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3 Responses to “Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More: 200 Anytime Treats and Special Sweets for Morning to Midnight”

1. 
   Tuve Says:
   September 22nd, 2009 at 8:55 pm

   This is a GREAT baking book. I’ve tried several recipes already and they were all mouthwatering! So many varieties of baked goods are covered in this book, it’s almost like a breakfast baking bible. Every recipe has an “At A Glance” box which tells you what kind(s) of pan you need, how to prep the pan, rising time (if necessary), oven temp, baking time, and difficulty so you can choose recipes based on time requirements, difficulty, etc. Recipes also tell you ahead of time if any advanced prep is required, such as refrigerating overnight.

   The only problem I’ve found thus far is a few editorial errors, such as in muffin recipes that only make a dozen muffins… it tells you to use one muffin pan and put the oven rack in the lower third, but later says to rotate pans from top to bottom and back to front during cooking, which is clearly copied and pasted in every muffin recipe, including the ones that only use one pan. This isn’t a huge deal. One glaring error, however, is in the “Streusels, Glazes, Frostings and Spreads” chapter. It appears that whoever edited this book, or possibly the printers, screwed up a couple of the recipes. The instructions for Carole’s Favorite Streusel are correct, but then are repeated verbatim for part one of the Almond Crunch Streusel (which makes no sense for the ingredients required). Then under the Butter-Nut Streusel recipe, you can find the correct instructions for part one of the Almond Crunch Streusel. This isn’t much of a pain once you realize the error. The Butter-Nut Streusel cannot be made, though, since there are no leftover instructions I could find under any of the other recipes in the section. After skimming through the book, I didn’t find a single recipe that requires the Butter-Nut Streusel topping, so again, it’s not extremely crucial. Just something to note if you try any recipes containing the Almond Crunch Streusel (I think there’s only one). Otherwise, everything else seems to be very clear (with drawings to help out for complicated recipes, like braiding dough, etc). I still give this book 5 stars because I think that the errors I found are insignificant compared to just plain bad recipes you can find in other books. Buy this book, it’s really great! Just be aware of that little mix-up with those 2 recipes.

2. 
   Madden Says:
   September 22nd, 2009 at 9:43 pm

   It would be difficult to expound on Laura Stokes-Gray “Cookbook Lover’s” comprehensive review. The primary weakness of the book is the dearth of photographs - don’t get me wrong, there are photos, but a rather small selection considering the number of recipes. Luckily, one of Walters’ greatest strengths is her detailed instructions. The recipe measurements are given in cups and teaspoons, not grams and mL, and they are geared toward home bakers. Each recipe has a difficulty rating, with detailed prep instructions listed in a sidebar.

   A couple of cons: the book could have used just a few more pictures of some of the more complex or interesting finished desserts. It could also use more careful editing. For example, it seems like the editors just cut and pasted the instructions for Carol’s Favorite Streusel into the other streusel recipes, even though they do not make double batches of streusel.

   I think that some of the most useful chapters in the book are those dealing with strudel and danish pastry. Walter provides lengthy, detailed instructions for these baked goods, plus mouth-watering recipes. A wonderful, wonderful book. I’ve baked about 12 things out of it, and everything has been very well received.

3. 
   Kaia Says:
   September 22nd, 2009 at 10:09 pm

   Review by “Retired Geek’s Wife”: This cookbook is excellent! The directions are clear and well-written, with all the details needed for techniques you may not be familiar with. Each recipe is rated for difficulty, so if you are inexperienced you can start with the “1 cup” recipes. Then, as you build your confidence, move onto the more difficult recipes. The variety of recipes is wonderful and everything I’ve made has been delicious. The one small problem I’ve had is on the ingredients list. For example, it will indicate 3 1/4 cups flour in the ingredients list. Then in the detailed directions only 3 cups are used in the mix and the extra 1/4 cup is for the kneading process. It would be better to have it noted in the ingredients list separately. A minor problem, and if I read directions more carefully, not really a problem at all. If you are only going to buy one dessert cookbook, this is the one to get.

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