Organic and Chic: Cakes, Cookies, and Other Sweets That Taste as Good as They Look [Hardcover]

Sarah Magid (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 2, 2009

"When I bring one of my sweets into the room—whether at a wedding or an intimate dinner party—the expressions on people's faces turn that celebration into a memory I'll never forget. That's what baking should be."

Many people are coming to recognize the merits of eating organic ingredients, but the idea of "organic baked goods" may bring to mind food that is more boring than beautiful and delicious. But in Organic and Chic, custom cake baker Sarah Magid uses her background in jewelry and shoe design to create vibrantly colored, highly original, delicious organic cakes and other desserts that are perfect for all kinds of celebrations.

Filled with gorgeous photographs, Organic and Chic features recipes for delectable baked goods you'll be excited to re-create and serve to family and friends, from modern floral cakes and cupcakes to rustic farmer's-market sweets made with seasonal fruits:

• Red Velvet Love Cake frosted with Vanilla Whipped Buttercream and garnished with edible flowers
• Vanilla-Bean Butter Cake filled with Sweet Chocolate Ganache and decorated with hand-sculpted butterflies
• Minty Strawberry Shortcakes, celebrating the bounty of the summer
• Goldies, a tasty tribute to America's favorite cream-filled sponge cake

Whether you're preparing some simple Double Ginger Cookies for a block party or bake sale, or experimenting with a rich and luscious dark chocolate birthday cake, you can be confident that you're serving desserts that are gorgeous and flavorful without resorting to fake, chemical-laden ingredients. Magid offers detailed step-by-step decorating instructions and enough inspiration to help even the most novice baker create bold cake-decorating effects, including eye-popping flowers, hand-sculpted leaves, and metallic-painted brushstrokes.

A must for every health-minded baker, this unique cookbook balances exquisite flavors, organic ingredients, and stunning visuals to help you create your own masterpieces.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Throughout this otherwise lively new collection of wholesome, sophisticated baked goods, Magid uses the word "organic" like a cudgel-seemingly every ingredient is prefaced with the word. Though the term gets tiresome, Magid presents a measured argument for organic eggs, flours and sugars in her creations (though, puzzlingly, she has no problem with food coloring) as well as sourcing suggestions. In 60 recipes, Magid offers up crowd-pleasers like oatmeal raisin cookies and flourless chocolate almond cake, as well as homemade variations on childhood all-stars like Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies and Hostess Sno-balls. Grown-ups will swoon over her Lovely Lemon Cake with marshmallow frosting, Minty Strawberry Shortcakes and her Chocolate Love Blossom-a multilayer chocolate cake filled with vanilla whipped cream and/or a red currant curd, and covered with a rich ganache. Though the titles may sound ambitious, most recipes are more than manageable; Magid even includes an easy recipe for no-bake honey peanut dough to keep the kids busy.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“With this cookbook, Magid upends many conventional recipes, and she offers recipes that promise attractive organic desserts… Her greatest contribution is a handful of cookie and cupcake recipes specifically designed to discourage children’s overconsumption of ubiquitous, industrial, mass-produced sweets.” (Booklist )

“There’s nothing crunchy about these stylish desserts.” (New York Times )

“Magid attempts to re–invent the way we think about organic baked goods. Instead of dense, bland nut loaves, she offers Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese–Lemon Zest Frosting, Double Ginger Cookies, and Goldies, her organic take on Twinkies. Magid’s style combines vivid colors, delicate details, and a serious dose of whimsy.” (Epicurious.com )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks (June 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061673587
• ISBN-13: 978-0061673580
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 0.9 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #844,530 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Stunningly chic, but so-so organic July 18, 2011

By reader

Format:Hardcover

The 'organic' aspect of this book isn't ground-breaking or even helpful: the author encourages the use of organic dairy, flours, sugars, chocolates, flavors, etc -- but, this is EASY to do by replacing non-organic ingredients from any old baking book with organic versions of the ingredients. Anyone can do this.
What is NOT easy on the organic front is to create stunning and colorful baked goods using organic or even just natural decorating materials, and the author brings absolutely nothing on this front - she employs commercial food dyes (e.g. the FD&C synthetics) and metallic dusts. There are potential natural alternatives to these synthetics (just look up "FD&C" on wikipedia) - it would be great if some one would write about how to successfully employ these alternatives and mix natural colors for cakes even half as beautiful as the author's creations!

What is GREAT about the book is the 'chic' aspect: it lives up to this part well with STUNNING and crowd-pleasing cakes. The recipes are user-friendly and well thought out.

I would have given 5 stars, if it weren't for the minimal-value-add organic aspect: i.e. if the book either didn't bother with organic, or if it truly gave us such beautiful cakes with natural materials. It seems like false advertising when you discover that none of the decorating material that made the cakes on the cover so beautiful were actually organic/natural like the title implies!!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous Cookbook! July 16, 2009

By Julie Peterson

Format:Hardcover

ORGANIC AND CHIC: CAKES, COOKIES, AND OTHER SWEETS THAT TASTE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK by Sarah Magid is AMAZING! It is absolutely one of the most beautiful cookbooks that I have ever seen. As you can see, the cover photo is just filled with incredible looking desserts; and all of the pictures in the book are just like this. I would actually consider placing this cookbook on my coffee table because it's that gorgeous. Plus, I'd kind of like to have it handy because I really enjoyed looking at all of the recipes and decorating ideas.

Not only is this cookbook filled with beautiful pictures, but there are just loads of yummy-looking recipes. The book starts with recipes for cakes and cupcakes (along with frosting, curds, and filling recipes), then it has a section on cookies and bars, a section on reformed junk food, and one on farmers' market sweets. There is another section that will appeal to a lot of moms titled children's goodies which has easy, cute recipes geared towards little ones. The book ends with a wonderful chapter on Ms. Magid's design techniques along with step-by-step instructions.

I was pleasantly surprised by this cookbook not because of its recipes and photos, but rather because the instructions and explanations were so detailed and clear. The recipes and instructions for decorating were extremely easy-to-follow. Now making my cakes as gorgeous as the ones in the book might be a challenge, but I think that's because of my lack of skill and definitely not the fault of the instructions. And since I am not a regular consumer of organic foods, I loved how Ms. Magid explained the benefits of going organic as well as some name brands for organic baking goods. The last few pages of the cookbook also include explanations of various baking tools and how best to use them.... I actually learned a great deal just by reading Ms. Magid's advice. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly Great & Organic August 5, 2009

By Ginny Mapes VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

In the 1960s--70's many of the natural food cookbook recipes resulted in heavy products that I threw in the compost pile. Now many years later with the demand for purer food with less additives, Organic and Chic author Sarah Magid has created some fabulous recipes. When her young son wanted Twinkies, she experimented with recipes to create "junk food gone good." She likes her family to eat organic and encourages readers to support the small farms and local farmers' markets. She includes a guide to buying organic ingredients. Her fantastic recipes include step-by-step decorating instructions and inspiration so even the beginner will want to try "cakes, cookies, and other sweets that taste as good as they look."

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful and practical too June 26, 2009

By falling up

Format:Hardcover

this is a visually appealing book and full of wonderful recipes. I have a list I want to try. I made the ginger cookies last night and come home from work with the crumbs. This book has recipes to WOW and dazzle while some recipes are amazing for their sweet simplicity! Included a helpful tips. She does incorporate whole wheat flour and raw sugar which is a great baby step toward baking with less refined foods!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars As Good as it Looks March 12, 2010

By J. Lee

Format:Hardcover

My husband and I were so lucky to have Sarah bake and design our wedding cake last May. I heard about her while flipping through a wedding magazine and just fell in love with her style. I noticed that she was from Brooklyn, and living in Brooklyn myself at that time, I thought I'd give it a try and reach out to her. She's not only an amazing baker, but her style and use of creative seasonal/organic ingredients are just outstanding. Since we bought her book, I've tried the "Easiest Chocolate Cake" and "Vanilla Whipped Buttercream" recipes. It was a big hit, even from a novice baker like me. I can't wait to try her other recipes. I would definitely recommend her book to others.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Organic & Delicious July 29, 2009

By Lindee Levicke

Format:Hardcover

Organic & Chic is a beautifully photographed and designed cook book, with interesting comments on each recipe from the author as well as easy to understand instructions for each recipe. Some of the recipes are a bit complicated or have some ingredients that you would have to search a bit for (gold leaf powder; professional red dye, etc) at a specialty cake or gourmet cooking store, but there is a good mix of recipes for special ocassions and recipes that would be used to bake family treats. But all are focused on organic ingredients, which makes these goodies better for your loved ones.