2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Enticed, but disappointed, April 7, 2008
This review is from: Tempt: Cupcakes to Excite (Hardcover)
I was drawn to this cookbook because of the interesting array of ingredients represented in the featured recipes shown in the book's Amazon product summary.
Upon receiving "Tempt," I loved the absolutely beautiful photographs appearing on about every other page, and the prospect of making such varied recipes as "Chocolate Rum Raisin Cupcake," "Peach and Passionfruit Streusel Cupcake," "Hazelnut Pear Cupcake," and "Pumpkin Seed Spice Cupcake with Lime Glaze Icing" (featured on the cover). I was so taken with the book that I took it to work to show a friend who's a much more advanced baker/decorator than I.
She borrowed it, and between us we've made four recipes from the book. So far, the results have been disappointing. My friend ended up tossing two of the batches she made (from two different recipes) because they just didn't taste good enough to serve guests. The third recipe she made turned out just like the one I made -- although different recipes, both were chocolate cupcakes, and both resulted in far too little batter for the number of cupcakes the recipes were supposed to make. We each ended up with cupcakes that were dense, and about 1/2 an inch high! Additionally, we each encountered omissions in some of the book's recipes. My recipe said to melt the chocolate and set it aside...but then the recipe never mentioned the chocolate again! I had to guess at what point to incorporate the chocolate into the rest of the batter.
I hope that other readers have had better luck than my friend and I did with this cookbook -- because the photos and ingredients are truly "tempting"! However, with all of the cupcake cookbooks out there, I don't know that I'll gamble on trying any more of this book's recipes. Perhaps the issues are related to translation to English (the author is a well-known chef in Malaysia), or the substitution of Asian ingredients with their American counterparts -- I don't know. [As an FYI, this book's recipes do utilize both Metric and American measurements. Conversions are sometimes necessary (the amount of vanilla was shown in teaspoons, butter was shown in grams), but there is a chart in the back of the book.]
Whatever the reason for the recipes' failings, I will likely wait a while before making any more cupcakes from this book. Until then, I'll probably use "Tempt" as eye candy...it IS a treat to look at!
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