The Pastry Queen: Royally Good Recipes from the Texas Hill Country's Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman

    • Categories: Bread & buns, sweet; Afternoon tea; Breakfast / brunch
    • Ingredients: potatoes; active dry yeast; butter; unbleached white flour; pecans; ground cinnamon; confectioner's sugar; light brown sugar
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Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Eddie's autumn pumpkin bread with pecan streusel topping

    • kristin_5ozmq7 on June 02, 2026

      I make this every year to signal that fall has arrived. Completely delicious especially when you take her suggestion to use half whole wheat flour.

  • Apple-smoked bacon and cheddar scones

    • rionafaith on September 22, 2016

      These weren't quite as great as I expected them to be.... not bacony or cheesy enough for my taste, and quite dry, even for scones. Others seemed to like these more though.

    • aeb on August 29, 2024

      More of a biscuit texture/vibe than a scone. IMO, the bacon needs to be in big pieces and not overly cooked. As always, scones (like biscuits) will be greatly affected by the way the butter is handled and whether or not the dough is overworked. These are peppery, so reduce if you don't want that. For my taste I'd like them to have an herb or something to cut the brown-food-vibe. Maybe served with sundried tomato butter or tomato jam? Otherwise 5 stars.

  • Bourbon pumpkin tart with streusel topping

    • rionafaith on July 01, 2016

      p. 38 -- I'm not sure what I did wrong when I made this, as I followed the recipe exactly, but unfortunately all the streusel topping sank to the bottom and mixed with the pumpkin custard.

  • Fredericksburg peach cream cheese tart

    • djnielsen64 on August 11, 2023

      Turned out really well. I used a combo of nectarines and peaches from my local produce box and just chopped them all up instead of placing halves as the recipe is written.

  • Chef Mark's Southern Comfort apple pie

    • rionafaith on July 01, 2016

      p. 53 -- Probably the best apple pie I've tried, though it does take a few more steps than most. Deliciously boozy and the streusel topping is great.

  • Hill Country peach cobblers

    • debrakp on March 05, 2017

      Easy and delicious. The browned butter makes it even tastier than a standard peach cobbler.

  • Tuxedo cake

    • debrakp on March 05, 2017

      A classy looking special occasion cake. Good chocolate flavor with decadent whipped cream icing and dark chocolate drizzle make this a great dessert to impress.

  • Peach Queen cake with dulce de leche buttercream frosting

    • debrakp on March 05, 2017

      A big cake with peach preserves, pecans, and a caramel frosting. Very Texan and very good.

  • Texas pecan pie bars

    • rionafaith on July 01, 2016

      p. 145 -- This recipe makes a TON of bars. But they were pretty good!

  • Rather rich corn muffins

    • ebs on January 29, 2020

      I was a bit disappointed in these corn muffins. Even though I reduced the sugar and used a locally milled cornmeal, they were really more of a rich muffin with a vague cornmeal taste.

  • Texas tortilla soup

    • MiChal.626 on October 14, 2013

      I often make this with canned tomatoes and a rotisserie chicken, boiling the bones and skin for the soup stock.

  • Maple-glazed oatmeal cookies

    • jimandtammyfaye on April 15, 2022

      These were good, but I prefer Midwest Made's glazed oatmeal cookie recipe. If I made this recipe again, I would use milk instead of heavy cream in the glaze. Metric measurements are not included, but I followed King Arthur Flour's recommendations.

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  • ISBN 10 1607741377
  • ISBN 13 9781607741374
  • Published May 25 2011
  • Format eBook
  • Language English
  • Countries United States
  • Publisher Ten Speed Press
  • Imprint Ten Speed Press

Publishers Text

Rebecca Rather takes the best of the Lone Star State - pecans, peaches, pralines, chiles, dulce de leche, German sausage--and turns out treats that taste like home, only better than anything homemade ever tasted before. There are the Bacon-Cheddar Scones, the Texas High Hairs Tarts (the only big hair Rather has ever had!), Fourth-of-July's Fried Pies, Turbo-Charged Brownies with Praline Topping, and pillowy Kolaches (yeasted buns with savory fillings).

Self-taught, Rather's 150 utterly original recipes reflect her made-with-love-from-scratch philosophy and are guaranteed to get everyone fixin' to bake.



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