  The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook: Old-Fashioned Recipes From New York's Sweetest Bakery
Appel and Torey are owners of the eponymous Manhattan bakery, which turns out the kind of white-cake treats that graced most tables decades ago. Retro deserts include Chocolate Wafer Icebox Cake, made with Nabisco wafers, and Oatmeal, Raisin, Almond Cookies. These recipes are classics, with a few updated touches. Pecan Pie was handed down from a Texas grandmother; Magic Cookie Bars are packed with chocolate chips and coconut and sweetened with three cans of condensed milk. The unfortunately named Dump Cake is a throwback to old women's magazine recipes, consisting of cherry pie filling, canned pineapple, cake mix, pecans and butter. These super-sweet, mostly buttery items hark back to a pre-cholesterol eraAevidenced by Chocolate Chip, Peanut, Banana Loaf, which the authors describe as "healthy." A chapter on cheesecakes offers Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake and White Chocolate-Hazelnut Cheesecake. A section of baking tips includes little new information for even novice cooks (e.g., advice such as measuring accurately and watching cookies carefully to guard against burning). The same can be said of this book as a whole: these recipes are good, if ordinary. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  Brownies to Die For!
More than a cookie but not quite a cake, the brownie stands as America's favorite homemade chocolate snack, beloved as much by adults as by children. Shaffer documents just how versatile brownies can be by presenting dozens of recipes for these little squares of sweet delight. Shaffer's brownies range from cakey to fudgy, from plain to fruit laden, from unadorned to frosted, from coffee and liquor spiked to creamy white chocolate versions. Coconut, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, and peanuts add texture to these brownies. Other toppings make use of meringue or of marshmallows. One singular recipe wakes up jaded taste buds with its addition of chili powder. Among the many delights of the book is a caramel-sauce recipe that takes time and effort but that yields a rich result. Supplemental recipes include ice creams, sorbets, frozen yogurt, and fruit sauces. Large, full-color photographs ensure that home bakers know exactly what results should emerge from their ovens. Mark Knoblauch
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