Customer Reviews

Kiss My Bundt: Recipes from the Award-Winning Bakery

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you like to bake cakes on occasion, or a lot, and you want a go-to simple book, this is the one. Basically, Chrysta provides you with a cake baking foundation in the form of ratios for dry, wet, and solid ingredients, and a cake technique education on handling the ingredients, as well as a base for making glazes and buttercream frostings. There are a TON of recipes in here that produce some delicious cakes, but she ultimately gives you the tools to make your own creations. I'm an avid baking cookbook collector. However, if I was in some weird circumstance where I was forced to pick only one cake cookbook, Kiss my Bundt would be my choice.

On another note, I was fortunate to have taken a cake baking class with Chrysta at Kitchen on Fire (a cooking school) when she came to visit the Bay area a week ago. It was very fun. She divided us into 3 teams and we learned the base cake, and had the option to choose from among a list of other ingredients to flavor the cake, e.g., strawberry, coconut, chocolate, lime, lemon, etc., etc. So, even though all of us were essentially making the same cake foundation (a vanilla cake), we all had entirely different cakes once we added the unique ingredient combination that our teams decided on. My team made a strawberry mojito cake, with a lime buttercream frosting for some of the cakes, and a rum-lime glaze for the rest. We used lime, mint, rum, and a strawberry compote (what Chrysta terms "strawberry mash" in her book). It was sooooo good! The other two teams made a coconut lime cake with a lime buttercream frosting, and a chocolate, coffee, and cinnamon cake with an orange buttercream frosting. All of the cakes turned out magnificently! Three entirely different cakes from one base cake recipe. Awesome.

So, get Chrysta's book. You will definitely learn how to make some excellent cakes.

Happy Baking!

This little book contains the best bundt cakes ever. I make the red velvet cake at least twice a month, and it's always a hit. The author is very detailed and tells you exactly how to get the best result with every recipe. Lots of imaginative flavor combinations, too, and she includes recipes for vegan versions of some popular bundts.

honestly, i can't even believe that i can bake a cake from scratch. but i did. i've baked several from this book, and this book is my new bible. i have baked some of the most delicious cakes i have ever tasted in my life from this book! yes yes yes! the red velvet impressed friends and my boyfriend. the coffee cake thrilled my co-workers. and i made the strawberry ginger cake for my roommate's birthday. this is my new choice for gifting my friends that love to cook too!

When I first got this book, I was a little disappointed. I usually like cook books with lots of pictures, and this book only has 3 pages in the middle that has images. If I was browsing this book at a book store instead of buying it online, I wouldn't have picked it up. Well I am so glad I did. I made the strawberry bundt cake tonight and it was amazing, it is moist, soft, and it has real strawberry pieces! I tried experimenting making fruit cake with real fruit before and was never successful because fresh fruit has too much water. Well after following the recipe from this cook book, I finally realized the secret of using fresh fruit in cakes!!!!!! I am so glad I got this book, it's worth it just for the strawberry bundt cake alone! I can't wait to try other flavors soon :)

One thing, I like my dessert not overly sweet, so I always cut all recipe's sugar in half. I used about 3/4 of the sugar it called for and it came out perfect for my taste.

I wish it had a little more variety, many of the cakes are the exact same recipe, just switching out 1 flavor extract ingredient.

I had read the reviews but I was still not prepared for this thin little paperback with no pictures. Lately a lot of cookbooks have been more like coffee table books or art books with slick pages of beautiful pictures. This is more like the stick figure turkey drawing your kid gives you. That being said, this book is fantastic.

Whenever I get a cookbook I start with what I think is the simplest recipe to get an idea of the layout, the way it's written, directions, etc. I started with the vanilla cake and chocolate buttercream icing. Even the batter on this one was delicious. Both my sons mentioned how good the house smelled, it was the vanilla cake baking. The compliments didn't stop, the cake was delicious, as was the icing (or frosting, depending on where you're from)

The book starts with her talking about different sized bundt pans, what kind of flour, milk, etc to use (very helpful) and other good tips. Then the recipes are laid out very well, a clear list of ingredients, easily followed directions, and yummy cake goodness waiting at the end.

The smashes are a particularly good idea, a way to make sure the fruit gets all through the cake.

I can see myself using this book over and over because of the variety, ease of use, and who doesn't like a beautiful bundt cake!

Okay...I bought this because all the reviews actually had people who had made and tried multiple recipes...with good results. I love cake and so decided to get this little gem. FYI...I prefer cupcake size...easier to share...and only 15min to bake in my oven. I have tried the Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcakes and modified the chocolate buttercream with added cinnamon...TASTY...great reviews from all the people I shared them with...and I ate 8 of them within the first few days...scary. Next I made coconut cupcakes and topped them with a lime buttercream (I did adjust the lime with the addition of lime juice...I needed more punch to my frosting)...those too...fantastic. Then (and this was in a two week time period) I tried Strawberry Lemonade picnic cupcakes with an enhanced lemon buttercream frosting...once again...great success. Though, I think I would either just make strawberry or lemon cupcakes and not combine them (I'm thinking strawberry cake with lime frosting...yummy). I did take a week off and then I just had to try the pumpkin cupcakes...with chocolate buttercream...yummy. I might do these again...extremely moist and freakish yummy...great flavor; also, excellent with lemon frosting. Next on the list...trying combos...this book just gives you a great base recipe and enough variations to give you a good idea of what you can do to start inventing your own flavor combinations. I love it...and everyone I've been sharing with...asking for the recipes. Oh...and I timed it...if you just focus on making the cupcakes...it'll only take you an hour from start to finish and you'll end up with 18-24+ cupcakes depending on recipe (24--chocolate, 18 or so for vanilla base, and 24+ for pumpkin). Totally worth it...just remember to share...or workout a lot more!

The Kiss My Bundt (KMB) bakery was by far one of my favorite memories of my summer in Los Angeles. This cookbook is definitely the next best thing. My love affair with KMB began with Chrysta Wilson's (author) red velvet cake. Although I am a native Southerner, I would not truly call myself a red velvet fan until discovering this lovely bundt. Certainly buying the cookbook was the next natural step. In addition to the famous red velvet, this cookbook will allow me to relive the memories of strawberry bundts with strawberry icing, and the more classic yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. Just yesterday, I brought baby bundts (as featured on the cover) to a party, and they were an absolute hit! I piped the delicious cream cheese frosting with a pastry bag, and my red velvet bundts turned out just like the one on the cover. With the abundant baking information (in addition to the fabulous and diverse recipes), anyone can look like an expert baker! Tell all your friends to "Kiss My Bundt!"

This is a very small unpretentious book, but it is packed with great recipes. Chrysta shares her recipes and even more importantly tells you how to create your own flavor of from-scratch bundt cakes. There are no cake mix shortcuts, and all the recipes are for either large or small bundt type cakes. So far I have only made the red velvet mini bundts with cream cheese frosting, and they were adorable and delicious. I would recommend this book to any cake baker. (Note there are only a few photos).

Pros: great recipes for bundt cakes, plus info on now to make variations

Cons: Book is small and hard to use, no photographs.

This book made me feel like I could improve upon my baking skills and start by own little bakery. I love that she gave the secret to using all purpose flour as opposed to the cake flour and save a little money. She gives you a lot of basic knowledge to build upon and make your own creations. I highly recommend this book.

One of the best memories of childhood is the smell of freshly-baked cake coming out of grandma's oven. In today's crazy fast world, who has time to bake, let alone bake from scratch?! Many people today are intimidated to even try their hand at baking. Oh, they MUST get this delicious and creative book!!!

The recipes are so amazingly easy to follow, and reward you with some of the best cakes you'll ever have and ever want to taste in your future. My favorite is the Deep, dark chocolatey Irish Whisky Cake! Oh, Heaven here I come! Don't be intimidated to try the cake with bacon...delish! Chrysta knows her bundts! Yum!