Customer Reviews

The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook: More Than 80 Recipes for Irresistible, Old-Fashioned Treats

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I agree with the first reviewer of this book that the key word here is "old fashioned." These are the desserts that you turn to when you want something warm and familiar, and that'll settle into your stomach with a delightful plop.

Right from the start, the author makes it clear that all her desserts are made from scratch with whole milk, real butter, and white sugar. While die-hard health buffs might scream at the thought of no low-fat anything in this book, most dessert lovers like me revel in the Red Velvet Cake, Banana Cream Pudding (presented in a most novel way!), Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies, cupcakes, and Rice Crispies Treats, which, (for me) was a hard to find recipe until I bought this book.

This book is simple pleasure and it takes you back to the joy of baking. There are no fancy, gravity-defying desserts here - just sheer delicious desserts you can make at home.

I bought this book based on the rave reviews and immediately made two of the recipes. Neither of them was anything I wanted to serve to family and friends. I kept checking the recipes to make sure I hadn't forgotten something. Nope--all there.
As someone who bakes quite a bit, I found the recipes lacking some detail and I think there are better techniques than some of those offered.
I'm sure this is a great bakery in person, I'm just not overly impressed with the book. There are far better books (and recipes) to be had if you're looking to make a good dessert.

This book is worth the price for the banana pudding recipe alone. It is by far the best banana pudding I've ever had. I made it in a 9 x 13 pan instead of a bowl and it was a big hit at a family gathering. I also made the blueberry coffee cake, which I found disappointing. The cake itself was o.k., if a bit dry, but the streussel topping was dreadful. I believe it contains something like 12 tablespoons of vegetable shortening, which raised my eyebrows, but I decided to go ahead and try it anyway. My suspicions were confirmed. I don't mind the fat aspect, but the flavor of that topping is just terrible - like eating cake topped with fried chicken skin. I call this cake the Criso crunch cake. Blech. Several of the other recipes look good, though. I have a feeling I just ran into a clunker with the blueberry cake.

I am loving this book, but let's get one thing straight. This is not a cupcake book, as the cover would lead you to believe. In fact, I only saw one reference to a cupcake from a regular layer cake recipe, even though it is written by one of the owners of New York's famed Magnolia Bakery, which has gained notoriety for its cupcakes. At any rate, the recipes contained in this book are pure magic. So far I have made the white layer cake with chocolate chips and peanut butter icing (as suggested), and it was quite a hit with friends and family. Other recipes I'm going to try in the next few days are the sour cream coffee cake and the buttercup golden layer cake. This book is all about making things from scratch like they did in the olden days, but you could also mix and match homemade cakes with store-bought icing or vice-versa. Read the introductory section with tips and pay attention to the details (e.g., use cake flour instead of all-purpose or self-rising, use butter/sour cream at room temp., etc.), which will make all the difference. The section with icing recipes is short but covers a variety of flavors. It's definitely not an Atkins-friendly cookbook or any of that, so you know it's good for your sweet tooth! I would definitely recommend this book to any baker, novice or expert, and am looking forward to buying 'The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook' (co-authored by Appel) next.

This book is fabulous; it's full of old-fashioned, butter-laden, comforting treats that are easy to make, and a pleasure to devour. Lots of people seem to be wondering where the cupcake recipes are: you just make the regular cake recipes in cupcake wrappers and bake for slightly less time! The buttercup golden layer cake recipe is to die for when coupled with the american buttercream frosting, by the way. The recipe for fresh peach pie is dreamy as well. Everything I've made in this book -- and I've made many things -- has turned out wonderfully. My copy is all warpy and dog-eared from constant use... maybe it's time to buy another...

I enjoyed the simplicity of the recipes in this book. It's a refreshing change from some of the baking books out there that contain recipes that take three days to prepare. I made the yellow cupcakes first and my kids were begging me to bake another batch. This book contains recipes that are homey and comforting, as well as tasty.

So, most people who buy this cookbook are aware of the falling out between the owners of Magnolia Bakery -- that's how Buttercup came to be. Since Buttercup is essentially a spinoff of Magnolia, you might suspect that the recipes are similar. They are.

Certain recipes are identical. For example, the "Buttercup Golden Layer Cake" is the same as Magnolia's "Traditional Vanilla Birthday Cake". There are a few other examples. With the same heritage, it's inevitable that this type of thing would happen. To the reviewers who didn't bother to read the recipes, cupcakes are simply the cakes with the batter poured into cups.

So, the difference is in the other recipes. Buttercup tends to pick some really strange ones. Orange Marble Pound Cake anyone? There are a lot of "white cakes" -- cakes without egg yolks. White cakes are definitely not for the beginner because they require a little more of a delicate touch than the "mix and bake" of a Duncan Hines box. Also, a lot of recipes call for cake flour, an ingredient that may not be familiar to a lot of beginners. The Milk Chocolate Layer Cake sounds good, but like many of the cakes in this book, the flavoring is really subtle and slightly disappointing. Same goes with the Red Velvet Cake.

In contrast, the cakes in Magnolia are very straightforward and usually require ordinary ingredients and preparation. And they're much more flavorful. They're simpler and faster. And in my opinion, they're more useful recipes. I can't think of a time when I would want to make a "Fireside Orange Cake with Brandy Glaze" from Buttercup's instead of a "Chocolate Buttermilk Layer Cake" from Magnolia's.

Which is a shame, because Buttercup is the superior bakery when it comes time to compare the two bakeries in person.

But this isn't to say the Buttercup book is bad. They always turn out if you follow the sometimes convoluted instructions, and they do taste like what you get in the store. But for my money, I'd just stick with the Magnolia Cookbook.

Ok, so is anyone else dissappointed that Buttercup Bake Shop is known and famous for their cupcakes and there aren't any in this book? Recipes are fine but they sell you on the cupcakes on the cover. Not the best baking book ever either and I really would be qualified to know as I have a baking business.

Long for the "good old days" when life was simple -- and so were the best desserts? In New York City, you can travel back to that era via the Buttercup Bake Shop for scrumptious old fashioned treats you wish your mother would have made. Thanks to this cookbook, you can share in that delicious world no matter where you live. Recipes enable you to easily duplicate the great treats in this shop. These goodies are universally satisfying and reassuringly reminiscent of the days when all it took was a great homemade cupcake to make life good. True "comfort food" for the times we are living in today!

I was somewhat skeptical when I first purchased this book. I'm an amateur, "weekend" baker and for some reason I thought that these recipes would be difficult. I was so happy to find out that not only are they relatively easy, they are absolutely delicious. I've made almost everything from this book and nothing has failed me. Now this is my "go-to" dessert book. I made the carrot cake this past weekend (I've never made carrot cake before) and it was wonderful. All of the cakes I've made have turned out moist and just like my grandma used to make. I highly recommend this book if you're looking for some good old-fashioned desserts that aren't too difficult to make.