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70 of 76 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
underwhelmed, February 11, 2008
This review is from: Bundt Cake Bliss: Delicious Desserts from Midwest Kitchens (Paperback)
As a transplanted Minnesotan, I was looking forward to receiving and using this book. While the book has its strong points, overall I've been underwhelmed. The author is clearly new at this, and the book is poorly edited. For instance, in the pumpkin spice cake recipe, a "small" can of pumpkin is called for, without giving any indication as to what constitutes a small can. I used a 15 oz can, and the cake seemed to be almost mushy. Also, despite the fact that the cakes all call for different amounts of flour, they are all described as fitting into a 12 cup bundt pan. The only cake I've tried so far that fits into a 12 cup pan is the low fat apple cake (my favorite recipe out of this book so far, actually). The chocolate mayonnaise cake barely came halfway up the sides! (also, it didn't taste very good) In addition, the index is *terrible*--very clearly not a professional job. For instance, there are four kinds of apple cakes in this book, but there isn't one coherent entry for apple cakes. I consider a good index to be an essential part of a good cookbook, as it makes finding the recipes you need so much easier. Again, I see this as an example of the lack of professionalism in creating this cookbook. The Minnesota Historical Society Press has created more than one cookbook, and it really should get an editor who knows how to handle these sorts of books.
As another reviewer mentions, a lot of these recipes are based on mixes. Personally, I see that as a real negative--I buy cookbooks because I don't want to use cake mixes.
This book is really cute, and the authors comments are nice. The low-fat apple cake recipe was good, and the pumpkin spice cake recipe okay (though mushy). Overall, though, I'm kind of disappointed.
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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A welcome and recommended culinary resource, December 2, 2007
This review is from: Bundt Cake Bliss: Delicious Desserts from Midwest Kitchens (Paperback)
Susanna Short draws upon a life-time of interest in baking, as well as her professional experience and expertise as a caterer, to showcase eighty-five truly impressive recipes drawn from Midwestern kitchens and cooks. Following an informative chapter on 'Ingredients, Tools, and Preparation Tips', the individual recipes comprising "Bundt Cake Bliss" are organized into sections that focus on Chocolate Cakes; Coffee Cakes; Harvest Bundts; Springtime Bundts; Bundts off The Beaten path; Blazes; Frostings and Fillings; and Sauces. From Red Devil Cake; Hungarian Cheese-Filled Coffee Cake; Apple Butter Bundt with Cider Glaze; and Coconut Swirl Cake with Easter Jellybeans; to Pine Nut and Chili Bundt with Chili Glaze; Eastern European Honey Cake with Lemon Sugar Glaze; Butter Vanilla Frosting; and Old-Fashioned Lemon Sauce, "Bundt Cake Bliss" is a welcome and recommended culinary resource for baking that perfect desert cake for that perfect occasion all year round!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you own a pan, this is a serviceable manual for using it., June 16, 2008
This review is from: Bundt Cake Bliss: Delicious Desserts from Midwest Kitchens (Paperback)
Blame Bonny Wolf, author of EATING WITH MY MOUTHFUL, essays developed from her NPR reports. Her chapter on the Bundt pan was irresistible. I went to the back of the closet, retrieved mine and bought this book, largely on the basis that it is endorsed by Ms. Bundt (Dorothy Dalquist). With the exception of the chocolate mayonnaise cake that I must have screwed up somehow (I probably should have left it in the pan to cool longer before upending it on the rack--it arrived in pieces), what I have made thus far has worked. I am anti cake mix, so about half the recipes are not for me, but there are enough that are from scratch to make this worthwhile. I've served the low-fat chocolate cake without anyone guessing, so the recipes do work.
Why I've nicked it a star: Where's the editor who would have caught the reference to pans, when only one pan is called for? Or the editor who would have noticed that one need not turn to page 136 for the peanut butter frosting recipe because it is also already on page 66 with the cake recipe that calls for it? Or that the two peanut butter frosting recipes are identical except for the amount of peanut butter? There are no photos to suggest how to decorate with frosting (really, I don't know, I only know how to do a Jackson Pollock effect with icing or a glaze). The homespun comments are cute but stop short of obnoxious. In fact, they can be enlightened (there's a "coming out" cake).
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