Recipe Weekend: 50 Things to Bake Before You Die By Allyson Reedy

     Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge,from Ulysses Press for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own. 

Turn your home-baking skills into professional-grade desserts with this mouthwatering baking book featuring recipes from some of the most incredible bakers and bakeries—including Tieghan Gerard, Joanne Chang (Flour Bakery), Chelsey White, Allison Kave (Butter & Scotch), Daniel Boulud, and more!

Synopsis:

This heavenly collection of dessert recipes—gifted to us from the greatest bakers and chefs from small-town café owners to fancy restaurateurs to TV show hosts—is a call to arms, to action, to revolution! Or, at the very least, a call to turn on the oven. Because who has time for the third-best brownie recipe or so-so Nutella-stuffed chocolate chip cookies? 

Written with a fun and friendly tone and featuring easy, step-by-step instructions, 50 Things to Bake Before You Die will make you feel right at home as you bake up these world-class desserts, including: 

• Brown Butter Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Chelsey White)
• Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding with Fresh Chantilly Cream (from Wiltshire Pantry Bakery and Café)
• Brown Sugar Peach Cobbler (from Tieghan Gerard)
• Chocolate Cheesecake Mochi Muffins (from Sam Butarbutar)
• Pink Velvet Cake (from Liz Marek)
• Cookies and Cream Macarons (from Cambrea Gordon)
• And more!

 So bake up Courtney Rich’s sublime Ultimate S’mores Cake, and Joanne Chang’s soul-shaking Homemade Oreos. Bake them—before you die.

Review:

The concept is grand- dessert recipes that trigger nostalgia, that take you from baking at home to a home baker, and those that make you sigh in delight. Add in some AMAZING pictures of EVERY recipe and intros from some amazing bakers, and you have a recipe cook than can take you from just starting backing to being a pro, with recipes you'll come back to over and over again! The carrot cake recipe is pretty much my grandmother's, the lemon bars, my other grandmother's and the death by chocolate cake sans the middle layer of frosting is one my mother won bakeoffs with. Yup, this is a keep of a book to hand down! It would be fun to give with jars of sprinkles, fun baking dishes and other supplies in a basket for hostess presents this holiday season, so do keep it in mind!

Recipe:

This brownie recipe is perfect for giving to friends and family during the holiday season, or for making on friday night for all weekend snacking (good luck if they make it to Sunday!)

About the Author:

Allyson Reedy is a dessert-obsessed food writer and restaurant critic in Denver, Colorado. When she’s not taste-testing or checking out new restaurants for a story, she’s probably tripping over her pug in her home kitchen while trying out cookie recipes. Oh, and eating batter and dough by the fistful before her kids ask to lick the bowl; there’s a lot of that happening, too. Read more from her in the Denver Post, , and Bon Appétit.