Customer Reviews

The Amish Cook's Baking Book

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was given this cookbook from a relative who knew that I loved to go get authentic Amish food whenever I visited her in Indiana. While I cannot make these recipes to the caliber of the wonderful Amish ladies up north this cookbook has been really useful in making some lovely dishes.

First a bit of background about this book: Some people have commented on the little stories that are dispersed throughout this cookbook. The reason for this other than obviously providing interest is that these recipes are mainly just a compilation of stories and recipes written by Lovina that are published in various newspapers in the Midwest. From what I was told her mother originally started the column and after she passed Lovina took over the role of writing the column.

As far as the recipes go I feel like they are pretty fool proof. I read one review that complained that sometimes ranges instead of exact measurements were given. I have actually found this to be useful. For example some of the breads may taste better with more or less flour depending upon the oven you are using. Hence, when Lovina suggests 6-7 cups of flour for a recipe you have to either be intuitive enough about food to know when you've used the right amount or you may just want to make up the recipe using various amounts of flour to find what you like best. Regardless of how you make up the recipe though, I have always found that the resulting food is always quite tasty.

One thing I have found is that a lot of the recipes call for allowing the breads to rise multiple times. I have discovered that my recipes often turn out better if you simply place the bread in the proper pan or tin and then let it rise once in the container before cooking. This allows you to get lighter and fluffier rolls and breads. Also, when testing the bread pay more attention to the hollow sound of the bread when you thump it with a knife than the color. Most of these breads remain a very light color even when fully cooked.

As a whole this cookbook has allowed me to save some money by making my own breads every week and I have gotten tons of compliments on every recipe I have cooked from here. The book has great pictures that give you a goal to work toward as you are cooking and the little stories dispersed throughout provide an interesting look at the Amish community. This isn't necessarily a cookbook for a complete cooking novice...but most novices probably shouldn't be attempting baking anyway since it is more of a challenge than other forms of cooking.

I LOVE this book! I first borrowed it from the library and made almost all of the recipies for my family. Now, it is what I want for Christmas!!!

I baked the Dilly bread tonight and it came out perfect. I was so good. I have never cooked with Dill weed, but I loved it.
Thanks for the cookbook.

I'm in love with this book, and the complete and simple way it is written. I love the child's stories, too. It speaks to my heart, and the inner baker in me. I'm working my way through it, page by page. If they can do all these things without all my modern conveniences, surely I can do as well.

Oh my goodness! This is such a beautifully done book! The photos are great! The writing is great! I have already made a few recipes and they are easy to follow and were delicious! Well done Betsy, Lovina, and Kevin!

I have been so impressed with this cookbook!
First off, what a lovely peek into the Amish life and their kitchen! I feel privileged to have this inside look and for all that is shared in this book. Such an honest and real book, just lovely! I nice balance of stories, photos, tips and insight, with the majority focused on recipes, and believe me, there are A LOT of recipes. They all are so appealing including a ton of recipes for cookies, bars and brownies that you just cannot go wrong with!
One of my favorite parts of this cookbook is found in the back, "The Amish Cook's Baking Tips and Table". This includes all sorts of substitutions such as if you don't have brown sugar, cake flour, what to use in place of shortening, etc. What a lifesaver when you're into a recipe and realize you're missing something! I plan on making a copy of this page to keep or post in a convenient location.

A lovely book that did not dissapoint! Thank you to the authors for such an intimate look into the Amish kitchen and the role baking plays in their lives.

The other books which preceded this "The Amish Cook" and "The Amish Cook at Home" both had a start of something good. "The Amish Cook" was a clunky read and did not flow well; recipes were not always clear and almost no photos were included. "The Amish Cook at Home" improved on narrative, being the best of the three as far as informative and engaging storytelling, but still lacked photos of the recipes. This most recent volume "The Amish Cook's Baking Book" is a great third book, showing progress, careful thought and more editorial finesse. There were beautiful photos in the book, just not many showing food. And that was a major drawback.

This book has a great narrative voice and includes not only Lovina's voice, but as with the prior book, includes small vignettes written by the children which are both charming and informative. The very best improvement is the inclusion of MANY more photos of the completed recipes themselves. This makes this a near perfect cookbook as far as charm, information, beautiful photographs and overall usefulness.

My only complaint? I could actually use a few more photos. If photos are the most expensive commodity in publishing and their number must be limited I wish they would have been slightly more careful in their choices. Of course, most Amish recipes (like those for bread) may not need a photo to help the prospective cook visualize the finished result. But other recipes are much more unfamiliar to the average baker. I would have liked more photos of unfamiliar recipes (like "Tears on my Pillow" pie) rather than a photo of a loaf of home baked bread.

That small complaint aside, this is a wonderful book as it stands. I have already purchased two more to give as gifts. It is one I will keep and use often. Thanks Lovina and Kevin!

This is a beautiful book. If you love reading about Amish life in words and pictures and have always wanted to stand beside an Amish woman and cook with her...this is a wonderful book.

My caution is that I think I would not give this book to someone who isn't an experienced cook. There are some issues.

I baked the Homemade Bread as my first recipe. The recipe reads it makes 1 loaf. The ingredients when I read them make me think, hmmm, this seems like it would make at least two loaves (9x5 standard pan). 2 1/2 cups of water is going to need quite a bit of flour to form a soft dough ball, and it did.

Against all my cooking sense, but being someone who always follows a recipe as "is" first, then tweaks it, I did put it in one loaf pan, but watched it carefully. As it began to ooze as it rose all over the sides of the pan...I took the dough, punched it down, split it into TWO loaf pans and let it rise, and even those loaves were a good size loaf.

BUT the taste was absolutely delicious. So I think if you are familiar enough with cooking and recipes, you'll do well with this cookbook. The recipes look yummy and seem tried and true which sounds like it would be a great cookbook for a new cook or baker, but based on this first recipe I tried, I'd hesitate. Their alarms wouldn't go off when they read 2 1/2 cups of water for one loaf, for instance. I can't say anything about the other recipes because I haven't tried them. But I will be trying more of them based on how we all loved the bread.

The next recipe in the book is a recipe that is for bread for those who can't tolerate yeast. Just thought I'd mention that as well.

I got this book for Christmas and it is the BEST book for baking and also learning a little more about the Amish

Recently, I entered and won a cookbook giveaway on one of my favorite food blogs, Sugar Pies. "The Amish Cook's Baking Book" by Lovinia Eicher is the third cookbook by Eicher and her editor, Kevin Williams. Lovinia Eicher has written the nationally syndicated newspaper column "The Amish Cook", which was started by her mother, Elizabeth Coblentz, since 2002. This cookbook contains over 100 Amish baking recipes for pies, cakes, desserts, and cookies. Between recipes, the author provides commentary about cooking and Amish life in general. In addition, her children also have written short sidebars throughout the book. The recipes are clear,concise, and easy-to-follow. I haven't started baking from it yet, but I look forward to working my way through it. So, again, thank you, Sugar Pies!