Cupcake Friday Project

I’ve been a fan of Joy Wilson’s gorgeous blog Joy the Baker for awhile. Though I don’t read it daily, I like to pop over, skim through her posts, and get some inspiration when I’m thinking about creating a new recipe. Joy has a wonderful voice, her photography is drool-worthy, and you can’t beat her fun and creative recipes.

Her first book, Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes, was published in 2012, and now she’s back with a gorgeous followup, Homemade Decadence: Irresistibly Sweet, Salty, Gooey, Sticky, Fluffy, Creamy, Crunchy Treats.

I think the title says it all, and it doesn’t hurt that one of the most decadent cakes from the book is front and center on the cover (just look at those pretzels!). With 125 recipes (and wonderful photos to match), there’s a little something for every baker. The book is broken into 5 sections:

Brunch
Cookies, Brownies and Bars
Pies, Crumbles and Cobblers
Layer Cakes, Cupcakes and Skillet Cakes
Ice Cream Social

I’ve already made note of a couple pies I want to make (Hello, Apple Pie with Cheddar-Bacon Crust????!!!!!), and the books already looks fantastic on my cookbook shelf.

Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

I might be a little late to the David Lebovitz fan club, but I fell in love with The Sweet Life in Paris when I read it 2 years ago. As a former French student, it was fascinating to see what life is like in Paris outside of the confines of a text book, and the sprinkling of recipes was a nice touch.

Now we have a more intimate invitation to join him in My Paris Kitchen, and wow. What an invitation. The book is absolutely stunning — the photography is mouthwatering, but somehow ernest (nothing feels flashy). And with 100 recipes, ranging from savory to sweet, to choose from, there’s definitely a little quelque chose français for everyone.

While I’ve had a copy of this book for a bit, I haven’t cooked from it just yet, simply because I’m a bit overwhelmed and awed by the recipes. But I do look forward to making my first selection and feeling like I have David at my elbow, guiding me.

Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Though it’s not baking related, I HAD to share this new book, Fried & True by Lee Brian Schrager and Adeena Sussman (with a sassy and thoughtful foreword by Whoopi Goldberg). The big pull for me, I have to admit, was that this book contains THE recipe for some of the most amazing fried chicken I’ve ever eaten, from Federal Donuts in Center City, Philadelphia.

The book contains more than 50 recipes for fried chicken, and yes, if you didn’t think it was possible to make fried chicken 50 different ways, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find out how wrong you are.

Fried & True is broken up into the following sections:

• Southern Inspiration
• American Originals
• Pacific Rim
• Sandwiches, Wings, Li’l Bits, and Special Diets

And it offers a little something for everyone, including delicious side dishes such as biscuits, hash brown casserole, smothered cabbage, as well as recipes for rubs, sauces, brings and more.

I was happy to see that the book doesn’t skimp on food photography … almost every other page has a stunning photo of fried chicken and sides. Of course, excellent photography adds to the visual appeal of flipping through a book, but I also think it’s extremely helpful to be able to look at food photos for guidance. Does my chicken look like that? Yes? Ok then … time to eat!

The front of the book, even before diving into the recipes, has a full photograph tutorial showing how to break down a full chicken, as well as a spread explaining the variety of fats and oils that can be used (I totally geeked out while looking through the book for the first time on the couch with Ray, exclaiming, “Ohmigod, it includes the smoke points!!!” I’m such a nerd.)

My only criticism is that paperbacks don’t always make for the best cookbooks because they’re hard to keep open without weighing them down with something, and then things can become awkward. But if that’s the only beef I have with this book, then I can look past it.

Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Confession: I’ve been one of those people who thinks vanilla is boring. Vanilla ice cream? Maybe with pie. Vanilla cake? Well, maybe, depending on the frosting. However, by Shauna Sever has proven me very, very wrong.

Vanilla is anything BUT boring. Sever lays down some really fascinating details about the vanilla bean even before she digs into the recipes. Here are a few I found to be interesting:

• Vanilla beans are the second most expensive spice, following the No. 1 saffron.
• The beans have to be harvested by hand (hence the hefty price tag)
• Vanilla beans are the seed pods of a specific type of orchid that prefers hot, humid climates, approximately 700-1,400 miles from the equator.
• Thomas Jefferson had a sweet tooth and was an avid ice cream maker–who would have known? When he was the ambassador to France in 1789, he fell in love with vanilla and brought some beans home with him. His vanilla ice cream recipe is kept at the Library of Congress.

And vanilla is the top-selling ice cream flavor in the U.S. So, okay, okay, I’m obviously missing something here and need to turn my thoughts around!

Luckily, Sever’s book makes it easy to get into the groove. With recipes ranging from breakfast items to cookies, cakes to candies and custards, there’s something for everyone, and almost all skill levels. I also like that there is a balance of typical recipes (vanilla pound cake) and the not-so-typical (twinkie bundt cake and vanilla nougat candies). The book’s photography is stunning, and even the inside cover space is put to work, providing readers with a vanilla lover’s cheat sheet (so if you don’t have a whole vanilla bean, you can figure out the equivalent of extract you use) and a metric conversion chart.

I decided to take one of the recipes for a test drive and baked the Big, Soft Frosted Vanilla Sugar Cookies on page 77. I used Sever’s suggestion and added instant espresso to the cookie batter and frosting, making them Big, Soft Frosted Vanilla Latte Sugar Cookies. The recipe was easy enough to follow, though the first instruction of beating the butter and vanilla together until creamy does not yield creamy results (really, you need to beat the butter and sugar together first, THEN the vanilla, but I made it work).

I used brown sugar, since I’m running low on granulated, but otherwise stuck to Sever’s recipe. I cut the frosting recipe in half, however, because I didn’t want heaps of frosting taking away from the cookie (you can see my cookies in the top photo of the collage above).

The cookies are very vanilla-y, not so latte-ish, and I like how the edges are crisp but the centers are soft. However, I can taste the oil in the recipe (it calls for 1 cup butter and a 1/2 cup oil), which distracts me. If I were to make these again, I’d sub in butter for oil.

So, if you’re a vanilla fan, pick up Pure Vanilla for your bookshelf, or give it as a gift for any of your baking friends … they’ll definitely enjoy it!

Disclosure: I received a review copy from the publisher. However, my opinions are my own.