The Cookbook Junkies

Surprise-Inside Cakes by Amanda Rettke is a the book you need when you want to take an ordinary cake and make it extraordinary. Amanda is the creative voice behind I Am Baker.  Check out her site for all kinds of delicious baked goods.

In this book, Amanda organizes the cakes in levels of difficuly – Easy, Medium and Challenging. Directions to make the cake on the cover plus dozens of others are included with step-by-step directions. For most of the cakes you need round cookie cutters, cake pans, decorating bags, tips (a few), an offset spatula and a knife — nothing too expensive or unusual.

There are directions for decorating cakes on the outside as well as making special designs on the inside. I have taken some cake decorating classes and can do the basics but I want to make a cake with Amanda’s rose design – it looks so professional. I’m not a fan of fondant so this book is perfect for me!

A few cakes that grabbed my attention — the Neopolitan Hi-Hat Cake, the Vintage Cake and the Ombre Cake — I love the attention to detail these cakes deliver.

GIVEAWAY:  Thanks to William Morrow, I have an extra copy of Amanda’s book for one of you!  The giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only. Please leave one comment here telling me about your favorite cake. A random winner will be chosen on July 13th. Winner is #4 Katrina — congratulations!

Good luck.

The links above will take you to Amanda’s site to show you how to do the rose design and the Hi-Hat Cake! Enjoy.

 

Kyotofu, Uniquely Delicious Japanese Desserts by Nicole Bermensolo is a breath of fresh air in a snickerdoodled filled world.  Not that there is anything wrong with snickerdoodles but it is so refreshing to find a dessert cookbook that provides us with wonderful new content. Nicole founded Kyotofu Bakery in 2006 in New York City and closed the bakery to focus on a wholesale operation to sell her products nationwide.  Not only are the recipes exciting but many of the ingredients used in these desserts carry nutritional benefits.  The author states that she lost over eighty pounds since she began eating Japanese desserts as a regular part of her diet. Bonus!

First off, Bermensolo provides us with a recipe for gluten-free flour that she states is better than anything else out there and uses this cup for cup blend for all their their gluten-free treats.  The recipes are then divided by ingredient: soy, miso, green tea, sesame, rice and yuzu.

There are so many wonderful looking recipes in this book and even a recipe for chocolate chunk cookies (no snickerdoodles though).  The standout recipes to me are Kinako Waffles with Chinese Five-Spice Cream, Warm Persimmon Mochi Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes with Shiro-an Cream, Matcha Creme Brulee, Tokyo Tiramisu, White Sesame Biscotti, Black Sesame Shortbread, Ginger “Okayu” Rice Pudding, Winter Citrus Tart, Yuzu Cheesecake and Nashi Pear Crumble.  Honestly, I could list every recipe – the photographs are beautiful and the recipes all sound delicious.

Thanks to Nicole and Running Press for sharing the recipe for the Yuzu Cheesecake, Shiro-an Cream, and Black Sesame Tuile.

Random Number Generator picked #19 Jean Cho – Jean please email your address to icywit@gmail.com

GIVEAWAY:  Special thanks to Running Press and Dalyn Miller Public Relations – who have offered one of you a copy of this fantastic cookbook.  The giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada!  Leave a comment here telling me the most exotic dessert you have ever eaten.  A random winner will be chosen on June 30th!  Good luck.

Do you see that pile of books?  My friends at Quarry Books, Fair Winds, RacePoint and Voyageur Press want to give FIVE of you a set of these books. Yes, all those books for FIVE of you!

I will share a little bit about a couple of the books and tell you how you can enter at the end of this post.

Global Meatballs

One of my favorites out of the stack! Who doesn’t love meatballs? This book by Adeline Myers covers every combination of meatballs from around the world, including vegetarian versions. Over 100 recipes.  Lamb and Apricot Meatballs, Green Kofta Curry and Japanese Yakitori Chicken Meatballs are a few favorites.

Artisan Cake Company’s Visual Guide to Cake Decorating is a wonderful book by Elizabeth Marek — full of recipes, photographs and step-by-step photographs and instructions to decorate stunning cakes.  If you want to improve your cake decorating technique this is the book for you.

The New Southern Table by Brys Stephens contains some classic Southern favorites revisited.  Red Rice, Chickpea, and Tomato Salad with Lemon, Cilantro, and Pecans and Chard, Walnut, and Gorgonzola Risotto are two recipes that I am looking forward to trying. The author adds a little international flair to Southern dishes throughout the book.

Surprise Cakes by Marsha Phipps is a delightful book with thirty five recipes for delicious cakes with step-by-step photographs to create these designs in your home kitchen. Cakes that contain zebra patterns and numbers are detailed in the book as well as cakes that surprise us with candy as we cut into them. A great book for any baker!

Homemade Sourdough will help you master the art and science of baking with starters and wild yeast with helpful suggestions for troubleshooting problems in your bread baking. The book includes recipes for waffles, breads, bagels, English muffins and more.

Random Number Generator picked #106 Allison C #9 Karen W #81 Mary Ann C #38 Teresa S and #142 John D — please e-mail your addresses to icywit@gmail.com – congratulations!

GIVEAWAY:  Five people will win a stack of these books!  To enter please leave a comment here by June 30th, telling me which book looks the most exciting to you.  The giveaway is open to US addresses only.  The publisher asks that if you are a winner that you attempt to leave a review on Amazon or BN.com for any of the books you would like to. Good luck!