Top Secret Recipes: Creating Kitchen Clones of America's Favorite Brand-Name Foods (Penguin Viking Plume General Books) [Paperback]

Todd Wilbur (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1993 | Series: Penguin Viking Plume General Books

This irresistible collection of cloned recipes is the product of years of obsessive research by self-confessed junk-food addict Todd Wilbur. Big food manufacturers guard their recipes like the gold in Fort Knox, but Wilbur's dogged pursuit of taste-alike versions of his—and our—all-time favorites has paid off in this unique cookbook of 50 scrumptious treats. Whether you're a kid or just a kid at heart, you'll have a great time making the incredible clones of a McDonald's® Big Mac®, a Burger King® Whopper®, a Tastykake® Butterscotch Krimpet®, a Yoo Hoo® Chocolate Drink, and all the other famous foods. Helpful illustrations let you recreate them to perfection. And both taste and guilty pleasures are just like the real thing!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Todd Wilbur has baked, boiled, digested, fried, and tested--all in the name of duplicating some of America's favorite convenience foods. He now shares 41 of these naughty but nice gastronomical delights in Top Secret Recipes. If you've ever craved a McDonald's Big Mac at 3:00 A.M. on a Sunday morning, then Wilbur has just the recipe for satisfying your junk-food desires. Even better, no cordon-bleu expertise is needed for this particular clone--just simple frying and chopping skills! Simplicity is the key to all of Wilbur's replicated recipes--all are composed of rudimentary ingredients available at any store, needing only minimal preparation. These recipes are fun and fast--two dozen Snickers Bars in less than 10 minutes (plus cooling time), a delicious Orange Julius in less than 60 seconds (that's considerably quicker than waiting in line for the real thing)! These culinary creations are organized in alphabetical order by manufacturer or restaurant, and illustrated with simple pencil drawings. Top Secret Recipes is a chatty and informative guide to recreating the burgers, candy bars, and cookies of your strip-mall dreams. --Naomi Gesinger

From Library Journal

Sort of the junk-food version of Helen Witty and Elizabeth S. Colchie's Better Than Store-Bought ( LJ 5/15/79), this offers recipes for Hostess Twinkies, Cracker Jacks, Wendy's Chili, McDonald's Big Mac, and other such favorites. These are not, however, top-secret formulas cadged from the companies but Wilbur's own recipes, some more successful than others, along with architectural cross sections of such constructions as Egg McMuffins. A novelty item, but some cooks are sure to find it fun. Literary Guild selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Plume (June 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452269954
• ISBN-13: 978-0452269958
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Self-proclaimed food hacker and host of CMT's "Top Secret Recipe," Todd Wilbur is the author of a series of unique cookbooks which reveal simple secret recipes for creating home versions of America's most popular brand-name foods. With over 4.5 million Top Secret Recipes books in print, Todd designs each recipe through careful research, trial-and-error, creative reverse-engineering, and obsession. Readers will not only be fascinated with the backstories and impressed with the accuracy of the formulas, but will also find that they can save money when recreating these signature dishes at home and will enjoy the ability to now customize their favorite foods to suit specific diets and health concerns.

Todd has appeared on numerous talk shows in the 24 years he has been cloning famous foods, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Oz, Today Show, Live! with Regis & Kathie Lee, Good Morning America, Fox News, Rachael Ray, Maury, and The Food Network. Season 1 of "Top Secret Recipe" debuted on CMT in October, 2011. When not taste-testing recipes on himself, his wife, his friends, and TV talk show hosts, Todd is busy teaching his 3-year-old daughter how to identify herbs in a sauce at their home in Las Vegas, NV.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cooking fun for the whole family, July 26, 2000

By 

J. Austin "jodylync" (Dublin, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Top Secret Recipes: Creating Kitchen Clones of America's Favorite Brand-Name Foods (Penguin Viking Plume General Books) (Paperback)

I love cookbooks so when this came out on the market, I thought "Sure, I'll bite," but I didn't except any of the recipes to taste like the real thing. That was before I made the Chick-Fil-a and the Wendy's Frosty. These 2 recipes were really great and became favorites in my household. The next couple of recipes I tried, LJS Battered Fish and KFC Original weren't as dead on as the other two were, but they were tasty dishes nonetheless. I haven't tried every recipe in the book so I can't say what the ratio is to real versus Top Secret, but I did enjoy this book enough to buy the rest of the set.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not always the "Kitchen Clone" but worth the purchase price., February 21, 2000

By 

Dave - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Top Secret Recipes: Creating Kitchen Clones of America's Favorite Brand-Name Foods (Penguin Viking Plume General Books) (Paperback)

I collect cookbooks. I have everything from THE JOY OF COOKING, THE I HATE TO COOK BOOK and everything in between. This is a gem! The recipes in this book don't always taste like the product they are modeled on, but they come very close.

The KFC cole slaw recipe is great. But here's a hint. Mix up a double batch of the dressing and put it in a squeeze bottle. Then run how much every cabbage and carrots you want for the slaw needed and add the how much of the dressing you like.

It is a great book, and while I haven't (and won't) tried them all -lets face it, if I want a Big Mac, I'll go to McDonalds- I have ordered the other books in he series.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Approximations, But Some Recipes Miss the Mark, April 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Top Secret Recipes: Creating Kitchen Clones of America's Favorite Brand-Name Foods (Penguin Viking Plume General Books) (Paperback)

This book is a great way to create some pretty close "secret recipes." I have enjoyed many of the recipes and the history lessons. There is to much emphasis on how to stack the condiments on a burger the correct way for my tastes, but my kids have enjoyed not buying out to see how close that we can come to "the real thing." This has has saved money and added some quality family time. Laure'