner parties, while "Spectacular Desserts" includes a Della Robbia Fruit Tart and Olive Oil Genoise in Strawberry Champagne Sauce. Pies and tarts, cakes, cookies and bars, and quick breads get their fair share of attention. Selected recipes in each section are tagged "best loved," "low fat" and "easy." Each recipe comes with a complete breakout of nutritional information, and the 270 photographs illustrating how-to basics are especially helpful. Occasionally recipes are broken into steps somewhat arbitrarily; readers will do well to read through the instructions before beginning their work. With its characteristic perky, can-do spirit, this comprehensive collection will appeal to anyone with a soft spot for American desserts. 125,000 first printing.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
Delicious recipes tested in the Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen.Ring-bound format capitalizes on the popularity of the best-selling New Cook Book.
Tabbed chapter dividers, each with a full-page photo and an index for the chapter.
Baking Basics chapter provides short course for novices, a good refresher for experienced cooks.
Includes chapters on baking reliables: Cakes, Pies and Tarts, Yeast Breads, Quick Breads, and Cookies.
Specialty chapters such as Baking with Kids, Holiday Classics, Spectacular Desserts, and Old-Fashioned Desserts meet the needs of a variety of readers.
Provides extensive baking tips, question-and-answer boxes, and descriptive recipe copy throughout.
Gives preparation time and nutritional information for each recipe.
Designates Easy, Best-Loved, and Low-Fat recipes.
Reader Reviews
This would be the perfect cookbook for a young cook who is ready to move beyond chocolate chip cookies and on to more diverse baking. The editors have provided a solid review of the fundamentals about techiniques and ingredients, some of which are demonstrated in photographs. The recipes are well organized. Each section - cakes, pastry, pies, cookies, etc. - progresses from basic recipes to more complex offerings. A particularly nice feature is a nutritional analysis for each recipe, even though you may not want to know the calorie count for some of the more decadent desserts. There are some relatively more sophisticated recipes, but experienced bakers with a good cooking library may not find this book particularly enlightening. However, the sections on cooking with and for kids are very original and look like lots of fun. I can hardly wait to bake the castle birthday cake for my niece's next birthday!
Comment | Permalink |
(Report this)
