![Zoë Bakes Cakes: Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Favorite Layers, Bundts, Loaves, and More [A Baking Book]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1VMHOjl2OL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
I've made the chocolate oat bars, blackberry-white chocolate cake, chocolate sugar cookies, coffee blondies, olive oil sugar cookies with pistachios and lemon glaze, pumpkin pound cake, and orange-cranberry Bundt cake so far, all of which turned out beautifully. People pleaded for seconds and especially raved about the Bundt cake and both sugar cookies.
There's a common thread of flavors in the recipes - cardamom, coffee, chocolate, (burnt) honey, pumpkin, lemon, raspberry, and mint. While there are some "typical" dessert recipes here (banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, apple pie), there are some stunning, original desserts here as well, like the lemon meringue cake, yellow cake with burnt honey buttercream and bittersweet chocolate, pear-chocolate galettes, olive oil sugar cookies, lime-mint bars, blackberry-white chocolate cake, chocolate ganache cupcakes with basil buttercream, just to name a few of the ones I'm most excited about.
The styling of this book is similar to the blog, with easy-to-read font, appealing white space, and a lovely photo of the finished treat accompanying every recipe. The recipes include weights and volumes. The directions are easy to follow and whenever Sarah directs you to something a bit out of the ordinary (like reverse creaming) or more challenging (meringue frostings), embedded in the header/directions is an explanation of why. For things like her chocolate braided bread and cream cheese danishes, there are very clear pictures of the steps to take to succeed with the dough. She explains the process in such a way that making her beautiful creations seems doable, this isn't just a book of pretty pictures that will never get used.
Unfortunately, while some of the recipes are contained on the same page, a lot of them spill over to a back page, which makes it a lot more difficult to use in the kitchen when you have to flip back and forth. Especially if you're doing something that requires a lot of care or is messy.
For the curious, there are a number of repeated recipes. There are many fantastic, new ideas in here, so I definitely think this book is worth it, but there is some overlapping content between the blog and the book:
The chocolate bread is basically the same as her blog's chocolate loaf cake, but the ingredient list is reordered. The intro even reads exactly the same. The coffee blondies are the same, but the recipe in the book has been halved. Same for the banana bread (although there's a mix of sugars now). The maple cinnamon granola is identical and the peanut butter chocolate granola recipes are the same minus a missing 1/2 cup of oats in the book. There's a pumpkin pound cake in the book and the blog too, but the recipe has slightly different ratios of ingredients. The blog and book versions are different for Sarah's "the chocolate cake" and her spice cake with coffee buttercream. The most overlap is in the no-churn ice cream chapter. Almost all the recipes in the book (~7 of the 9) can be found online, except in the book they have 2 oz of cream cheese to "add some tang". I get that there may be some overlap between a blog and that blog's book, but I do wish some explanation was provided for why those specific recipes were repeated here, especially in the ice cream chapter.
Edit: 11/16/2016 - I really love this book for the recipes and I definitely think it's worth buying. I adjusted the stars from 4/5 to 5/5 because the actual results are incredible, which is ultimately what's most important in a cookbook, but I do think it's worth knowing about the recipe formatting and undiscussed repetition of recipes.
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The best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever tasted!!!
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2021
I’ve tried the cinnamon roll recipe and I am in love. I am so proud of myself for making pastries from hand-made dough.
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2021
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 10, 2016
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 9, 2017
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 2, 2017
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 5, 2021
Top reviews from other countries
baking girl!
I would highly recommend this book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 1, 2017Diane M. Schuller
Home baking to impress anyone
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 1, 2018
Home baking to impress anyone
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 1, 2018
This is now my favourite cook book for any type of sweet or dessert -- especially if company is coming.Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 1, 2018
I use it continually.
Every single recipe I've made so far has become a new favourite and company always rave over each of them. Examples of recipes I've made so far include: her pie pastry; the amazing Chocolate Sugar cookies; Pumpkin-Olive Oil Bread; Coffee Blondies; Sweet Dough; Maple-Cinnamon Granola; and a few others.
I mistakenly thought this book was only for a more experienced home baker but most of the recipes that I've encountered are definitely ones that an inexperienced home baker can do if following the recipe. I also appreciate that, for any level of home baker, she gives some excellent how-to advice and some detailed how-to for certain things. For instance, the difference between certain types of pastry and how to make them, complete with a series of photos. And for those interested in creating cakes that go from looking plain to wow, she has provided some detailed information on how you can create a cake that is a thing of beauty, complete with photos -- and it has flavour.
One chapter I didn't even realize was included until I bought the book is on no-churn ice cream! I have a dynamite recipe for one kind of no-churn ice cream and in browsing through her chapter, her recipes look very close to the one I have been making. So I can hardly wait to try a few of hers -- next time company is coming.
She never assumes anything and includes a great intro with pages of how-to tips for baking as well as detailed notes on ingredients. And, for fun, at the end of the book she even has her list of "music to bake by".
By now, I guess you can tell I really like this cook book. You'd be correct.
If you like to make delicious desserts or baked goods for family and friends, especially if you want to impress, this book will make you smile too. And if you buy it as a gift, the recipient will wow you with their creations from this book.
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millenialwife
Tastes delicious but really finicky
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 15, 2020R Jonathan T
Beautifully photographed, stellar recipes
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 6, 2017
