Notes about Recipes in this book

• Natural strawberry cake with browned butter frosting

  • SugarTreeBaking on April 05, 2021

    Good and flavorful. The freeze-dried strawberries add a nice taste and beautiful pink color. Be careful not to overmix, my cake was more dense than it should have been. The browned butter frosting is perfect for this cake, just the right nutty taste. The frosting recipe makes just enough to fill and frost. I made this for an Easter dinner and it was well received. I will make it again when strawberries are in season.

• Coconut buttermilk pound cake

  • SugarTreeBaking on August 24, 2019

    A very fluffy pound cake, delicious.

• Orange spice sheet cake

  • SugarTreeBaking on March 28, 2020

    Just okay, nothing special.

• Rhubarb brown sugar cake

  • SugarTreeBaking on May 19, 2019

    Great use of this seasonal item, a hit with even non-rhubarb lovers as the rhubarb taste is very subtle. Next time I will add more diced rhubarb.

• Browned butter hummingbird coffee cake

  • SugarTreeBaking on May 19, 2019

    Delicious way to use up the last of the brown bananas. My butter did not take 10 minutes to brown, so watch carefully. Like all recipes in this wonderful book, this was excellent.

• Maple date walnut coffee cake

  • SugarTreeBaking on May 19, 2019

    Loved this cake and have made it often.

• Peanut butter pie

  • SugarTreeBaking on July 25, 2019

    Quick to put together, very rich. Added mini Reese’s PB cups to garnish.

• Rhubarb and browned butter tartlets

  • Shannoncooks17 on May 29, 2020

    Fabulous! Made in a 10' tart pan and it was wonderful. The tart crust was easy to do and very good. Custard is wonderful. Will make again! Made exactly as directed in dessert recipe.

• Double chocolate peppermint sugar cookies

  • hillsboroks on December 23, 2022

    These cookies were so easy to make and really added some pizzazz to my Christmas cookie assortment this year. The cookies have a nice tender, slightly chewy texture and the combination of chocolate and peppermint can’t be beat. I discovered that crushing the candy canes was super easy when I used my mortar and pestle instead of using the meat tenderizer and a ziplock bag.

• Gingerbread thumbprint cookies with cranberry orange jam

  • hillsboroks on December 23, 2022

    These cookies are full of warm gingerbread flavor that is only complimented by the tart cranberry orange jam. I will definitely make these cookies again and again. Next time I will take the chilled dough out of the refrigerator at least 30-45 minutes before shaping the cookies because it was difficult to work with the cold dough. I used a tip I saw in another thumbprint cookie recipe and used a wine cork to make the indentations for the jam and it worked great. I will also cut the amount of jam in half as the recipe makes far more jam than you need for the cookies.

• Rum apple cider rosemary crumb cake

  • hillsboroks on August 30, 2023

    The flavors in this cake absolutely sing. It is one of the most flavorful cakes I have ever made. I had a pint of boiled apple cider from Vermont and was able to skip the apple cider reduction process so it was very easy to put together. Between the spices in the rum, fresh rosemary and lemon zest this is not a boring cake. The streusel topping is essential to the cake. Yum!

• Caramelized onion, polenta, and fresh herb olive oil loaf

  • EmilyR on May 21, 2019

    I didn't love this, but that could be my own error. I had caramelized onions ahead of time and wanted a recipe to use them so I didn't make them specifically for this, nor did I have an accurate gauge of how many I put in though I initially caramelized 5 onions... in the end I still wish it had more.

• Chocolate cherry hot cross buns

  • Zosia on April 09, 2020

    These have such wonderful flavour, lightly spiced and chock full of tart fruit and bittersweet chocolate. The dough was a little stiff and shaping the buns was a challenge for me. Despite my best efforts to conceal the chocolate pieces inside as directed, there were many escapees; fortunately they didn't burn. I needed to add 2tbsp extra water to the cocoa dough so I could pipe it and I ended up using only a quarter of it. I made 16 large buns that were baked in 20 minutes. Substitutions: orange juice for apple; 300g bread flour for AP; and 2 tbsp mango jam for apricot preserves.

• Peanut butter-Nutella coffee cake

  • Zosia on June 18, 2018

    This cake had great texture and kept well for a few days but I thought the chocolate overwhelmed the peanut flavour and I found it too sweet for my taste.

• Rainbow sprinkle bread with birthday cake crumb topping

  • Zosia on May 25, 2018

    A buttery vanilla pound cake serves as the base of this cake. The crumble topping added a nice crunch and the sprinkles put a smile on everyone's face.

• Zucchini banana bread

  • Zosia on May 25, 2018

    Moist and delicious cake, subtly spiced and with good banana flavour. I used white whole wheat flour and lemon juice instead of produce protector.

• Cinnamon roll apple pie

  • Zosia on March 14, 2019

    This was a cute and delicious pie but it was not without its issues, primarily with the dough. The recipe makes a huge amount of dough, enough for two pies and too much for my food processor to handle so the last mixing stage was done in a large bowl instead. The dough was quite resistant to being rolled out in the final stage and several of the "cinnamon roll" disks came apart during the transfer to the pie plate. I ended up pressing them in and thought that that was probably the easier route to have taken from the start. For the top crust, I sliced the log of dough into 1/4" instead of 1/2" thick slices, rolled each piece individually, and arranged them on the top of the filling with a slight overlap....much easier. I used half granny smith and half golden delicious apples and reduced the sugar in the filling by half.

• Rhubarb-ginger muffins with rhubarb-vanilla bean streusel

  • Zosia on May 31, 2018

    These had wonderful gingery flavour and were very moist but I would have liked more rhubarb. I used white whole wheat flour, and yogurt in place of sour cream.

  • Shewi128 on May 09, 2022

    This recipe was pretty good. I liked the tart pieces of rhubarb in the muffin. I skipped the rhubarb pieces in the streusel.

• Pear-rosemary bundt cake

  • Zosia on April 05, 2019

    My family complained about the tasteless Barlett pears I bought so this recipe, which was going to use up the full amount, was added to the menu. (I actually had only 1500g of the 1800g required). Roasting the cubed pears with honey and rosemary certainly did transform them and they were quite delicious. The cake itself was very good as well, even better on the second day when the ingredients had had time to meld. The rosemary that was quite noticeable in the pears was lost in the final product; I would add minced fresh directly to the batter before baking next time. Though I was short 300g fruit, the recipe produced 3 times more puree than was needed. I reduced the brown sugar by 75g and the honey (in the cake) by 70g and omitted the glaze.

• Tahini shortcakes with apricot jam and orange blossom whipped cream

  • Zosia on September 18, 2022

    I substituted fresh strawberries and oranges macerated with a little sugar and orange blossom water for the jam. The combination was very good and it complemented the bitterness of the tahini well. The scones were tender rather than flaky.

• Ginger cake with mango curd and Key lime buttercream

  • Zosia on December 04, 2018

    This review is for the cake only, which was lovely, a moist and tender vanilla butter cake infused with ginger. I weighed my ingredients and noticed that the crystallized ginger looked to be more like 2/3 cup rather than the 1/3 cup listed so I think there's an error with that volume measurement. Though I didn't follow the recipes for the filling and frosting I did stick close to the flavours using passion fruit curd filling and a lime curd-Italian meringue buttercream frosting. The combination was delicious.

• Banana cake with brown sugar hazelnut buttercream

  • Zosia on November 22, 2018

    I agreed to make this cake for my son's birthday before realizing the filling and frosting alone used almost 1kg sugar; I made changes. I honoured the flavours in the original recipe and made a chocolate Italian meringue buttercream with nutella for the filling, and a French (egg yolk based) buttercream made with brown sugar, nutella and a sprinkle of sea salt for the topping. They used over 80% less sugar. The banana cake and hazelnut praline were made as per the recipe. This cake turned out to be really delicious. The cake was dense but moist and the banana-hazelnut-chocolate-brown sugar/caramel flavours were well balanced. I would make this version again.

• Sweet and salty monster cookies

  • Zosia on May 14, 2020

    These were delicious, flourless peanut butter-oatmeal cookies! I was short m&ms and didn't have potato chips so added extra chocolate chips to the dough and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top of each cookie to compensate. I used weight measurements and noticed that 320g of rolled oats was about 3/4 cup short of 4 cups. The finished dough was quite soft and loose so I did add an extra 75g (all that I had); the dough was a little stiffer and the baked cookies looked just like the book photo. Using the recommended scoop size, my yield was 36 instead of 24.

• Blueberry and bitters strudels

  • Zosia on May 25, 2018

    The bitters added a pleasant flavour to the blueberry jam but I would have enjoyed it more if the filling hadn't been quite so sweet. I used store bought puff pastry.

• Chocolate-dipped peanut butter crinkle cookies

  • Zosia on December 23, 2019

    These were totally decadent and delicious. The bittersweet chocolate balanced the sweetness of the cookie and the peanuts added extra flavour. I expected the cookie to have a fudgy interior based on chocolate versions I've made but the cookie was crunchy and crumbly and melted in the mouth.

  • Kinhawaii on January 22, 2021

    I agree with Zosia- delicious- but quite sweet & rich. I think I would like a little extra flaky salt sprinkled on my salted peanut topping.

  • kellilee on February 07, 2022

    These cookies came out perfectly. I dipped only some in chocolate and of those I dipped I only sprinkled some with peanuts so we will have a range of flavor combinations. The cookies are crisp with a little chew in the middle. The recipe was well-written and easy to follow and the quantity was spot on.

• Black sesame and toasted coconut madeleines

  • Zosia on May 25, 2018

    Very nice tender little cakes that tasted of lemon and sesame. The coconut didn't add much flavour but added a slight chewiness to the texture.

• Classic cinnamon rolls

  • stef on November 10, 2018

    Very nice dough to handle. I would mix the butter with the brown sugar and cinnamon next time and spread it. Also bake in a 9x13 instead of a 10 inch cake pan.

  • senzler on April 17, 2022

    Agree make in 9x13 and nice dough to handle. I filled with the orange filling from Betty Crocker. They were a big hit but the rolls were huge. Next time I would make them smaller.

• Browned butter cranberry orange bars with brown sugar oat streusel

  • lkgrover on October 19, 2018

    Excellent bars; perfect for a brunch or afternoon snack. They have lots of flavor, without being overly sweet. (Also posted on the Bake from Scratch special issue: Holiday cookies (2017)).

• Key lime pie

  • hbakke on July 30, 2019

    Delicious! Very rich. The whipped cream topping really makes it. It cuts through the sweetness from the condensed milk and tartness from the key limes. The cook times were exactly right.

• Italian cream bundt cake

  • MollyPellecchia on March 12, 2021

    Half the recipe in each bundt pan. Baked together for the full one hour & 20 min.

• Pane di Pasqua

  • Shewi128 on May 09, 2022

    Cross-posted: This was a lovely, tender, lightly flavored bread. My number one advice is do not let it proof overnight. It was ginormous the next morning.

• Mexican chocolate fudge pie

  • Shewi128 on May 19, 2022

    Cross-posted: The combo of the rich and lightly spicy chocolate with the pate brisee crust was great. It was very very rich. Also, it definitely needed the higher range of cooking time, and it still was underbaked.

• Chai spice caramel pie

  • Shewi128 on May 19, 2022

    Cross-posted: The flavor was phenomenal, and it looked super pretty with the meringue. However, the instructions needed to be more clear about when to make the caramel. I made it after the custard was cooked, so the caramel was very hot and the custard had cooled down. The caramel crystallized upon contact, getting chunky pieces in the filling. So without the caramel fully incorporated, the filling never set up. It was definitely like a pudding. I would try it again, as the flavor was very good, but it was disappointing.

• Salty honey meringue

  • Shewi128 on May 09, 2022

    Cross-posted: Wow--I really don't like meringue as I find it to be too sweet. But, with this having more salt, it was delicious!

• Gingersnap crumb crust

  • Shewi128 on May 20, 2022

    Turned out well--no major issues. Again, as with most of BFS crumb crusts, don't overcook!

• Birthday cake scones with vanilla glaze

  • Shewi128 on May 12, 2022

    These were really good! I used my food processor for cutting in the butter, which made it a lot quicker. The texture was nice and flaky like most scones. My son wanted more cake flavor, but I liked the balance of the vanilla and almond extracts. I also froze them overnight to easily bake them in the morning. I baked at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes (different than the specified temp and baking time)--I feel like they would have burnt at the full 30 minutes at 375! I would definitely make these again.

• Raspberry lemon chiffon pie

  • Shewi128 on March 20, 2023

    The crust and meringue recipes were great. The filling was disgusting. It did not look like the picture at all. The texture was really odd (spongy/bouncy). It didn't have enough raspberry flavor. I would make the crust and meringue again, but the chiffon part was absolutely gross.

• Oversized honey ricotta strudel

  • Shewi128 on May 09, 2022

    Cross-posted: This was really interesting. I liked it, but not really enough to make it again.

• Sour cherry shortbread Linzer cookies

  • Shewi128 on May 23, 2022

    The tart flavor worked very well with the cherries. There was a fine line between overlooking the cookies and undercooked, too-soft cookies.

• Lemon shortbread cookies with lemon curd filling

  • Shewi128 on July 10, 2023

    The cookies were easy to make, and the lemon curd turned out ok. They were definitely lemon-flavored, but I didn't particularly love them. Also, roll them out thinly, and use a cute cut-out to make them more visually appealing. I don't know if I'd make these again.

• Apple butter bars

  • kellilee on December 30, 2022

    Made these delicious apple butter bars following the recipe exactly (including the homemade granny smith applesauce) and this was such a treat for friends and family. Personally, I think the toasted almonds and almond flour were key along with the tart plus sweet taste of the applesauce layer. On its own, the applesauce reminded me of a sour tart or a green apple Jolly Rancher (too sweet to eat straight) but as a layer between the shortbread-like foundation and the streusel top, it was divine.

• Apricot sweet buns

  • senzler on April 17, 2022

    These buns are easy and so good

• Orange currant hot cross buns

  • senzler on April 17, 2022

    Very good. Large rolls

• Cranberry streusel bundt cake

  • senzler on October 31, 2023

    I wanted to love this, but didn’t. The Chinese 5 spice was too much and orange too subtle. The cake was very tender. I would make again without 5 spice, up cinnamon and add orange extract.

• Orange-cardamom loaves

  • senzler on December 23, 2022

    The Swedish in me loved this recipe. Definitely a keeper.

• Sacher s'mores torte

  • senzler on March 26, 2022

    Putsy

• Chocolate crinkle cookies

  • FattyNaddy on June 24, 2022

    Delicious! My entire family devoured them. I decided to replace the almond flour with regular flour for the nut allergies in my family and they still came out very good!

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