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Small-Batch Baking: When Just Enough for 1 or 2. . . Is Just Enough! Paperback – October 15, 2004
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Written by Debby Maugans Nakos, who clearly possesses the Southern baking gene, Small-Batch Baking offers 200 irresistible recipes from across the baking spectrum: triple layer cakes, bundt cakes, angel food cakes; pies and tarts; cobblers, crisps, crumbles, and short cakes; cookies, bars, squares; biscuits, muffins, scones, breakfast breads; and a whole section just on Valentine Specials--Double Hot Chocolate Soufflés, Chèvre Cheesecakes with Honey Anise Ginger Syrup, Vanilla Banana Caramel Flan.
A batch of Cream-Filled Chocolate Cookies--that yields a half-dozen. A Coconut Layer Cake, just for two. Individual servings of Cinnamon French Toast Pudding or Southern Peach Cobbler with Bourbon Cream. It's all the bewitching pleasure of home-baked, but--finally--for just one or two.
- Print length352 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherWorkman Publishing Company
- Publication dateOctober 15, 2004
- Dimensions7.03 x 1.13 x 8 inches
- ISBN-100761130357
- ISBN-13978-0761130352
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Product details
- Publisher : Workman Publishing Company; First Printing edition (October 15, 2004)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0761130357
- ISBN-13 : 978-0761130352
- Item Weight : 1.75 pounds
- Dimensions : 7.03 x 1.13 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #566,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #721 in Cooking for One or Two
- #1,606 in Dessert Baking (Books)
- #2,380 in Baking (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors

Debby Maugans writes about food for editorial and advertising, with a career focused in recipe development and culinary marketing, magazine and book publications, and food styling for print and film production. She is the author of Small-Batch Baking (Workman, 2005) and Small-Batch Baking for Chocolate Lovers (Thomas Dunne of St. Martin's, 2011). A former Birmingham News food columnist, Debby has contributed to many other publications, including Oxmoor House cookbooks, Fannie Flagg's Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook, Southern Living magazine, and Bon Appetit. Debby is currently employed at The Old Mill in Pigeon Forge, TN, where she develops food editorial for old-mill.com, writes a blog at http://oldmillkitchen.old-mill.com, and heads up the food marketing team. She is a partner of farmerandchefsouth.com, and regularly updates recipes there, too. Born a Florida cracker, she's found sense of purpose within the culturally rich Appalachian mountains.

Debby Maugans has over 20 years experience writing about food and creating recipes for cookbooks and national magazines, including Shape, Health, Southern Living, Cooking Light, and Bon Appetit. She is the author of Small-Batch Baking and Beyond the Bowl: The Cereal Lover's Ultimate Cookbook; she is the former food editor of Creative Ideas for Living Magazine. Maugans developed the recipes for each of the following books: Fannie Flagg's The Whistle Stop Café Cookbook, Guilt-Free Comfort Food, and Volumetrics. Her recipes and styling are found in many Oxmoor House cookbooks. Since 2004 she has written a weekly food column with recipes, Tables for Two, for the Birmingham News. She teaches cooking classes and speaks on downsizing meals for today's smaller households, and is a frequent television guest promoting baking and cooking for two.
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(1) MEASUREMENTS. I have tried about 10 of the baked goods and several frosting/filling recipes so far and have earmarked many more to try--but you need to know when you bake recipes cut down to these small amounts, you MUST measure the ingredients EXACTLY in the way the author tells you. My first recipe from this book was dry, heavy, but nicely flavored. I went back and re-read the directions and realized I had not sieved/sifted the flour...that meant my 1st pass with only dip & sweep measurement of a "settled" flour had placed too much flour in the bowl, causing the heavy too-dry texture of the finished product. EXACT measurements of the products matters SO very much in small batch baking. The 2nd pass was perfection.
(2) The reviewer who mentioned recipes using what sounded like ready made mixes--I THINK he/she was referring to a handful of recipes which called for a cake prepared from another recipe in the book and then altered it--say the almond cake or genoise cake that are then "sherry soaked" or turned into rum cakes in a subsequent recipe. To me, that is NOT a prepared mix, just a call for another provided "from-scratch" recipe.
(3) Use of Cans as baking pans: The author suggests use of use specific standard size cans (commonly 14- 14.5 OUNCE cans) in several recipes. Canned goods DO take high heat in preparing the original processed food, so they can be used safely a couple of times. If it bothers you as it did me (who knows what new chemicals are in the latest can coatings), you can use similar sized cake pans--Big Daddio's makes 3 x 2 inch cheesecake pans available here on Amazon that I used for cakes instead of reusing tin cans (and no, they did not leak batter).
(4) Changing Pans: (A) If you change the size of the pans from what is specified, or the material (e.g. glass or ceramic for metal), realize that it matters very much when baking these small batches: Larger pans= thinner baked goods, and less baking time, so watch the clock and test early. (B) if your cakes are over-done on the edges and slightly sunk in the middle--likely your pan is too high for the batter. Act accordingly.
(5) Oven: Again, small batch = comparatively tiny products and therefore small heating variations affect baking time, so know your oven. Consider EITHER using an oven thermometer to verify the actual temperature if you expect to do a lot of small batch work OR keep good records when you bake so you can notice that YOUR oven consistently needs 2-3 minutes more (or less) time than what is called for in the recipes--watch the clock and TEST.
(6) Typos: (A) I found typo's for this book under another Amazon review titled "Important corrections from the author" and just printed it out and stuck it in the book--there were 7 recipes involved. (B) On my own I saw a couple recipes calling for "14- or 14.5 INCH cans" instead of "14- 14.5 OUNCE cans" called for the majority of the times when cans were involved. OBVIOUSLY, small batch baking would never have a pan of 14 inches, so it was pretty clear that the editor failed to notice this, and was easy to pick out. (C) Hazelnut Chocolate Torte (p 30 in hardback) appears to be a genoise, but missing the butter--see Mini Genoises on page 78 and use butter as that recipe calls for and in that amount (Yum!).
(7) Baking soda: At the time this book was written, perhaps 1/8 teaspoon measurements were the smallest available. That quantity works, but my taste-buds registered too much soda taste--I used a 1/16 teaspoon (also known as a pinch in some teaspoon sets), and had the same rise but no objectionable soda taste.
(8) Pans other than cans: At various times, she calls for other pan sizes: mini loaf, cupcake pans, big muffin pans, and small tart pans. She does list alternatives for some, and tells you the volume of the pans, so you could potentially make substitutions. I decided that based on the good results with the cakes, cookies and puddings (IF I was careful per items #1-7 above) that it was worth the time and $ to track down the exact tart pan size called for. I eventually found the size she specified was made by a French manufacturer by the name of Gobel. Amazon does carry some of Gobel's vast line of pans.
All recipes make 2-3 servings, are very easy to follow, and (so far) turn out superb results. The instructions are clear and precise, and she introduces most recipes with a description of the results or a note about the recipe's history. There are call-out boxes for filling suggestions, sauces, or recipe tips.
The chapters are logical and well-organized. After the initial introduction where the author lays or ingredient/equipment lists, the chapters are: Beautiful Small Cakes; Pies and Tarts; Cookies and Bars; Cobblers, Crisps, Crumbles, and Shortcakes; Baked Puddings; and Muffins and Breads. After these groupings, the author has given us two bonus (in my opinion) chapters: Valentine Specials and Holiday Goodies.
So far, I've made mini loaf-bread, a small pie, and incredible chocolate ganache cakes. The latter actually could serve 4 instead of 2, it was so rich -- but I was very happy to eat my "one" serving (and the recipe looked easy to halve -- just make one cake instead of two). If I HAD to come up with things to "fix" in this cookbook, I'd ask for photos of the finished recipes. I'd also prefer that recipes not be split across two pages -- it makes reading ahead with sticky fingers a little difficult. But all in all, this will continue to be one of my best-loved cookbooks.
Update October 2008: This is still one of my most-used cookbooks, and I've referred several friends to it. Friends have actually started seeking out single-serving baking pans as soon as they see the results. I've tried several breads, cakes, and cookies without a single disappointing recipe, and now make the pound cake and banana bread at least once a month each. Love it!












