• scparks on April 14, 2012

  This is SUCH a useful book and every recipe works. Having the photos at the front of the book gives you an idea when selecting a recipe. It is very helpful.

• spersall on March 22, 2010

  I love this cookbook. In fact when it came out in soft cover I purchased copies for every female in my family including a couple of nieces that were still in their teens. This is my go to book for quick, but amazing desserts.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Sour cream chocolate cupcakes with sour cream chocolate frosting

  • PennyG on November 02, 2013

    These are "cupcakes for adults." I say that because the sour cream frosting is not too sweet. Really nice!

• Applesauce spice cake

  • bching on April 06, 2018

    I followed the recipe except used black walnuts instead of pecans. Only okay--a fair amount of work and even though I used home made applesauce from homegrown organic apples and foraged walnuts, there was a strong artificial taste.

• Upside-down apple skillet cake

  • Tinala523 on March 30, 2025

    Easy and tasty! Used apples that were going soft and they were fine. Best if served warm; great with whipped cream.

• Old-fashioned prune cake with hot buttermilk glaze

  • jenmacgregor18 on September 04, 2022

    This was very moist. In fact, I had a little trouble getting it out of the pan. My glaze mostly travelled to the outside edges. If I made it again, to more evenly distribute it, I'd slowly pour over, reserving some to add to the middle of the cake as it is absorbed. But it very good, just the right amount of spice and not too sweet. My only changes: I used a regular buttery yellow cake mix , as I didn't have the pudding in-mix variety and I swapped cane syrup for corn syrup.

• Orange Dreamsicle cake

  • kateiscoooking on April 23, 2017

    This cake was good. But, I'd have used a cake tester and put holes in it and drizzled it with the glaze while it was hot. The glaze kicked it up a notch and would've been better distributed throughout the cake.

• Cannoli cake

  • kateiscoooking on March 06, 2017

    Made this for Greg's b'day. Tasted just like a cannoli. The crew devoured it. Wouldn't change a thing

• New York-style cheesecake

  • scparks on April 01, 2013

    pg. 224-225 Uses 9 x 13 inch baking pan and a plain white cake mix as base (adds butter and egg) for the crust. Easy for groups.

• Fresh peach pecan kuchen

  • Tinala523 on September 02, 2025

    This was a hit! Moist and tangy from the source cream. I goofed a put the peaches on before the first 10 min bake, so I needed to bake it longer. Can also use canned or frozen peaches. Will make again!

• Pina colada cake

  • MiChal.626 on October 14, 2013

    I couldn't get the coconut whipped cream to form any peaks, but it still tasted great.

• Apricot almond squares

  • Ducksinarose on July 19, 2023

    I used a Trader Joe's yellow cake mix (which was 1 lb of cake mix) and 12 oz Bonne Maman apricot preserve. I would recommend more preserves. The cake mix base and topping were grainy and overly sweet. I made this for a potluck but ended up throwing it away because the finished product tasted like grainy, overly sweet, delicate thing that is about to fall apart with crunch from the almonds.