Customer Reviews

Buttercup Bakes at Home: More Than 75 New Recipes from Manhattan's Premier Bake Shop for Tempting Homemade Sweets

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As much as I love Buttercup's baked goods, the recipes here represent a different class of sweets that won't be found in their stores, with the exception of their chocolate cake recipe. And why wasn't that included in the first book?? I for one would have preferred the chocolate cake to that insulting recipe on how to make Rice Krispies Treats.

Moving past this gross oversight, a lot of the cake recipes here focus on her favorite flavors: almonds, berries, bananas, and random liqueurs. Pumpkin and gingerbread make prominent appearances. Clearly she wrote this book in the fall. If you don't like a lot of these flavors, this is a book to skip for sure. For a person who claims to love chocolate at one point in the book, Appel sure is stingy on chocolate based recipes.

There are a ton of quick breads, pound cakes, and pie/tart recipes. I just don't care about a lot of that stuff -- you'd think a bakery that sells mostly cakes and a few icebox pies would focus on their strengths. Instead, half of the book is filled with recipes that haven't been tested on her customers. Why would I trust her Cranberry Tea Loaf if she hasn't sold any of it? Does adding Lipton tea to a bread sound at all appetizing?

There are a few true knockouts in this book that you can't get anywhere else. The Orange Almond cake in this book might be the best cake I've ever had -- you might consider buying this book on this recipe alone, it's that good. And those black and white cupcakes another reviewer mentioned are pretty tasty.

If you're buying this book just because you like Buttercup's baked goods and want to make them at home, stick with the original book or Magnolia's. This book really doesn't supplant the original books that started the American cupcake craze.

I love baking and am rather obsessed with cook books - hence why I own over 80! I'm always on the look out for great books and the reason why I bought this one was because I know that the author was once a co-owner of the famous Magnolia Bakery in New York and thought that this book may contain their secret recipes..

But after reading through it and attempted several cake and cookie recipes, I must admit that I feel rather disappointed with this book. Firstly, a lot of the recipes contained within this book (and the original Buttercup Bakeshop cook book) are, or almost, IDENTICAL to the ones found in the 2 Magnolia Cook books! I mean, no wonder.. if they both came up with the winning recipes together, why wouldn't Jennifer Appel (the author) use the recipes in her books too? So if you already own Magnolia cook books, I'd say don't bother buying this one because they're almost inter-changeable.

Secondly, although there're some very interesting recipes in this book, I don't think that there're that many that I'd really like to try at home. And the ones that I have didn't really turn out that great. Don't get me wrong, the recipes DID work and the results looked good and they were all edible and ok, but it really didn't live up to my high expectation. To be honest, I don't think that their cupcakes or other yummy goodies are that amazing, I've tried other recipes from other books and they produced much more mouth-watering results.

Also, note that all the measurements are American (US cups) but you can easily convert them into metric measurements by using the charts provided at the back of the book.

In conclusion, this book will give you some good ideas and produce good (but not great!) results. The recipes are relatively easy to follow (if you stick CLOSELY to the book!) and doesn't call for many hard-to-find ingredients - although beware of the amount of sugar and butter that they ask for! It may not help you to produce the best cakes and desserts, but will surely keep you entertained if you want to bake but don't have too much time. A good addition to your cook book collection.

I have now made each item off the cover and many more, I love this cookbook full of classic treats, and my family loves it too! The instructions are clear and easy to understand, however it would be nice to have a few more pics of the contents.

Absolutely awesome baking book! It has a small selection on everything you'd want to make: cookies, bars, coffee cakes and then some impressive but simple to make layer cakes and cupcakes. I made the carrot cake and the chocolate cake with brandied whipped cream... a little time consuming but not complicated and very very impressive. I highly recommend it if you are looking for recipes you can use for special occasions and want a real alternative to the boring cake mixes.

Cupcakes have been going through a resurgence in popularity and this is a great book for trying new recipes. There are also recipes for cookies, muffins, quick breads and pies. I tried the black and white cupcake recipe and they turned out great! A great addition to a baking enthusiast's collection.

I've only tried one recipe in this cookbook so far -- Pumpkin Bourbon Cheesecake -- but I've made it twice, both times for large holiday gatherings. This recipe alone was worth the cost of the book!

The cheesecake was easy to make, baked up exactly as promised, and received rave reviews from EVERYONE who tried it. Even folks who aren't foodies were finding creative ways to describe it in glowing terms, usually formatted like "OMG, this is so ___ (light yet silky, etc.)." In fact, one person said it was the best cheesecake she'd ever had - EVER! LOL

It's going to be part of my "go-go" baking repertoire forever!

This book only had a few pictures, including the one on the cover. I'm very visual; I very much prefer cookbooks with good photographs. Also, I was surprised to find that the selection of recipes was pretty commonplace. There's not much here that I can't find in my good old Betty Crocker cookbook.

I LOVE TO BAKE AND THIS BOOK HAS SOME GREAT RECIPES. THE RECIPES ARE EASY TO FOLLOW, SO IF YOU HAVE SOME BASIC BAKING KNOWLEDGE, YOU'LL ENJOY THIS BOOK. MOST OF THE RECIPES CALL FOR INGREDIENTS THAT ONE WOULD NORMALLY HAVE ON HAND.

All the receipes are decadent. I can't make anything and keep it around the house since I gravitate towards it constantly. I do like to make the receipes and take over to friends and family for potluck dinners or make a batch of something for a treat for my co-workers. So far everything prepared out of this cookbook has been a big hit.

I have only tried one recipe so far, the brownies on the cover. Everyone loved them. Anxious to try more.