The Cookbook Junkies

Judith Fertig, author of many wonderful books, has shared with us her newest releases — Bake Happy, a cookbook with “100 playful desserts with rainbow layers, hidden fillings, billowy frostings and more”  and The Cake Therapist, a novel about a “gifted baker starting all over in her old Midwestern hometown and layers it together with an intriguing mystery buried deep in the community’s Depression-era past”.

 

I just received these books on Friday and have not had a chance to dive into The Cake Therapist.

Bake Happy looks like a great baking book with recipes for the novice and more experienced baker.

The first chapter alone contains recipes for sauces and curds, plate paint, to create beautiful decorations on your dessert plates, homemade colored sprinkles, toffee glass slippers (hard caramel that can be broken into shards to decorate desserts) and more.

Some of the recipes that struck me as unique were Pandan Leaf Papaya with Sweet Coconut Cream, Blackberry Floating Islands with Orange-Szechuan Pepper Custard, Chitchat Bars (gluten free), Sweet Potato Crostata with Sugared Sage Leaves, Sweet Dumpling Tartlets with Maple Custard, Gooey Butter Bars with Passion Fruit Blueberries, Citrus and Browned Butter Madeleines with Burnt Honey Cream and Saffron Creme Brulee with Rosy Strawberry Compote.

After I spend more time with these books, I’ll be sure to share more details.  As the books were released today, I wanted to get this post up as soon as possible.  Please be sure to check out these two delicious books!

This is a first – RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR picked #1 — Joan Osborne!  Congratulations – please send your address to icywit@gmail.com – thank you.

GIVEAWAY:  Judith is offering one of you a chance to win both of her newly published books.  This offer is open to U.S. addresses only.  To enter leave a comment here by June 17th when a random winner will be chosen.  Good luck!

 

I had the pleasure of writing about Honey & Jam for TasteBook.  My write up can be found here.

RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR PICKED #9 – Tom Schutta — Tom please e-mail your address to icywit@gmail.com

Special thanks to Abrams who is offering one of you a copy of this fabulous book.  Please leave one comment here telling me your favorite summer fruit to bake with.  The giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only.  A random winner will be chosen on June 15, 2015.  Good luck!

I was not prepared to love A Modern Way to Eat but I do.  What is happening to me – all this love for these vegetarian cookbooks?  I’m growing up.  And worse yet – the majority of this book is vegan in nature.  The horror.

Yes, the cover is deceiving.  Do not judge this book by its cover.  It is loaded with gorgeous photos and delicious tempting recipes. I particularly love how Jones’ gives us a recipe and then myriad variations on that recipe.  One soup —  thousand variations.  Hummus – several options and so on.  The author shares a flow chart of how she creates a recipe — the hero ingredient, different ways to cook it, add an accent, a flavor, an herb, some crunch and more. It’s  great way to approach changing the way we cook.

The first page I landed on was the recipe for Maple Peanut California Wraps.  This looked so tempting and even if you didn’t want to use tempeh — you could sub a protein of your choice.  That is what is wonderful about this book. You can use your imagination and personal tastes to create something you and your family would enjoy from her basic recipe.  My husband would rather eat a bug than tempeh – so I will sub chicken but use Jones’ overall recipe.

The Butternut Squash and Kale Tart looked delicious and the author gives you a good gluten free recipe for the crust as an alternative.   Cashew and Chestnut Sausages sound promising.  Double Greens and Phyllo Pie – another winner. The recipe for Mac and Greens without cheese perfect for vegans and non-vegans.   Most of the recipes are vegan but some contain butter and eggs.  It’s up to you how you approach this book.

I am neither a vegan nor a vegetarian.  I am attempting, though thwarted by my husband’s lack of enthusiasm for vegetables and fruits, to cook more in this style — ninety percent of this book’s recipes appeal to me and I cannot wait to make them for my son and myself.

Thanks Blogging for Books for this review.