Notes about Recipes in this book

• Lemon drop snaps

  • Avocet on March 02, 2022

    These are absolutely great! Very crisp, nice lemon flavor. The silicone mat works great for getting them thin. Kept in an airtight container, they taste even better the second day as the lemon flavor develops more.

• White and milk chocolate mousse cake

  • MollyB on June 13, 2022

    This was one of the best cakes I've made. The flavor was great and I like that most of it could be done ahead of time. I made it for my son's birthday on a camping trip, and it held up to being transported in a camper fridge over a bumpy road, thanks to the springform pan. (But making the final dark chocolate ganache at high altitude was a challenge!) Trimming the cake to make the edges look pretty was hard - I failed at trimming in an even circle, and my cake ended up a bit too small with messy edges. But no one complained, since it tasted so good!

  • Zosia on March 19, 2019

    Fabulous cake! My husband requested a birthday cake that was more frosting than cake - this was my workaround. He loved it. Everyone loved it. It was incredibly light and completely delicious. I don't have an 8" spring form pan so I didn't trim the sides from the cake. Instead, I assembled it in a 9" pan and used a strip of acetate to contain the mousse.

• Banana rum truffle tart

  • MollyB on May 02, 2019

    Fabulous dessert! I made it for a birthday dessert, and everyone loved it. A fair number of steps, and waiting between those steps, but the final result was delicious and not too sweet. All the flavors blended beautifully, and the banana flavor was not too prominent. I wasn't sure if I got the whipped cream/mascarpone topping right, but it tasted good. (How exactly is mascarpone supposed to behave when whipped? Like regular cream, or not? The recipe didn't give guidance on this.)

• Cinnamon swirl crumble-topped ricotta coffee cake

  • chawkins on March 25, 2019

    This cake is delicious but uses a large amount of sugar, butter and ricotta. I think I'll stay with my usual sour cream coffee cake so I won't feel too guilty consuming it.

  • Shannoncooks17 on April 01, 2020

    I had extra ricotta on hand and wanted to find a dessert to make. This was it! Fabulous. No changes to the recipe and it was even better the next couple days. Large pan so it would be good for a crowd. Will make this again!

  • Zosia on October 29, 2016

    Fabulous! Between the cake flour and the ricotta cheese, this was the fluffiest, most tender cake of this type that I've made, and I've tried many recipes. I included the optional cocoa in the streusel filling and, along with the cinnamon topping, it complemented the cake nicely. The crumb topping was a little sandy in texture; I prefer a bit more crunch.

  • mamacrumbcake on October 03, 2019

    OMG! Melt in your mouth tender. I’ve never had a coffee-cake, perhaps not any cake, with this lovely, soft crumb. It is soft, but it is not gummy or mushy. Really perfect. I love the three textures: crunchy, crumbly streusel, gooey, chocolatey and cinnamony swirl, and soft, tender cake. Really straightforward to make and the batter comes together like a dream. I might add nuts (pecans or walnuts) next time just because I love them.

• Whole-wheat soda bread with pistachios and apricots

  • chawkins on March 21, 2023

    I made the traditional variation with caraway seeds and raisins. Not too sweet and a very nice crust. Dough was very wet and sticky.

  • Zosia on March 23, 2017

    I made this without the apricots and we loved the texture and the whole wheat flavour but next time, I'll reduce the sugar by half as we prefer it less sweet.

• Mile-high Parmesan-chive buttermilk biscuits

  • Zosia on November 16, 2016

    The dough didn't look particularly promising but the biscuits rose to an impressive height and were tender and flaky in texture with great flavor.

• Mushroom chicken sausage frittata

  • Zosia on January 16, 2017

    A good way to use up some odd bits of cooked food I had in the fridge (pasta, mushrooms and sausage). I did think it a little greasy, probably because of my choice of sausage, but no one else found it so. The Worcestershire and hot sauces really added extra oomph to this fairly basic frittata, something I'll have to remember when I make others.

• Peach-studded muffins

  • Zosia on August 01, 2016

    The light, moist muffin was the perfect vehicle for peaches and I loved the technique of lightly mashing the chopped fruit so that some of its juice became part of the liquid ingredients rather than forming a gummy pocket around each piece during baking. I think the muffin can handle more fruit and will increase the amount next time by at least 1/4 cup/30g. I made 10 muffins and could easily have stretched the batter to make another 2.

• Double cranberry orange bread

  • Zosia on January 26, 2017

    Made using the muffin mixing method - wet ingredients folded into dry, no machine required - this was easy to make and resulted in a moist cake that was particularly delicious thanks to the tart fresh cranberries that brightened the flavour.

• Crumble-topped banana walnut scones

  • Zosia on July 17, 2016

    These were fantastic! Tender, not too sweet with good banana flavour and a crunchy crumb topping that made them just a bit more special. And I appreciated that the author provided the weight of the bananas with and without peel.

• Double chocolate espresso wake-up bread

  • Zosia on October 29, 2016

    This was a deliciously moist mocha-flavoured bread. The crumb was fine and light and more cake-like than bread-like. I baked it as a loaf and it took 65 minutes in my oven. The glaze looked pretty but really didn't add anything to the cake.

• Blueberry Dutch baby

  • Zosia on June 28, 2020

    This turned out well. I was tempted to add more blueberries but left as per the recipe; the ratio of fruit to pancake was just right. Unexpectedly, the blueberries rose to the surface of the pancake.

• Chunky oatmeal peanut butter sandwiches

  • Zosia on May 04, 2017

    These are the best peanut butter cookies I've ever had. Inspired by Girl Scout Do-si-dos, a cookie I've never had the pleasure of tasting, they consist of crunchy-chewy, peanutty oatmeal cookies sandwiched together with a silky peanut butter filling. My yield was off - 23 instead of 34 sandwiches - though I used a 1 tbsp cookie scoop as instructed. Using the same scoop, the filling amount was perfect for the number of cookies I made.

• Big-time orange angel food cake with winter fruit compote

  • Zosia on January 26, 2017

    Light and ethereal with orange flavour permeating every crumb. I used half the superfine sugar (100g) and served the cake with segments from the oranges that had donated their zest rather than the tropical fruit salad. Next time I'll scale the recipe up to use 16 egg whites so the slices don't look quite so squat.

• Mom's lemony roll cake with blueberry goat cheese filling and crushed blueberry sauce

  • Zosia on December 05, 2016

    Really lovely and elegant dessert comprising an airy, lemony sponge cake and creamy filling subtly flavoured with goat's cheese. I used frozen berries and only half the sugar for the sauce so it took a little longer to cook the liquid down to a syrupy consistency.

• Banana-nut sour cream sheet cake with double chocolate velvet frosting

  • Zosia on March 18, 2021

    Simple in appearance but very rich and decadent. The frosting had a wonderful silky consistency and high gloss finish but was extremely buttery - too buttery. The cake portion was good but I've made others less rich and with better banana flavour. I reduced the white sugar by 80g.

• Snow white layer cake with strawberry mascarpone frosting

  • Zosia on March 09, 2017

    A lovely special occasion cake that's worth the time and effort required. Flavoured with a reduced strawberry puree, the mascarpone cream frosting had a good fruity flavour but was quite rich as was the moist vanilla butter cake. The strawberry compote was a nice accompaniment that added a fresh component to the dessert. I made a half recipe baked in 6" pans which served 9.

• Sparkling spice pinwheels

  • Zosia on October 11, 2018

    Delicious cinnamon-forward cookies that were surprisingly easy to make thanks to a very cooperative sugar cookie dough.

• Big-bite blondie squares

  • Zosia on January 19, 2017

    Even made with almonds and white chocolate baking chips, these were fabulous. According to family who's declared these the best ever, they were everything a blondie should be with a sweet caramel flavour, crackly top, chewy centre and crunchy nuts. I baked them in a slightly larger 9" square pan but the baking time was as per the recipe.

  • bching on July 11, 2020

    I don't need another blondie recipe. These are perfection.

  • mamacrumbcake on November 29, 2021

    Really nice blondie, chewy, with crackly crust. I made it in an 8x8 pan and baked for 44 minutes. Maybe next time bake for another minute or two. The white chocolate macadamia version is sweet. It might benefit from a little more salt.

• Sparkling coffee-marbled bundt cake

  • Zosia on November 30, 2016

    Mine was not so sparkling - I used an intricately shaped bundt pan and wanted to make sure the cake released so skipped the sugar coating - but it will be next time, and there will definitely be a next time since this was another winning recipe from this book. The coffee was such a nice change from chocolate and it balanced well with the vanilla portion. The cake was firm and finely crumbed like a pound cake, very moist and quite rich, easily serving 16-20, but just a little too sweet (perhaps a reduction in sugar of 50g?). I used unbleached cake flour.

• Cinnamon swirl bundt cake

  • Zosia on April 18, 2022

    Excellent cake. Cinnamon and vanilla flavours were balanced and cake had a tight but tender crumb. I reduced sugar to 300g.

• Toasted walnut maple chiffon cake

  • Zosia on November 02, 2016

    Delicious! Between the maple syrup and the maple sugar, this cake packs a lot of maple flavour and the cake is moist and spongy - not rubbery - as it should be. The crunchy walnuts add another dimension to it and though it seems like a small amount, there's a piece or two in every bite. The crumb has the potential to be even more tender with the right flour; bleached cake flour is pretty much impossible to find here now so I used a bleached cake & pastry blend that's widely available. I'll try it with unbleached cake flour next time to see if that makes a difference.

• Creamy peanut butter-filled devil's food cupcakes with milk chocolate ganache

  • Zosia on March 09, 2017

    The 3 components, which are good but not outstanding on their own, come together to make a really delicious, moist cupcake with a good balance of chocolate and peanut flavours.

• Peach-almond galette

  • Zosia on August 22, 2018

    Absolutely delicious galette with a good ratio of fresh tasting peaches (550g) to flaky crust. The layer of frangipane added lovely almond flavour and did an excellent job of absorbing the juice. I served it with lemon ice cream.

• Sweet potato bread

  • Zosia on January 12, 2017

    Moist and rich tasting and despite it's fine dense crumb, very light in texture with sweet potato lending its fragrance and colour, but not its flavour. I omitted the pumpkin seeds, added 1 tbsp chopped rosemary and shaped the dough into 125g buns (which were much too large!). They were perfect for our post Christmas turkey sandwiches.

• Pretzels

  • Zosia on May 04, 2017

    These had a delicious malty flavour but they weren't very chewy. With different shaping, they would make wonderful sandwich rolls.

• Rich and delicious dinner rolls

  • Zosia on October 29, 2016

    Super light and airy - and rich and delicious - they almost upstaged the turkey at our recent Thanksgiving dinner. The dough was soft and sticky, and enriched with butter, sugar and egg yolks, resembled brioche but was much easier and less time-consuming to make. Note that with 1 less egg yolk, a little more flour and sugar, and no egg wash, the linked recipe is different from the book recipe.

  • Joyceeong on July 04, 2017

    Soft and airy, delicious! The dough is very easy to work with ; smooth, soft, satiny, enriched with butter and eggs, very similar to a brioche dough. Especially good when eaten warm, spread with cold salted butter and a mug of hot black coffee. I would definitely make these again.

• Cinnamon swirl bread

  • Zosia on September 22, 2018

    Lovely bread with a most delicious cinnamon-sugar filling. The most difficult part of making the loaf was distributing the egg evenly over the filling - where it was too heavy, it escaped during rolling, and the seal between layers was absent from areas I missed.

• Soft rye bread

  • Zosia on February 15, 2017

    The caraway and rye flavours were very nice in this loaf and the crumb was dense but soft but we prefer a more traditional texture with some chew. Also, I was sure I used the correct amount of salt but my bread could have used more.

• Citrus-spiced hot cross buns

  • Zosia on March 30, 2021

    These were quite fruity with just a hint of ginger, not what I expect with a hot cross bun but delicious nevertheless. The dough was very easy to handle and baked up light and airy and chewy. We loved them.

• Plum frangipane turnovers

  • Zosia on September 28, 2020

    The filling was really delicious and I liked the covenience of using store-bought, pre-rolled puff pastry but there was just a little too much pastry for the amount of filling for me.

• Roasted veggie galette

  • Zosia on November 01, 2016

    From the Parmesan-flavoured flaky crust to the filling of cauliflower, broccoli and carrots roasted with garlic, rosemary and scallions, there is nothing I would change about this (though the author does suggest variations). Next time, I'll make 2 and freeze one, unbaked.

• Cheesy bacon focaccia rolls

  • Zosia on April 26, 2017

    Incredibly delicious. I was surprised that the cheese (I omitted the bacon) didn't weigh the dough down at all; it was still really airy and chewy. I folded/kneaded the cheese in by hand to ensure even distribution, baked it as one focaccia and cut it into 12 for sandwich buns (9 would have been much too large).

• Whole-wheat pitas

  • Zosia on May 04, 2017

    It's so gratifying to see pitas balloon in the oven as these did. They tasted great too - nutty but without the bitterness that often comes with whole wheat flour. The dough was very sticky and impossible to shape on an unfloured surface; a light dusting corrected that.

• Roasted red pepper-goat cheese whole-wheat focaccia

  • Zosia on October 29, 2016

    The bread was beautifully aerated with the chewiness you expect from focaccia, something other whole wheat, same-day focaccia recipes I've tried haven't been able to achieve. The topping was an easy and very flavourful addition but I'd like to try the variations the author has included...they all sound so good.

• Sugar-crusted triple ginger pound cake

  • mamacrumbcake on December 30, 2019

    This cake is fine, but it doesn’t wow me. It is not as gingery as I expected and the texture is rough and stodgy—not like a pound cake. If I were to make it again, I would increase the ginger, and might also try the reverse creaming method to see if the texture could be improved. I don’t know that the sugar crust is worth the bother. It only adds sweetness without enhancing the flavor. A lemon glaze might be nice though. Took out of oven at 59 minutes. I think it could have come out one or two minutes earlier.

  • znorman on January 08, 2023

    This was really tasty with the 3 different kinds of ginger. My son who loves ginger devoured his piece.

• Nutty applesauce squash tea cake

  • Lepa on June 10, 2021

    This cake was a bit of a dud. It fell apart, was gummy and tasted a bit meh. I didn't see the portion of the recipe for icing because it was on the next page but I still don't think that would have rescued it.

• Brown butter-almond lace cookies

  • fultre on April 17, 2022

    Smple and delicious! May omit almond extract next time as husband is not a fan of this flavor. Cookies don’t spread much, using a 1 Tbsp scoop, can fit 8 per cookie sheet in a 2-1-2-1-2 arrangement.

  • DFarnham on January 31, 2021

    Really easy and really yummy! Used a 2 tsp scoop and made 22 cookies.

• Spicy lemon meringue pie

  • fultre on April 13, 2022

    Fabulous recipe with well-balanced flavors and great description of techniques. I followed the classic variation (omits cayenne in filling and poppy seeds in meringue). We enjoyed it so much, may never try another version.

• Zesty lemon artichoke frittata

  • MollyPellecchia on June 23, 2024

    First recipe from this new book. And boy is this frittata a winner. Followed the recipe pretty closely, added only a few parboiled little gems to the base. Swapped the mozzarella for aged cheddar. Will be making this often.

• Double chocolate cream cheese fudge brownies

  • taste24 on September 15, 2020

    These were delicious! I loved the mini chocolate chips in the cream cheese filling.

• Salted caramel-toffee icebox cake

  • taste24 on March 24, 2021

    This was outstanding!! Excellent instructions for the salted caramel sauce, and overall a very easy dessert. Will definitely be making this again!

• Classic pastry cream éclairs

  • taste24 on July 20, 2020

    These were excellent. This was my first time making pate a choux dough and I was delighted at how simple it is. I would recommend piping the dough 'taller' than you might think - mine were too short and I couldn't fit as much pastry cream in as preferred. The pastry cream recipe is easy as well, although mine didn't thicken as much as I'd hoped. They were still totally delicious!

• Huffington Post by Jamie Schler

  Best cookbooks of 2015: ...more than 1,000 step-by-step photograph instructions to help you along and make baking everyday easy, fun, and delicious!

  Full review