Cupcakes: Luscious bakeshop favorites from your home kitchen [Hardcover]

Shelly Kaldunski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2008

Cupcakes are everyone's favorite little indulgences. They're loved by kids and adults alike because they're playfully sweet as well as utterly charming. These days, cupcakes can be found in bakeries everywhere, but with just a little know-how, you can easily bake your own tempting boutique-bakery cupcakes at home and decorate them with flair.

Cupcakes contains recipes for every palate: Here you'll find classic Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream for the traditionalist, Triple Chocolate Cupcakes for the chocaholic, PB & J Cupcakes for the kids, Salted Caramel Cupcakes for the epicurean, as well as seasonal holiday cupcakes, and dozens more. Whether you are a novice or experienced baker, inside these pages you'll find friendly advice about ingredients and equipment, cupcake-making and baking tips, and a collection of ideas for decorating your cupcakes with either elegant minimalism or grand flourishes.

With this book as your guide, cupcakes have never tasted -- or looked -- so good!

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (October 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1740896556
• ISBN-13: 978-1740896559
• ASIN: 1416589007
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 7.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #374,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Welcome Addition to My Bookshelf, October 9, 2008

By 

S. D. Fischer (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cupcakes: Luscious bakeshop favorites from your home kitchen (Hardcover)

I have a lot of dessert cookbooks already including a few specifically on cupcakes (500 Cupcakes; Cupcakes from the Cake Doctor) so I wasn't looking for another. But once I flipped thru Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski, I knew I wanted it. It is organized intuitively and has many beautiful, full-page photos. Best of all, it includes recipes for tasty creations I had not imagined such as chai & honey cupcakes with honey whipped cream, grapefruit & buttermilk cupcakes, lime meringue cupcakes, banana caramel cupcakes, hazelnut- brown butter cupcakes, and MANY more.

Chapters include All About Cupcakes (baking basics); Basic Cupcakes (vanilla, chocolate, yellow, mocha, gingerbread, etc.); Fruit & Nut Cupcakes (triple berry, lemon blueberry crunch, sour cherry-almond, rum raisin, banana caramel, etc.); Chocolate Cupcakes (black forest, mexican chocolate, red velvet, black & white, etc.); Special Occasion Cupcakes (tres leches, tiramisu, jumbo malted chocolate chip, Christmas peppermint, Easter egg nest, etc.); Frostings, Fillings & Finishes (buttercream, cream cheese with variations, meringue, marshmallow, vanilla glaze, caramel drizzle, etc.), and Creative Cupcaking (2 pages of additional suggestions for combining cupcakes, frostings and garnishes).

30 finished cupcakes are pictured in full page color photos. Additional smaller color photos are included in the All About Cupcakes chapter to demonstrate techniques as well as garnishes.

Since this book covers the basics as well as many original creations, it would be an excellent gift for a beginning baker or someone with more baking experience.

I can't wait to start baking!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Frostings Fantastic, Cakes Need Work, May 9, 2009

By 

SMoto (Brea, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cupcakes: Luscious bakeshop favorites from your home kitchen (Hardcover)

My review is based on the the 3 recipes I've tried so far. The frostings in particular were 5 stars in taste & texture, probably from all the butter. The Malt- flavored buttercream was so exceptional I was sampling the last bits off the spatula. The cakes, on other hand while tasty, were all a little dry & disappointing--I'm going to try them again later with some modifications.
If you're into easy & simple, the ones I made weren't and used a lot of utencils, pots and bowls when, maybe the cupcake or frosting could have been put together with fewer if you thought about what you are doing.
I plan to try out a couple more, but watch the moisture content, so they don't come out dry.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have, February 23, 2009

By 

Jay (Upper South) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cupcakes: Luscious bakeshop favorites from your home kitchen (Hardcover)

If you like making cupcakes this book is great. There are many variations and ideas and this book is simple for a new baker. The ingredients are available in any grocery store and the directions are easy to follow. The mixes and frostings do require a lot of beating and I would suggest a good stand mixer opposed to a hand mixer. This book will inspire you to make your own combinations.
For the folks that found the cake recipes dry, they are probably overbaking. I bake ALL cupcakes at 350 for 16-18 minutes (as soon as a toothpick comes out clean). Not the 20+ minutes suggested in the book.