• anya_sf on June 29, 2024

  Recipes are hit or miss. Some are absolutely great, others suffer from too much sugar, oil, or similar flaws.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Flaky butter crust

  • jzanger on March 31, 2024

    I used this for a large freeform blueberry galette and it was very nice. I subbed 100g AP for WW pastry flour for interest, but other than that I followed the technique of working the butter into the flour and dissolving the sugar in the hot water, and the result was great. I'd definitely use this recipe again whenever I feel like making pie dough by hand. The full recipe made enough for a very large galette, about 16" across.

• Mango coconut bundt cake

  • rittingerv on August 08, 2022

    Surprisingly tasty, moist and flavorful. I added a handful of shredded coconut for a little texture. Would make again.

• Ricotta biscuits

  • SugarTreeBaking on December 27, 2021

    I just couldn’t get these biscuits to work, ever through I drained the ricotta, they were a soupy mess. Maybe with just one cup of buttermilk? I added the second and it was downhill from there. All in the trash, disappointing.

• Strawberry-coconut cookies

  • hillsboroks on May 18, 2020

    I have made these cookies twice with very different results but amazing flavor both times. The first time I accidentally left out the egg when it rolled behind a canister while I was setting up my mise en place. And because I was using a Cook's Illustrated technique where you rub the lemon zest into the sugar to maximize the lemon flavor I did not notice the egg part as I was rushing through the directions. I had freeze dried strawberries for that batch that I chopped up a bit and the resulting cookies were very shortbread-like. The second time I got the egg added and used dried strawberries that were like tough raisins that I also chopped up some. Both times I realized the cookies were not spreading at all after the first 5 minutes in the oven so I used a large flat-bottomed glass to flatten them a bit. I think this might have been an instruction that was omitted. The second batch was softer but I realized I liked the freeze dried berries best for their flavor and texture.

• Sour lemon cakes

  • Jenny on July 02, 2019

    These darling cakes pack a punch and were super easy to make, yet very impressive. For this first time, I used jarred lemon curd but I look forward to making them again with the olive oil lemon curd from the book. Highly recommend this recipe!

  • anya_sf on October 13, 2021

    Dense and buttery with great lemon flavor. I made a different lemon curd recipe using Meyer lemons and skipped the rum. Baked in a dark muffin tin, they were slightly dry - I may have baked them a tad too long. They also stuck to the tin a little, despite liberal buttering; I'd use baking spray next time.

• Raspberry halva brownies

  • tarae1204 on March 10, 2022

    Delicious and decadent. I used a ceramic 8x13” pan and opted to bake the brownies (in a convection oven) about 12 minutes longer than stated. Still gooey in the center which isn’t my personal preference, but not liquid. The edges were chewy so there was something for everyone. If I make this again, I may experiment with adding a hint of sesame oil to replace some butter, and/or a halvah-flavored creme anglaise dotted with raspberry purée. It would double the work but produce a restaurant worthy dessert.

  • Smokeydoke on June 08, 2020

    This dessert is a decadent showstopper, best served at a fancy occasion. I recommend using a 9x13 pan. Photo included

  • anya_sf on November 03, 2021

    I made 1/2 recipe using 2 xl eggs in an 8"x8" pan. Since the full recipe calls for 8"x12" rather than 9"x13", I thought these might be done sooner, but they actually took an extra 5 minutes, perhaps because I sprinkled a few extra berries on top. Dutch processed cocoa and 70% chocolate (what I had on hand) worked fine. The brownies were super chocolatey, fudgy, and delicious. I especially loved the raspberries and think these would be great even without the halva. I agree that these could be served at a dinner party, perhaps with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

• Krystle's lemon ginger cookies

  • tarae1204 on April 21, 2021

    These were good flavor wise and texturally. I baked half the batch pressed into a mini muffin tin and added lemon curd in the indentation.

• Raspberry scones

  • tarae1204 on February 27, 2021

    Kind of a “leap of faith” recipe to try for the first time as the dough is made in a way similar to pie crust and I used my hands for all the mixing. I found the volume to weight measurements for flour and sugar to be slightly inconsistent, so I went with weight for flour and volume for sugar (which meant less flour and more sugar). Rucker says any frozen fruit can be used; I used frozen blueberries. They were unpleasant to mix in with my hands and added a lot of water to the dough although they were still frozen, not at all thawed. Baking instructions were accurate for me using convection. I got 12 not 16 scones. My favorite parts were the edges which were crispy and buttery. I thought the filling was a tad under-baked. Will repeat with dried fruit and baking the full amount plus a couple more minutes.

• Banana buckwheat cake

  • tarae1204 on January 30, 2022

    For me, this recipe is a “nope.” First, practicalities: the batter makes too much for a 9x5 as specified but fit in my 10” loaf pan. It doesn’t rise a great deal. I baked it 1 hour 20 min (way over specified time), and thought it was ready based on the toothpick test, but it did have undercooked areas. Second, flavor. It’s packed with coconut products, sugar and chopped bananas - so there’s plenty of sweet. I thought it was sort of tasty day 1, but it just didn’t taste good to me on day 2 when it had settled. Vegan gluten free baking is a challenge…

• Cherry almond meringue clouds

  • tarae1204 on January 02, 2024

    There are really a lot of sliced almonds in ratio to meringue in this recipe, and no specifics for how much to toast them or whether to let them cool. However, the meringue clouds turned out delicious whether or not they were “perfect.”

• Flourless chocolate and pear spoon cake

  • tarae1204 on October 27, 2020

    My spoon cake emerged very undercooked despite 1 hr bake and 20 additional min in oven. We ate the cake from the edges. I used natural cocoa instead of the called-for Dutch which I now think was a real mistake in terms of flavor as the cake was too rich and bitter for me. I used a rectangular 2 qt ceramic dish rather than the oval 2 qt dish specified - would that have made a difference? What concerned me the most about this recipe is that it didn’t seem to follow the basic steps for a flourless cake using whipped eggs whites to rise. First I made a rather thick chocolate, cocoa and cream mix, ganache like (water instead of cream might have reduced acidic properties of cocoa). Then I whipped egg whites while adding sugar which produced a glossy meringue. Regular eggs were beaten with sugar, then these components (egg batter, meringue, ganache) were all incorporated together as per instructions but overall didn’t feel right. Pears were dry but nice flavor/texture combo with cake.

• Passion fruit posset

  • tarae1204 on September 20, 2021

    I reduced the amount of cream from three cups to two cups, and divided among six ramekins, which produced smaller, very tangy desserts. Everyone enjoyed the combination of passion fruit and lemon, and as this is an all-cream dessert, the smaller servings were still satisfying. The dessert set nicely, and was visually lovely with the passion fruit vanilla bean syrup swirled in.

• Apple brown betty

  • tarae1204 on November 09, 2020

    Wonderful!!! Really delicious aroma and flavor from the toasty rich bread and apples baking for an hour. The dessert uses two cups of sugar (1 cup white, 1 cup brown), and less would be fine. It also calls for three tablespoons rose water which sounds very interesting and possibly too much. I didn’t have any so I substituted with three tablespoons Calvados. Tips: cut cubes to .75-1.0” but not bigger, and really rub sugar-butter mix into the toasted cubes to enhance caramelization.

• Spiced apple wedding cake

  • tarae1204 on January 07, 2021

    Glorious cake! I loved the flavor of apples and ginger that came through the most. Decorated with candied pecans. Loved this cake.

  • joanne_w on August 24, 2019

    The beautiful picture of the spiced apple wedding cake is what led to me buying this book. When I made it, it turned out really well. This cake has strong flavour of spices and ginger, but the recipe description tells you that in advance. The spices are nice but make it a very adult flavored cake. It rose evenly, tasted good and had very nice texture & not complicated to make

• Almond and berry cobbler

  • tarae1204 on April 21, 2021

    This is a bad recipe, frankly. It calls for three times the amount of sugar of a standard similar berry cobbler. 1.5 cups for 2 lb fruit is way too much. It should be 0.5 cups sugar. I used a full batch of the almond cream which was delicious in her banana cream pie, but like anya_sf found, it’s grainy in the cobbler. Also, you might taste almond extract but not the cobbler topping which gets lost in the overly sweet berry soup. Disappointing but not surprising since there is the same sugar overload problem in the peach cobbler recipe in this book. What a waste of beautiful expensive berries!!!

  • anya_sf on May 20, 2020

    I made this to use up 1/2 recipe almond cream, making 3 large individual ramekins with a mixture of blueberries and raspberries. The amount of sugar seemed like way too much; I reduced it by 1/3, but the cobbler was still overly sweet. The individual cobblers looked done after 35 minutes, but the almond topping had sunk into the fruit and hadn't browned, so I broiled them briefly. This was a nice idea and I'd try it again with half the sugar, except my son did not like the grainy texture of the almond cream in the cobbler.

• Peach and ricotta biscuit cobbler

  • tarae1204 on October 27, 2020

    This recipe calls for way, way too much sugar for the quantity of peaches. You might only need a third of the amount called for.

• Sour apple pie

  • tarae1204 on October 27, 2020

    Great flavor! I liked mixing precooked apples with fresh ones. Will make again.

• Banana cream pie

  • tarae1204 on April 21, 2021

    The pie is best the day it’s made as the bananas will weep on Day 2. And it makes a big pie. So, make it for a group. This pie, and the spiced apple cake from this book, are two desserts that have lingered in my mind, wanting to be made again. With this banana pie, the unexpected base layer of almond cream gives the pie a strong base note, a richness, that banana cream desserts usually lack. It doesn’t jump out at you but it’s there, making the pie so much more delicious.

• Frankie's lemon pie

  • tarae1204 on April 21, 2021

    This was a fine lemon pie, a little sour for my taste and a little grainy from the cornmeal. So it’s different from the smooth curd you might expect, good in its own way.

• Whole tangerine sorbet

  • tarae1204 on April 21, 2021

    This is a wonderful citrus sorbet. I would make this again! Was grateful for organic tangerines from my neighbor to use in this sorbet.

• Blackberry frozen yogurt

  • tarae1204 on October 27, 2020

    Tangy and thick frozen yogurt. Quite good.

• Fermented bananas

  • tarae1204 on October 27, 2020

    Twice I’ve tried to make this in my summer Southern CA kitchen and the result has molded before fermentation occurred. Disappointing.

• The lime pie that saved us

  • RachaelN on January 29, 2024

    It's not bad, but there are far better versions. The ratios all seem off. Too much of one thing, too little of another. And every component stayed soft.

• Sweet corn and raspberry muffins

  • Smokeydoke on June 08, 2020

    It's an ingenious recipe that makes use of leftover corn cobs. It made much more batter than one 12 cup muffin pan, so I made a little cake too. I preferred the cake.

  • anya_sf on July 17, 2020

    The muffin batter was pretty thin. I prepared it the night before and stirred in frozen raspberries in the morning before baking. The batter completely filled the muffin cups and I worried they would overflow, but they didn't rise much. I do recommend using paper liners since there are a lot of berries. The muffins had great corn flavor and were relatively light in texture.

• Plum and yogurt soufflé cake

  • anya_sf on May 04, 2020

    I made 1/2 recipe in a 7" springform pan, using mostly full-fat Greek yogurt, but supplementing with some regular nonfat yogurt. Instead of plums, I topped the cake with 6 oz blackberries. I used store-bought granola. After 40 minutes, the cake had barely browned, so I baked it another 5 minutes. We really enjoyed this for breakfast - it felt both healthy and a bit indulgent, as the cake was rather like a very light, not-too-sweet cheesecake.

  • anya_sf on May 04, 2020

    Can substitute store-bought granola for the recipe in the book, in which case you don't need rye flakes, ground cinnamon, grapeseed oil, black sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dark maple syrup, raw almonds, raw pepitas.

• Apricot almond polenta cake

  • anya_sf on June 29, 2024

    Complete failure. I followed the recipe exactly, except used 8 apricots, which I thought would be OK (recipe calls for 6 without providing a weight) as they were very small and not especially juicy. The cake took 30 min longer to bake. All the apricots sank to the bottom and the batter around them was still a little wet. The cake totally slumped in the center. Overall flavor was nice, but the cake was super oily.

• Apricot bostock

  • anya_sf on May 18, 2020

    Super delicious, like eating apricot frangipane tart for breakfast. Nicole's brioche slices must be very large to fit 8 pieces of apricot; mine only fit 4, so I was able to make 6 bostock slices with half the recipe. I wasn't sure whether to place the apricot pieces cut side up or down, so I did half of each and both worked.

• Multi-grain porridge and pear pancakes

  • anya_sf on April 28, 2020

    I made the porridge a day ahead; I had to add extra water during cooking so it didn't stick to the bottom. My pears weren't fully ripe, but they worked fine in the recipe. I cut each pear into 12 slices, so many slices were a little thinner than 1/2". I cooked 2 at a time in my 9.5" and 10" cast iron skillets. I wasn't sure how to remove them from the pans - at first I tried a spatula, but the pancake broke apart - flipping them over onto plates worked best. These pancakes were huge, tasty, and super filling. Only my teenage son could eat a whole one.

• Dutch baby with sautéed apple compote

  • anya_sf on April 17, 2020

    The Dutch baby was done in 18 minutes. It was good, but more dense and eggy than some versions. The apple topping was tasty and did not need extra lemon (I imagine it depends on the tartness of your apples), but we did enjoy it with extra maple syrup.

• Provençal-style cheesecake

  • anya_sf on July 05, 2020

    I made 1/2 recipe in a 7" springform pan. Perhaps my water bath wasn't hot enough, but the cheesecake took 15 extra minutes to set and never got brown on the edges. We ate it chilled. With the large proportion of sour cream, the texture was less dense than traditional cheesecake; I think I prefer traditional, but this version was awfully good. I loved the almond crust, and the flavor of the roasted strawberry topping was phenomenal.

• Magic banana pudding cake

  • anya_sf on February 27, 2021

    I made 1/2 recipe using a ripe banana (fermented banana just sounds gross) and reducing the sugar to 100 g (instead of 125). Baked in a 6" springform wrapped in foil as I didn't trust it not to leak, which it did a little. Baking time was the same, although it may have overbaked as there only appeared to be 2 layers: cakey top, set pudding underneath. Unlike most pudding cakes, there was no runny sauce layer, but since the cake gets unmolded, perhaps this is expected, although I'm not sure what the 3rd layer was supposed to be. The cake was plenty sweet with prominent banana flavor, good with unsweetened whipped cream. I didn't love the texture - the pudding layer was rather dense and gummy; the top was lighter and nicer. Overall I liked it OK, but probably won't make it again.

• Coffee and croissant bread pudding

  • anya_sf on June 12, 2021

    I had 2 croissants to use up, so made 1/3 recipe in a 6"x8" dish, using all whole milk (no cream), 1 egg + 1 yolk. This served 3 as a slightly-less-decadent-yet-still-indulgent breakfast. Fairly sweet from the jam and sugar, the coffee flavor was subtle. Made a day ahead, it was good cold or reheated in the microwave.

• Backyard citrus upside-down cake

  • Mtetpon on March 14, 2020

    The cake is perfect light not too sweet and pairs perfect with lemons. I used a mandolin to cut lemons. I baked for only 45 minutes and it baked perfectly.

• Rhubarb coffee cake with browned butter streusel

  • ChelseaP on August 05, 2021

    Holy this is divine! Definitely a make again recipe (have already made it twice). Stays moist for days.

• Slow-cooked rhubarb

  • ChelseaP on August 05, 2021

    Make to go in the rhubarb cake from Dappled but it's hard not to steal a few bites out of the pan. Would be divine on top of Greek yoghurt.

• Fruit crisp or crumble but not cobbler

  • Jviney on July 19, 2020

    This was a really nice flexible recipe for making a crisp. I was cooking for someone who is GF and refined sugar-free, and this totally worked. Two pounds of Georgia peaches, honey, and some almond extract. I left sweetener out of the crumble topping and the richness of the fat (butter, in my case) totally worked.

• Strawberry rye buckle with rose hazelnut crumb

  • Jviney on June 17, 2021

    Once I got the cake prepared, I had to read this recipe three times to convince myself I had not made a mistake. The recipe made a completely full 9” springform pan and then called for a 45 minute bake time. I cooked mine nearly an hour past that to get the cake tester clean. The end result was a super thick rye cake with comparatively few strawberries and not much interest. I almost wonder if the recipe accidentally doubled the cake batter? For sure I will not make it again and may find something else to serve book club tonight.

• Eat Your Books by Jenny Hartin

  One of my best books of 2019 without a doubt. A superior collection of baking recipes from the pastry chef behind Fiona and other LA hotspots.

  Full review