Customer Reviews

Pillsbury: Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook: 50th Anniversary Edition

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

 

 

Over the years I have often turned to Pillsbury Bake-Off recipes for innovative appetizers, meals and desserts. I was happily surprised to discover that this cookbook, of over 350 award-winning recipes from the Bake-Off contests, had been published. I bought it recently and have not been disappointed.

It is true that many of the recipes call for prepackaged or convenience foods. However, the time saved in preparation and the wonderful tasting results prove that, sometimes, the ends justify the means.

Some of my favorites include: Corn and Pumpkin Soup with Jalapeno Pesto, White Chile with Salsa Verde, Creamy Spinach and Tortellini; Grilled Chicken and Mango Corn Salad, Crafty Crescent Lasagna, Salsa Couscous Chicken, California Casserole, Chewy Peanut Brownie Bars, Lemon Meringue Dessert Squares...and I could go on and on.

The photographs are beautiful and illustrate the finished product, as well as provide some attractive serving ideas. The step-by-step instructions are easy to follow. "Best Of The Bake-Off" also provides a hands-on history of the evolution of American cooking over the last 50+ years, with short spotlight stories about many of the Bake-Off winners. This fun and easy-to-use cookbook is, in and of itself, a real prize-winner!!
JANA

I like this book. Whether you will too depends on what kind of cook you are.

From my point of view (though many think differently) the weakness of this book is the large proportion of recipes based on processed foods. Of the 366 recipes in the book, 57 of them call for Pillsbury crescent rolls or refrigerated biscuits - especially unappealing because of the hydrogenated oils. Almost every soup recipe is made with canned goods and most of the entrees call for packaged foods. Of 46 cake recipes, 26 are based on packaged mixes. The desserts also tend to be quite sweet.

However, there are a number of good, from scratch recipes included in this collection. The Whole Wheat Raisin Loaf, Ring-a-Ling sweet rolls and the Nutty Graham Picnic Cake are excellent. The Tiramisu-Toffee Torte was also a winner when made with a from-scratch white cake rather than a mix. There are quite a few more interesting recipes I have yet to try.

In sum, if you embrace packaged foods in all their convenient glory, you'll love this book. Even if you don't use convenience products, there's still a lot to like here. Go ahead and give it a try, but don't buy it as your only baking book. However, if you are really a purist, buy another book.

Paging through this cookbook is always a bit of an adventure and promises to yield a delicious dish for just about every occasion. Whether you are looking for a dessert (some of the best recipes in this book are for desserts) or for a main dish, there is something for everyone in this book.

Some of my family's favorites include Creamy Broccoli and Rice Soup, Savory Crescent Chicken Squares, and Ramen Vegetable Beef Stir-Fry. Our favorite goodies include Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies, Pecan Pie Surprise Bars, Raspberry Filled White Chocolate Bars, Caramel Apple Cake, Peanut Butter Crunch Cake, and Cookie Cheesecake Squares.

I have used this cookbook on many occasions and although I love the recipes, I wish that the book was in a binder instead of a hardcover book. Also, I tend to like cookbooks with more pictures, but I felt that the stories that were included about many of the winners was an excellent addition to this book. Overall, I highly enjoy trying many of these recipes and I feel it is an excellent addition to any cookbook collection. Enjoy!

This is one of those cookbooks that you can leisurely browse through and discover and rescover many great recipes. There is a nice variety here. All have clear, easy to follow instructions. The brownies on the cover turned out beautifully. That is a complicated recipe, but it is broken into simple steps. Any level chef would enjoy concocting these creative recipes! I also had fun learning about the history of this famous bake-off. This cookbook is a nice addition to any kitchen!

The best part of this cook book is that the recipes were not created by culinary professionals or famous chefs. The cooks were ordinary people creating put-together recipes requiring no special talents, abilities, or ingredients. On the other hand, some of the recipes make one cringe just by reading them; since they are all contest winners, perhaps they taste better than they seem to appear in print. On the whole, however, it is a collection of (mostly) very good and easy to do recipes for the home baker. This book is a glossy affair full of color photos; it is a shame that the person responsible for the format did not also think of arranging the recipes within each chapter, or supplying a list of recipes for each chapter.

The Pillsbury Flour company has been sponsoring a famous baking and cooking competition for many decades, and this book is a compilation of some of the very best of the winners. Some baking classics came from this contest: French Silk Pie, Tunnel of Fudge, Thumbprint Cookies, Upside Down Cake. The ingenuity and thoughfullness of the amateur cooks often out-shine their professional counterparts, of course they tend to do things like use instant mashed potato flakes (do they still make them? I have not seen them since I was a teenager) and canned vegetables. Many recipes include the ingenious use of store-bought components, like canned biscuit dough, cake mixes, and instant puddings; the flavors were often quite good. I tried some of the more odd recipes, but did not have any problems with any of the recipes, although I was not always happy with the flavor or texture. Most of the recipes were very easy to do, and none required special or sophisticated skills, which is the most valuable part of this cookbook. One interesting factor is that despite the fact that each recipe was by a different person, all recipes seem to have been standardized on one, consistent flour measurement (spoon and sweep).

The first three chapters (appetizers, main dishes, side dishes) were the least inspiring; I do not think I did more than a couple of recipes out of these parts. The chapter on breads was rather ordinary, but the one for sweet rolls and coffee cakes was quite good. The cookies were OK. The cakes were extraordinary, the pies were OK. The last chapter was a hotch-potch of recipes that did not fit anywhere else.

In summary, this is a valuable cook book to have on your book shelf for those occassions when you have many hungry people at your table and you just need to throw together something decent, or you just do not have the time or inclination to do anything else.

Thanks so much! This book came in just as you described and within the time fram stated - which was so very much appreciated.