Notes about Recipes in this book

• Basic yellow layer cake and sheet cake

  • vickster on November 02, 2019

    I made a layer cake. Cake has delicious flavor and rose beautifully. However it was a bit dry, even though I carefully checked with toothpick at the end. It may because we didn't eat it until the next day.

  • anya_sf on November 12, 2019

    I made 1/2 recipe as one layer for an ice cream cake. I used cake flour and followed the directions exactly, but the yellow cake stuck to the pan and crumbled around the edges upon removal. I think the cake was just too warm. Also, the parchment round stuck to the pan and not the cake, so a bit of the bottom also came off. I ended up slicing off part of that layer before assembly.

• Neoclassic buttercream

  • vickster on November 02, 2019

    Good frosting and her process is well documented and easy to follow. However, I made the chocolate version and it really wasn't chocolatey enough for me. Also, I barely had enough for a 2-layer cake.

• Corn muffins

  • caitmcg on June 01, 2023

    I tweaked these a little to go in slightly heartier, more savory direction, substituting whole wheat pastry flour for AP, reducing the sugar to 2 teaspoons, and adding 1/4 cup or so each of sliced scallion greens, grated aged cheddar, and frozen corn kernels. They turned out very tasty, and even using all whole grains they were nicely tender on account of the high proportion of sour cream.

  • anya_sf on July 25, 2019

    I substituted white whole wheat flour for all-purpose, so the muffins were not as light as they would have been, but we liked them just fine. Whole milk Greek yogurt worked in place of sour cream. I mixed the batter the night before, although the batter is quick to make so there's no real need to prep ahead. My family enjoyed these muffins with butter and honey. I goofed and added a bit too much baking soda which caused them to dome a bit too much.

• Marble cake

  • Astrid5555 on February 16, 2019

    Foolproof method, really moist and tender crumb from the sour cream. Got rave reviews from my guests. New go-to marble cake recipe!

• Banana walnut loaf

  • okmosa on January 20, 2020

    Very odd banana bread recipe. It calls to mix it in a food processor which felt very wrong, but maybe Rose L.B. was onto something? I don't think so. (I should have read the note from anya_sf !!) Needless to say, my loaf had limited rise. There is very little fat which I feel affected the expected texture and flavor. I thought the lemon addition would be refreshing, but it doesn't fit for me. Finally, the recipe called to mix the walnuts into the batter with the food processor which I, again, felt was wrong, but I stuck with it. I should have followed my instincts because not only did it probably affect the rise, the walnuts got all chopped up - where I prefer nice big chunks of nuts.

  • anya_sf on February 19, 2019

    I mixed the batter by hand and omitted the walnuts. My 8.5"x4.5" tin was large enough. The loaf rose beautifully. The lemon zest was an unusual addition which brightened the banana flavor, and was a nice change to the more common cinnamon, although I think I prefer cinnamon. The texture was moist and quite springy, probably due to the very small amount of fat in the bread.

• Apple galette

  • imaluckyducky on November 30, 2023

    4.5 stars! Easy to follow recipe, perfect without any modifications. The only thing that was slightly confusing was the recipe for the pastry dough said to knead until it was slightly stretchy, which is the opposite of what I’m used to doing for flaky pastry, and the corresponding pictures weren’t very helpful. This may have been my own lack of knowledge though. Also, instead of apricot jam used blood orange jam which worked just as well.

• Apple walnut bundt cake

  • bching on September 25, 2023

    The cake tastes good, and I followed the baking instructions precisely. Even so, the center of cake was quite undercooked.

  • anya_sf on April 25, 2019

    Fabulous! Braeburn apples worked well and I only needed 3 of them (definitely weigh your apples). The recipe was easy to make and the cake was moist and delicious.

  • cellenly on January 28, 2022

    We loved it as well as another family. Used 3 medium red delicious apples that were crisp and sweet which we weighed. Used lightly sugared pecans I had on hand and was generous with the amount, and that was a good choice for our nut loving family. Cut the sugar a little due to sugar in pecans and the sweetness of the apples. Baked 50 min in a well preheated oven, but I think I should try 55 min.

• Chocolate spangled angel food cake

  • tarae1204 on February 11, 2021

    The recipe says to beat the egg whites (previously mixed with sugar and cream of tarter) for ten minutes on medium high. Well, I turned my kitchen aid mixer to “8”, turned my back, and four minutes later had meringue nearly spilling out of my mixer bowl! It was amazing! Never seen egg whites get whipped that high so fast. The problem was then that folding in the flour and chocolate speckled was very sticky and difficult, and my cake wasn’t thoroughly blended. Still, delicious.

• Triple lemon velvet bundt cake

  • mamacrumbcake on March 08, 2019

    This is the best Lemon Bundt Cake recipe that I have ever made. Texture is very nice and it actually tastes lemony. The biggest lemon hit comes from the glaze, which is also the best lemon glaze recipe I have tried. I took the cake out of the oven after 45 minutes. A few crumbs remained on the toothpick. The cake seemed a bit wiggly so I put it back in the oven for 3 more minutes. In retrospect, I could have taken it out at 45–the cake was not dry per se, but I think it would have been even nicer if it had come out if the oven earlier.

  • stpbcyld50 on July 31, 2020

    This is possibly one of the best cakes I've ever made. I'm not a massive lemon fan either but this came out perfect

  • bwhip on October 08, 2018

    Delicious, very lemony, with texture as light as a feather. Recipe called for 45-55 minutes baking time, but mine was done at 40.

  • anya_sf on March 19, 2019

    I made the poppy seed variation. The cake had a very soft, tender crumb. Nice lemon flavor. Not too sweet, despite both syrup and glaze. I probably won't make this often since it calls for so many egg yolks, but it was truly wonderful and disappeared in about 30 seconds at work.

  • martinhenry on December 27, 2018

    Really, really good flavor. This cake is a keeper. The edges bake a bit dark, but the inside is crumbly, rich, and tender. It's both light and dense at the same time. The reverse-creaming method that Rose favors gives a distinct super-tender/crumbly texture. On my second bake, I added 1/2 tsp of lemon extract to really amp up the flavor.

  • dwager on November 29, 2020

    I've made this twice now, and I'll definitely make it again. Amazing taste and texture!

• BlueRaspberry crisp

  • bwhip on August 25, 2019

    I liked the lemon flavor in this recipe, but overall found it to be a disappointment. Topping was pretty sparse, and with the lovely fresh berries we had, there was no need for that much sugar (I cut it in half, and it still didn't need that much). My biggest issue with the recipe was the amount of cornstarch. I didn't want the berries to be runny and soupy, but with this much cornstarch they sort of turned into a gummy paste.

  • anya_sf on January 27, 2019

    This crisp has very little topping relative to fruit. Often I find myself reducing the amount of topping in a crisp recipe, but here I might increase it next time. I used a combination of fresh and frozen raspberries and frozen blueberries. This may have made the filling more watery as it baked, so most of the topping was moistened and didn't really brown. The lemon flavor really stood out from the zest in both topping and filling. The sweet-tart balance was just perfect to serve the crisp with vanilla ice cream.

• Blueberry muffins

  • anya_sf on January 27, 2019

    I used white whole wheat flour and it was definitely noticeable in these muffins. I didn't mind, as I like a heartier texture and wheat taste, but if you prefer a softer, more cupcake-like muffin, stick with white flour. I added the extra 35 g blueberries (mine were frozen) and ended up with 7 muffins (around 83 g batter each). Skipped the sugar topping, as there was plenty of sugar in them. They were delicious! The lemon zest was really nice with the blueberries.

• Apple walnut muffins

  • anya_sf on December 02, 2018

    I used canola oil and substituted white whole wheat flour for all-purpose. The muffins turned out great - lightly sweet, hearty but not heavy, crunchy from the walnuts, with as much apple as batter.

• Glazed mocha chiffon

  • anya_sf on April 18, 2021

    The cake rose super high and formed a mushroom top - not sure if I did something wrong - I did weigh the egg whites and there were no large air pockets in the baked cake. The cake took 10 extra minutes in the oven. The rounded top made it tricky to remove neatly from the pan, plus made the sides hard to glaze, to the point where I gave up and just put more glaze on top. I only had 3/4 cup Kahlua for brushing, but it was plenty. With all the Kahlua and espresso powder, this isn't a cake for kids, but it was delicious. The liqueur was more evenly distributed the day after baking.

• Thin golden sponge cake roll or base

  • anya_sf on January 14, 2019

    I made 1/2 recipe as a base for a 6" cheesecake. Followed the directions exactly and it turned out perfectly. This type of sponge is fairly easy to make since the eggs don't need to be heated. There was extra sponge left over, which I suppose could be used for crumbs or strips for another base. The sponge is fairly plain on its own - I didn't think it was that exciting (it's not meant to be eaten plain), but my son actually ate all the extra scraps.

• Creamy cheesecake

  • anya_sf on January 14, 2019

    I made 1/2 recipe in a 6" springform pan with the thin golden sponge cake base. Despite wrapping the pan in a double layer of heavy duty foil, water still seeped in. I think you need very large sheets of foil for this method to work; a silicone pan is recommended (I don't have one). Still, the water didn't affect the cake too much, just made the base slightly soggy, but we hardly noticed. The cake was super creamy with a noticeable tang from the sour cream, and not too sweet. I made a cherry topping, which complemented the cake nicely. Next time I will try the denser version that uses less sour cream (see baking pearls side note).

• Same day sweet tart cookie crust

  • anya_sf on July 22, 2021

    The regular (not same day) instructions for this crust are the most elaborate I've ever seen. This same day version is slightly simpler - more what I'm used to - and turned out very well. I left the dough in the plastic bag for kneading and storage, which was a bit tricky but manageable.

• Peaches and cream kuchen

  • anya_sf on July 25, 2019

    My peaches were larger, so I used 3. There were more than needed for a single layer, but the way I read the instructions, it sounded like this should be OK. I had to substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream, but with the heavy cream I didn't think this would be an issue. After 35 minutes of baking the custard, it was nowhere near set. I baked it another 15 minutes and the temperature was too high at that point, but a knife still didn't come clean. I turned off the oven and let it sit in the cooling oven for another 20 minutes or so. I suspect the abundance of peach juice interfered with the custard, which of course curdled. However, we ate the kuchen after chilling overnight, and thought the texture was just fine and the flavor was delicious.

• Lemon and blueberry tart

  • anya_sf on July 22, 2021

    Really delicious. I used the sweet cookie tart crust and would do so again. The sweet-tart lemon curd went so well with the blueberries. Unlike some fruit tarts, this was still great the next day.

• Cream puffs, profiteroles, and éclairs

  • anya_sf on September 06, 2020

    Thanks to the detailed, precise instructions, these eclairs turned out perfectly. I am not good at piping, so mine weren't beautiful, but the pastry baked up puffy, golden brown, and crisp. Filled with Chiboust cream and topped (doused, really) with ganache drizzle glaze, they were everything I'd want in an eclair. I appreciated that the recipe only made 8 pastries and the Chiboust cream recipe made exactly enough to fill them.

• Pavlova

  • anya_sf on February 18, 2020

    This is the first pavlova I've had that was not too sweet. The meringue was balanced by unsweetened whipped cream with sour cream for added tang. In the future, I'd try substituting jam or lemon curd for the sour cream, as extra sweetness would be okay here. The ratio of meringue to whipped cream and fruit was just right. I made the meringue a day ahead, but didn't realize how fragile it would be, and it cracked when transferred to a serving plate, so I'll be more careful in the future.

• Banana walnut muffins

  • anya_sf on April 18, 2020

    The muffins had a light, tender texture and bright flavor from the sour cream and lemon. Using my standard scoop, I got 8 muffins. The only problem with this recipe is that it dirties both food processor and mixer, when many muffin batters are simply mixed by hand.

• Carrot muffins

  • anya_sf on January 10, 2019

    Followed the recipe exactly using weights and the muffins turned out perfectly. They were moist with a light, springy texture, not too sweet for breakfast. Next time I will try white whole wheat flour for more fiber, plus raisins, since I like them in carrot cake.

• White chocolate cream cheese frosting

  • anya_sf on April 04, 2020

    Although the cream cheese seemed like it was smooth in the processor and the white chocolate was at the stated temperature, there were some lumps of both cream cheese and hardened white chocolate in the finished frosting, so I'd err on the side of too warm ingredients when blending, rather than too cool. That said, I didn't bother straining the frosting (lazy) and we didn't notice the cream cheese lumps when eating the cake (I'd fished out and eaten the white chocolate lumps). The frosting was trickier to spread than traditional cream cheese frosting and wanted to stick to the spatula more than the cake, but overall wasn't that bad. The flavor was absolutely fantastic with carrot cake, the sweetness from the white chocolate just right with no other sugar, with an extra depth of caramel-like flavor.

• Peanut butter cream cheese frosting

  • anya_sf on November 20, 2022

    Easy to make and delicious on chocolate cupcakes. 2/3 recipe was more than ample to frost 12 cupcakes; 1/2 recipe would probably have sufficed, as the peanut butter makes the frosting quite rich.

• Ganache drizzle glaze

  • anya_sf on September 06, 2020

    The ganache was fairly thin so I waited a bit before using it to top eclairs. I just spooned it on rather than piping.

• Pastry cream

  • anya_sf on September 06, 2020

    Whole milk worked fine. I appreciated that this recipe uses a whole egg instead of yolks. I used vanilla sugar + extract.

• Chiboust cream

  • anya_sf on September 06, 2020

    The quantity was exactly right to fill 8 eclairs. In the pastry cream, I used whole milk and vanilla extract. I had to use a fair amount of force to whisk the cream into the cold pastry cream, but it turned out fine. Great flavor and texture.

• "Key lime" pie

  • anya_sf on March 15, 2019

    A more precise version of the classic recipe, this pie also has a whipped egg white to lighten the filling a bit. It isn't as sweet as some versions, since there isn't too much sugar in the crust or topping. The cornstarch-stabilized whipped cream recipe is very handy to have. The crust isn't pre-baked, making bites easier to cut.

• Basic hearth bread

  • anya_sf on April 23, 2020

    I wanted sandwich bread so I baked it in a loaf pan, adding the optional oil. It's a good, sturdy white bread with a little bit of chew, excellent for sandwiches.

• Beer bread

  • anya_sf on February 13, 2019

    I used lager and substituted the leftover bread mush (see baking pearls) for the biga. My first rise wasn't good (my kitchen was probably too cold), but the second was better and the bread rose more in the oven. The bread turned out great - surprisingly moist, sliced beautifully, great for sandwiches.

• No-knead bread

  • anya_sf on November 07, 2021

    Great step-by-step instructions as usual from Rose. The only difficulty I had was inverting the risen dough into the hot pot - it landed lopsided and I worried the loaf would be deformed, but it turned out fine. I used 20 extra grams water for larger holes in the crumb. The dough was still fairly easy to work with and I was very happy with the result. Wonderful bread.

• Whole wheat sandwich bread

  • anya_sf on January 16, 2019

    I made the 50% whole wheat version using a biga, which I made 2 days ahead. The bread took an extra 5 minutes in the oven (I checked it with a thermometer and was glad I did), but turned out perfectly!

• Multigrain bread

  • anya_sf on January 21, 2019

    I used Gold Medal bread flour and added the recommended vital wheat gluten. Made my own grain and seed mixture (cleaned out the freezer). I made the biga one day ahead and used malt syrup in the dough. The bread turned out perfectly. I've never had such a high-rising loaf - wow. This bread slices neatly and is moist with a pleasant chew. I included buckwheat in the grain mix and could taste it in the bread; not sure if I'll do that again as the flavor was a bit strong.

  • anya_sf on January 27, 2022

    Baked again using Bob's Red Mill 10-grain cereal mix, 200 g KA bread flour/100 g KA whole wheat flour, 4 tsp vital wheat gluten. Made the biga 3 days ahead. The dough was more difficult to knead, but the bread still turned out fantastic as before.

• Babka swirl loaf

  • anya_sf on January 28, 2019

    Made over two days, this wasn't too difficult. I wasn't 100% sure I folded it correctly, but in the end, the resulting loaf looked pretty good and tasted fantastic. I do recommend checking the temperature of the bread when deciding whether it's done. One of the best things I've ever made.

• My favorite pizza tomato sauce

  • anya_sf on February 18, 2021

    Easy and good. I doubled the recipe for a 28-oz can tomatoes (why wouldn't you?) and simmered the sauce slightly more than stated to yield exactly 2 cups.

• Apple cinnamon coffee cake

  • anya_sf on December 29, 2020

    Made 1/2 recipe in an 8"x8" pan. My apple was a bit larger and I was able to fit most of the pieces on the cake. Baked 35 min before adding the crumbs (couldn't wait 40 min due to something else I was doing), then another 20 min; thermometer indicated it was done. Ate the next day after refrigerating overnight. Really moist and delicious!

• Apple cider cake doughnuts

  • anya_sf on January 14, 2019

    Instead of reducing apple cider, I diluted boiled cider to the same strength. The doughnuts were light, tender, and cinnamony, with a subtle apple flavor and perfect level of sweetness. I might try using more concentrated cider next time. They were perfect with morning coffee!

• Carrot cake

  • anya_sf on April 04, 2020

    I made 1/2 recipe in a 9" round pan and the cake was relatively tall; an 8" layer would be quite high. I added 30 g each raisins and walnuts. To me, this was the perfect version of carrot cake, especially with white chocolate cream cheese frosting. Half the frosting covered the cake nicely, but there wasn't any left, so with a 2-layer cake, you'd have just barely enough. Half the recipe definitely served 8.

  • anya_sf on September 19, 2021

    Made again - not sure why I thought there might not be enough frosting, as this time it seemed like plenty - maybe because we liked it so much?

• Zucchini bread

  • anya_sf on August 16, 2019

    I used half white whole wheat flour for additional fiber and 3 egg whites per the baking pearl. I mixed the batter by hand. The bread baked up tall and moist, with a pleasant level of sweetness and spice.

• Lemon butter squares

  • anya_sf on July 22, 2021

    I just made the lemon curd for the lemon and blueberry tart. Easy method, with the ingredients mixed together initially rather than adding the butter a piece at a time. My 5 egg yolks weighed 5 grams too little; I decided just to go with that and it turned out fine. Lovely balance of sweet and tart.

• Fudgy pudgy brownies

  • anya_sf on March 05, 2020

    I followed the directions precisely except melting the chocolates and butter in the microwave. The brownies took 40 minutes to reach 190 in the center. They had a medium chocolate flavor with just the right texture - moist and fudgy, but not wet - what I'd describe as "classic". They were actually very similar in flavor and texture to My Best Brownies.

• Bite-size Linzer thumbprints

  • anya_sf on February 21, 2022

    I used hazelnut meal, so the nuts weren't toasted, but the flavor was still very good. The dough was quite crumbly and took a while to shape; after indenting the centers, I had to go back and smooth out the significant cracks along the edges. I weighed the dough, but many of the cookies must have weighed 13 g rather than 12 g, so I got 32 cookies instead of 34. They still looked pale after 20 min, so I baked them 2 min longer and was happy with the slightly crunchy, yet tender texture. Half the cookies were filled with blueberry-rhubarb jam, and half with raspberry (with seeds). Both were delicious, but I preferred the raspberry.

• Cream cheese crunch pound cake

  • anya_sf on December 24, 2019

    Nice way to dress up pound cake. I preferred the center slices where there was a smaller amount of crunch rather than the edges which were fully coated. Next time I'd skip coating the short sides. The cake got rather dark, but that didn't affect the flavor or texture. Rose's pound cake recipe is the best.

• Basic chocolate layer cake and sheet cake

  • anya_sf on November 12, 2019

    I made 1/2 recipe as one layer of an ice cream cake, using both yellow and chocolate layers. I cooled the chocolate cake 15 minutes before removing from the pan, instead of just 10, and it came out more easily than the yellow cake had after 10 min, with just a tiny bit of sticking. The cake was delicious.

• My best brownies

  • anya_sf on March 05, 2020

    I followed the directions precisely except melting the chocolate and butter in the microwave. The brownies took 35 minutes to reach 190 in the center. When just baked to that temperature, the texture was surprisingly fudgy, similar to Fudgy Pudgy Brownies. They had a medium chocolate flavor, what I'd describe as "classic", also similar to Fudgy Pudgy Brownies.

• Lisa Yockelson's deeply chocolate biscotti

  • anya_sf on October 15, 2022

    Super chocolatey and delicious. Be careful with the (very small amount of) melted chocolate; recipe suggests melting 30 min ahead, but in my cool kitchen, the chocolate was already starting to harden again after 5 min. The cut biscotti needed 10 extra min to appear dry on both sides. At that point, some of the center pieces weren't completely crunchy inside, but those were actually my favorite ones.

• Oatmeal cookies

  • leilx on January 14, 2019

    I liked these but did not love them. I thought they came out too big so I made them smaller. I would’ve preferred without the chocolate as well.

• Rose's chocolate chip cookies

  • leilx on January 14, 2019

    Mine didn’t look like the photo. For one I thought they were too big so made them half the size. I liked this recipe but did not love it.

• Scottish shortbread cookies

  • KatieK1 on February 03, 2023

    This recipe also requires both regular and powdered sugar.

• Eight mini Pavlovas

  • senzler on September 03, 2022

    Straightforward Pavlova. Especially like the fruit sour cream topping.

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