The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook: Old-Fashioned Recipes From New York's Sweetest Bakery (Hardcover)

~ (Author), (Author) "In an age of microwave, quick-and-easy, freeze and defrost, the Magnolia Bakery takes us back to a time when we simply did everything the old-fashioned..." (more)
Key Phrases: peanut butter cups, stop the mixer several times, ice between the layers, Heath Bars (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Appel and Torey are owners of the eponymous Manhattan bakery, which turns out the kind of white-cake treats that graced most tables decades ago. Retro deserts include Chocolate Wafer Icebox Cake, made with Nabisco wafers, and Oatmeal, Raisin, Almond Cookies. These recipes are classics, with a few updated touches. Pecan Pie was handed down from a Texas grandmother; Magic Cookie Bars are packed with chocolate chips and coconut and sweetened with three cans of condensed milk. The unfortunately named Dump Cake is a throwback to old women's magazine recipes, consisting of cherry pie filling, canned pineapple, cake mix, pecans and butter. These super-sweet, mostly buttery items hark back to a pre-cholesterol eraAevidenced by Chocolate Chip, Peanut, Banana Loaf, which the authors describe as "healthy." A chapter on cheesecakes offers Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake and White Chocolate-Hazelnut Cheesecake. A section of baking tips includes little new information for even novice cooks (e.g., advice such as measuring accurately and watching cookies carefully to guard against burning). The same can be said of this book as a whole: these recipes are good, if ordinary. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Mary Alice Kellogg The Shuttle Sheet The kind of old-fashioned time warp baking so good you'll wonder, is it legal? -- Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; illustrated edition edition (November 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684859106
• ISBN-13: 978-0684859101
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,028 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recipes are crowd pleasers, January 21, 2000

By A Customer

I am a teacher who has a dream of owning a corner bakery like the Magnolia Bakery one day. Therefore, I cook desserts for the faculty at my school at least once a week. Everything I've made from this book has received rave reviews. The day I made the apple walnut cake, two of my colleagues went out bought the cookbook for themselves. The caramel pecan brownies and the chocolate sour cream cake were also a hit. Also, the white chocolate macadamia cookies are much better than the ones at the mall cookie store. This book is a must have for every new bride!

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Baking Book, December 20, 2000

By	Stephanie Manley (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

You will find this book a great resource on basic baking items such as muffins, cakes, and cheesecakes. This is not the book for you if you are looking for something completely original, but is perfect if you are looking for really good recipes for standards. I liked that the instructions were extremely clear, there was no room for error when preparing the recipes. This is one of the most detailed books in this respect that I have seen. All the recipes that I have tried have come out well. I also like the fact you do not need exotic recipes for this book. Most ingredients can be readily found in your pantry. If you are looking for a resource for classic bakery recipes this book is for you. The page design is lovely, and there are many pictures to go along with the recipes.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book, May 5, 2000

By	"rdaneel65" - See all my reviews

I had read about this book on another website and was immediately intrigued by one of the recipes listed. It was an orange vanilla chip cookie that was supposed to taste like those old fashioned orange creamsicles. The day I bought the book and brought it home, I baked those cookies and took them to a bake sale at work. They were a big hit. I made about 5 dozen and they were quickly gone.

When I was mixing the dough, I thought the authors had made a mistake. The dough was very dry and difficult to mix. I had thought about adding extra eggs. I decided to go ahead and bake the first batch. They baked up thick, soft, chewy, and delicious. They didn't spread and become thin. They were surprising light-tasting and made everyone want more.

The other recipes look just as wonderful and I look forward to trying them all. They are simple, with no complex ingredients and the instructions are very clear. Even a first-time baker would have no problem with these recipes. The only complaint I had was that there were too few pictures.