Buttercup Bakes at Home: More Than 75 New Recipes from Manhattan's Premier Bake Shop for Tempting Homemade Sweets (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When prepared the old-fashioned way, nothing tastes as delicious and comforting as homemade sweets fresh from the oven. Now Jennifer Appel, cookbook author and owner of the world-famous Buttercup Bake Shop, shares more of her popular recipes in Buttercup Bakes at Home, a collection of more than 75 new and tempting treats from the much-loved bakery and her own kitchen, for home cooks to enjoy.

Family and friends will swoon over the Lemon Coconut-Filled White Buttermilk Cake, Buttercup Golden Layer Cake with Chocolate or Vanilla Buttercream, and Banana Oatmeal Crumb Cake. A wide variety of cookies, bars, and other goodies, such as Dried Cranberry Pumpkin Bars, Marshmallow Crunch Brownie Bars, Pear Nectarine Crisp, Mixed Berry Trifle, and Chocolate Sandwich Cookie Bread Pudding will tempt any palate. There is also a chapter on making delectable cheesecakes, including Lime Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust and Cappuccino Cheesecake; and what would a book from the owner of the Buttercup Bake Shop be without cupcakes? Here you'll find Gingerbread Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing, German Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Pecan Frosting, Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes (perfect for an after-school snack), and even Splenda-iferous Cream-Filled Vanilla Cupcakes. There's also a chapter on baking with children, with simple recipes such as Candy Bar Ice Cream Pie and Peanut Butter Chocolate No-Bake Cookies.

For bakers and home cooks of any skill level, Buttercup Bakes at Home is the perfect addition to any kitchen bookshelf -- with recipes for any occasion -- whether you are entertaining guests or cooking for loved ones. Complete with preparation tips and easy-to-follow instructions, this delightful collection is sure to satisfy dessert fans of all ages.

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Introduction

It seems like just yesterday when I first opened the doors to Buttercup Bake Shop one sunny August morning. I remember customers lining up for a taste of our divine creations, and the lines haven't stopped in the six years we have been here. Innumerable cupcakes and countless birthday and special-occasion cakes later, my tiny Midtown bakery is as popular as ever, churning out our from-scratch confections in full view of our devoted customers. Each of our famous cupcakes is lovingly frosted by hand in our front window and our mouthwatering layer cakes are iced and decorated in our glass-enclosed kitchen, as customers watch with their noses pressed against the glass whenever possible.

Seeing customers sit down and enjoy their desserts is a joy. It seems that peeling off the paper to each cupcake transports folks right back to their childhood, and the expressions on their faces are always the same: deep satisfaction and happiness.

Our from-scratch baking is so delicious and down-home that customers try to pass off our desserts as their own! I know this because one day several years ago a woman purchased a birthday cake inscribed for her son's birthday and asked us not to "put the sticker on the box." By sheer coincidence, her son was working nearby and stopped in just for a Buttercup snack. It was quite a funny moment, but all was forgiven, even though the jig was up!

While our popularity has grown over time, so has the list of clientele who enjoy Buttercup's freshly baked goods. More and more folks are hosting parties and events featuring our signature cakes and cupcakes such as Buttercup Golden, Lady Baltimore, and German Chocolate, including the Today show, Live with Regis and Kelly, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Saturday Night Live, and Miramax Studios, as well as dozens of television stations, publishing houses, and major magazines. It appears that New Yorkers, famous or otherwise, can't get enough of our sweet creations.

As the desire to bring back the neighborhood bake shop grows, so has my passion to deliver freshly baked all-American desserts to the people who love them. With that in mind, I have plans to bring the neighborhood bake shop to every neighborhood in New York City and even farther, to your favorite city or town. Each bakery will have that same old-fashioned nostalgic charm, with those familiar sights and smells to delight the senses.

While my business has flourished, so has my family. Since my last cookbook was published, I have gotten married to my sweetheart, Hernán. And in case you're wondering, the answer is yes, I made my own wedding cake! It was a simple but beautiful old-fashioned white cake with silky buttercream frosting, adorned with pale ivory buttercream dots and drop flowers.

In 2004, my husband and I welcomed our remarkable daughter into the world, Isabel Eliana. What a treat it will be when she can climb up on a chair in the kitchen and bake with me! I'm sure she'll love to, since she already has a sweet tooth, and with a chef for a father and a baker for a mother, I think a love of food is most certainly in her blood.

As a baker, I'm constantly creating new desserts. This book is a result of that creative desire. While it's hard to pin down my absolute favorites, a few of

my new confectionary loves include Drizzled Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Cranberry Tea Loaf, Black and White Cupcakes, and Butterscotch Pudding. And while rich old-fashioned desserts continue to please our customers, today's crowd also wants a few low-fat, low-sugar treats. So I've whipped up a few recipes to include that satisfy the taste buds but won't necessarily pack on the pounds, like Low-fat Chocolate Bread Pudding with Raspberry Sauce, Teatime Apple Cake, and Splenda-iferous Cream-Filled Vanilla Cupcakes. I've also included a chapter just on cupcakes, as well as one for baking with children. So here are more than seventy-five new recipes that promise to be as enjoyable and easy-to-bake as they are delicious and satisfying to eat.

And if you're in the neighborhood, don't forget to stop in to see us at Buttercup and say hi!

Jennifer

Copyright © 2006 by Jennifer Appel

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074327122X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743271226
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #85,706 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent, not essential, March 23, 2008

By	Michael Suh - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As much as I love Buttercup's baked goods, the recipes here represent a different class of sweets that won't be found in their stores, with the exception of their chocolate cake recipe. And why wasn't that included in the first book?? I for one would have preferred the chocolate cake to that insulting recipe on how to make Rice Krispies Treats.

Moving past this gross oversight, a lot of the cake recipes here focus on her favorite flavors: almonds, berries, bananas, and random liqueurs. Pumpkin and gingerbread make prominent appearances. Clearly she wrote this book in the fall. If you don't like a lot of these flavors, this is a book to skip for sure. For a person who claims to love chocolate at one point in the book, Appel sure is stingy on chocolate based recipes.

There are a ton of quick breads, pound cakes, and pie/tart recipes. I just don't care about a lot of that stuff -- you'd think a bakery that sells mostly cakes and a few icebox pies would focus on their strengths. Instead, half of the book is filled with recipes that haven't been tested on her customers. Why would I trust her Cranberry Tea Loaf if she hasn't sold any of it? Does adding Lipton tea to a bread sound at all appetizing?

There are a few true knockouts in this book that you can't get anywhere else. The Orange Almond cake in this book might be the best cake I've ever had -- you might consider buying this book on this recipe alone, it's that good. And those black and white cupcakes another reviewer mentioned are pretty tasty.

If you're buying this book just because you like Buttercup's baked goods and want to make them at home, stick with the original book or Magnolia's. This book really doesn't supplant the original books that started the American cupcake craze.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Old-fashioned style bakery: lots of ideas but results not spectacular, May 20, 2009

By	Pam "Crazy about cook books!" (London, UK) - See all my reviews

I love baking and am rather obsessed with cook books - hence why I own over 80! I'm always on the look out for great books and the reason why I bought this one was because I know that the author was once a co-owner of the famous Magnolia Bakery in New York and thought that this book may contain their secret recipes..

But after reading through it and attempted several cake and cookie recipes, I must admit that I feel rather disappointed with this book. Firstly, a lot of the recipes contained within this book (and the original Buttercup Bakeshop cook book) are, or almost, IDENTICAL to the ones found in the 2 Magnolia Cook books! I mean, no wonder.. if they both came up with the winning recipes together, why wouldn't Jennifer Appel (the author) use the recipes in her books too? So if you already own Magnolia cook books, I'd say don't bother buying this one because they're almost inter-changeable.

Secondly, although there're some very interesting recipes in this book, I don't think that there're that many that I'd really like to try at home. And the ones that I have didn't really turn out that great. Don't get me wrong, the recipes DID work and the results looked good and they were all edible and ok, but it really didn't live up to my high expectation. To be honest, I don't think that their cupcakes or other yummy goodies are that amazing, I've tried other recipes from other books and they produced much more mouth-watering results.

Also, note that all the measurements are American (US cups) but you can easily convert them into metric measurements by using the charts provided at the back of the book.

In conclusion, this book will give you some good ideas and produce good (but not great!) results. The recipes are relatively easy to follow (if you stick CLOSELY to the book!) and doesn't call for many hard-to-find ingredients - although beware of the amount of sugar and butter that they ask for! It may not help you to produce the best cakes and desserts, but will surely keep you entertained if you want to bake but don't have too much time. A good addition to your cook book collection.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Special Collection, November 4, 2007

By	Mrs. Siobhan C. Saunders "Vonnie" (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have now made each item off the cover and many more, I love this cookbook full of classic treats, and my family loves it too! The instructions are clear and easy to understand, however it would be nice to have a few more pics of the contents.