Beatrice Ojakangas' Great Holiday Baking Book [Hardcover]

Beatrice Ojakangas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 1994

No holiday would be complete without the wonderful baked goods that make every occasion special. Now Beatrice Ojakangas, one of America's best-loved bakers, presents more than 250 recipes in this comprehensive soon-to-be classic.

Beatrice Ojakangas' Great Holiday Baking Book takes you from spring to winter with 21 cherished holidays and the favorite baked treats that make them memorable. For Valentine's Day, say "I love you" with a heart-shaped coffee cake and a plate of Lemon Hearts. Celebrate the Fourth of July with all-American Blueberry Bars and seasonal Peach Cream Pie. For Halloween, treat your friends to Peanut Butter Monsters. Thanksgiving offerings include such autumn favorites as Cinnamon -- Wild Rice Pudding, Raisin -- Sweet Potato Bread, and Pumpkin-Pecan Pie. For Christmas, the biggest baking season of the year, Beatrice Ojakangas pulls out all the stops, including recipes for 38 classic and fancy cookies, 18 yeast breads, 13 quick breads, 9 cakes (with wonderful fruitcakes), 10 bar cookies and brownies, and more.

In addition to simple recipes, Beatrice Ojaleangas' Great Holiday Baking Book is chockfull of boxes with helpful tips and explanations of the various cultural holidays. Beatrice Ojakangas provides information on throwing a cookie-swap party, organizing your bustling holiday kitchen, involving the kids in baking fun, and more.

With breads, cookies, cakes, pastries, and other festive specialties for almost every occasion, Beatrice Ojakangas' Great Holiday Baking Book is destined to become one-of those beloved flour-speckled volumes that will find its way off the bookshelf and into the kitchen over and over again.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Food connoisseur Ojakangas (Gourmet Cooking for Two) is no stranger to baked goods. Her newest volume is an innovative accumulation of culinary memorabilia commemorative of celebrated holidays. The book covers a wide cross-section of cultural backgrounds and delves into the historical tradition of each holiday, as well as the foods served during its shenanigans. The first section unfolds with Passover dessert treats, marking their biblical origins and the absence of leavening agents (which represent "the evil impulse of the heart"), with the exception of beaten eggs. However, during the Easter celebration, an egg is symbolic of Christ's tomb. The recipes are challenging to prepare. Some require letting the ingredients chill overnight or preparing the mixture a couple of days in advance. However, bakers should not be deterred by lengthy preparation time-try baking dinner rolls in one hour or making a favorite, fruit-or nut-filled rugalachs. This is a handy reference tool for whenever the right festive occasion arises.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Klivans, a talented home cook turned pastry chef, offers a collecton of desserts so mouth-watering that it would hardly matter if they had to be prepared at the last minute, so the fact that all can be made ahead and frozen is a wonderful bonus. She starts with "The Frozen Pantry," basics such as cake layers and praline that are good to have on hand, and then moves on to recipes for Caramel Butterscotch Squares, Chocolate Hazelnut Truffle Cake, Candy Bar Pie, and dozens more, including, not surprisingly, lots of ice cream desserts. Highly recommended. [Homestyle Books dual main selection.] Ojakangas is the author of more than a dozen cookbooks, including Scandinavian Feasts (LJ 5/15/92) and many books on baking. Here she includes both savory baked goods and sweet ones for holidays the year round, from Passover and Easter through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah to Valentine's Day. The recipes are international in scope, with lots of traditional ethnic specialites; most are more homey than sophisticated, and some are earmarked for baking with kids. An appealing and varied assortment; recommended for most baking collections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 357 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter; 1 edition (October 18, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517593300
• ISBN-13: 978-0517593301
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #832,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Beatrice Ojakangas has taught cooking and has written articles for Gourmet, Bon Apetit, Cuisine, Pleasures of Cooking, Cooking Light, Womans Day, and Redbook. Her previous books include The Great Scandinavian Baking Book and Great Whole Grain Breads. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ojakangas is the Queen of Baking!, May 8, 1998

By 

"the_mom" (Washington State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beatrice Ojakangas' Great Holiday Baking Book (Hardcover)

This book is full of recipes themed by holiday. It is worth buying for the Chocolate Beer Cake alone! Ojakangas is the Queen of Baking, I have enjoyed all of her books, and this one is no different. I would love to spend a year baking each of the recipes in this book on the appropriate holiday. Please, bring this book back in print, my library has it on a 7-day checkout because it is a holiday book!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic as always:), March 19, 2000

By 

Amy McKenzie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beatrice Ojakangas' Great Holiday Baking Book (Hardcover)

This book was a great reference for holiday baking, everything is covered, even April Fool's Day:) Beatrice Ojakangas is indeed one of the best cookbook writers today and it's the little touches that she puts into her books like the personal anecdotes and the invaluable tips that make her so. I highly recommend this book:)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative book, January 3, 2008

By 

Cookbook Gal "Cookbook Gal" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Beatrice Ojakangas' Great Holiday Baking Book (Hardcover)

Cons: I'm giving it 4 stars because there is not one single photo, or an illustration, in the entire book! Pictures or drawings would be tremendously helpful when it comes to shaping some of the breads in the book.

Pros: This book contains delicious, including some hard-to-find recipes for every holiday throughout the year, including some I'd never heard of. There is a comprehensive Advent and Christmas section, with heavy emphasis on Scandinavian baked goods (for example, Norwegian Kransekake). The recipes include cookies, savory goods, breads, tarts, cakes, etc. The author includes several fruitcake recipes that were so delicious, my fruitcake-hating family insisted that I put them on the repeat list. A wonderful resource, and I'm glad I have it, despite the lack of photos or drawings.