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The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook: Sweetness in Seattle
Want to fry up the doughnuts with cinnamon sugar and mascarpone that Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis called the "best thing I ever ate"? Are you pining for the peanut butter sandwich cookie recipe that legendary writer Nora Ephron proclaimed "the greatest cookie ever ever ever"? Do you long to dazzle friends with the triple coconut cream pie that New York food writer and Serious Eats founder Ed Levine called "one of the best pies in the country"? Or do you just want to get your hands on the crazy-rich, streusel-topped monkey bread with caramel dipping sauce that has people lining up outside the Dahlia Bakery's door? Now, those sweet dreams can come true, thanks to The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook.
Seattle's most popular chef and James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur Award winner Tom Douglas shares his secrets for 125 scrumptious treats. Here, you will find chef-tested recipes for breakfasts, pastries, tarts, pies, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, puddings, ice creams, sandwiches, and jams that are guaranteed to work in the home kitchen, including:
The "Seattle" English muffin sandwich with cured wild salmon Toasted hazelnut whole wheat scones with maple glaze Tom's favorite coconut macaroons Tangy lemon meringue tart Carrot cupcakes with brown butter cream cheese frosting The Best Crème Caramel in the World Oregon Pinot Noir raspberry sorbet Peach vanilla jamIn addition to these unique bakery treats, Tom offers savory variations on beloved classics, such as Eggs Benedict with Scallion Hollandaise and Breakfast Sandwiches, both using Dahlia Bakery's famous English Muffins. Filled with informative sidebars, technique tips, and equipment advice—and illustrated with tempting photographs and stories that capture the flavors of Seattle—The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook is sure to please fans of all skill levels and tastes.
Seattle's most popular chef and James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur Award winner Tom Douglas shares his secrets for 125 scrumptious treats. Here, you will find chef-tested recipes for breakfasts, pastries, tarts, pies, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, puddings, ice creams, sandwiches, and jams that are guaranteed to work in the home kitchen, including:
The "Seattle" English muffin sandwich with cured wild salmon Toasted hazelnut whole wheat scones with maple glaze Tom's favorite coconut macaroons Tangy lemon meringue tart Carrot cupcakes with brown butter cream cheese frosting The Best Crème Caramel in the World Oregon Pinot Noir raspberry sorbet Peach vanilla jamIn addition to these unique bakery treats, Tom offers savory variations on beloved classics, such as Eggs Benedict with Scallion Hollandaise and Breakfast Sandwiches, both using Dahlia Bakery's famous English Muffins. Filled with informative sidebars, technique tips, and equipment advice—and illustrated with tempting photographs and stories that capture the flavors of Seattle—The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook is sure to please fans of all skill levels and tastes.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published October 23, 2012
221 people are currently reading
620 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 1, 2022
We visited Seattle last month and I didn't know anything about Dahlia Bakery, but I noticed a cute building across the street from our hotel that looked like a restaurant. After searching for decent coffee in a town that's supposed to have good coffee (trust me, Houston has better coffee than Seattle) I suggested we walk across the street and check out the restaurant over there. It turned out to be a renowned (but unknown to me, because Texas) bakery. The coffee was Starbucks, but decent, but the English Muffins were a revelation and the quiche was creamy and not rubbery and the crust was made with puff pastry. We ended up eating there every morning and even took English muffins and quiche to our son's apartment for him to eat. After discovering that the bakery is a big deal, I decided to buy the cookbook so I could try to make some of their goodies at home. Let me just say, it's a gorgeous book and I have only made one thing, but plan to master those English Muffins soon! Until then I dream about toasted English muffins, thick sliced smokey bacon a runny egg and Beeker Street (not sure of the spelling) cheese all on a toasted sandwich eaten on a cold Seattle day.
January 5, 2013
This is a fabulous cookbook for the home cook who is interested in cooking for both celebrations and every day fare. We just ate "Tom's tasty tomato soup" (p 342) and my daughter and I are planning to make the "chocolate heartland bundt cake with chocolate honey glaze" (p 285) later today. Tom Douglas and Shelley Lance have created a book that is both beautiful and practical--a rare combination in the cookbook world!
December 29, 2016
I love reading cookbooks even though I almost never actually use them. This one got me inspired to branch out in the pie department--coconut cream here I come! And if I ever get ambitious enough to make my own English muffins or doughnuts, this book will definitely be open on the counter getting grungy.
May 14, 2013
This is one of those cookbooks that leaves me feeling content to just go to the actual restaurant and buy the stuff instead of bothering with complicated recipes. I marked seven recipes that I'd actually like to make (that weren't too much of a hassle) but I still enjoyed reading through the rest.
April 13, 2018
This one might have been a solid three stars except that the author's tone came across as self-aggrandizing and congratulatory that I found myself actively disliking him by the time I got to the recipe that was my whole purpose of getting the book. (The famous peanut butter cookie recipe.)
The ebook version is well organized. The table of contents lists each recipe with a hyperlink so one can go directly to the wanted recipe without endless tapping. Each chapter also begins with a list of the recipes included within and active links. Within recipes, there are links to information about processes (how to melt chocolate or sift flour), ingredients (mostly how to source) and what I'll call complementary or dependent recipes (e.g. jams to be served alongside or curd that goes inside something else.) Good job there. OTOH, the index is useless since the page numbers don't exist in the text and are not links.
The recipes are formatted as follows:
1. Title
2. Number of servings
(And you'd next expect the ingredient list, right? Wrong.)
3. Introduction. A chatty, author-centric intro that attempts to convince you that this recipe is the best thing ever (each one of them). It wasn't long before I found the tone of these annoying as hell, but you still have to read them because somewhere amid all the "I own 15 restaurants" and "we do this better than anyone and I stuff them in my face every afternoon" and "my wife Jackie..." for the 147th time, he does sneak in useful information about timing, substitutions, or the best way to store something.
4. Special equipment needed. Yes, after all that, in which time you probably forgot what the recipe was, we get down to business.
5. Ingredient list. Ingredients are listed by volume and weight (American and metric.)
6. Process. Steps are numbered (thank you to the layout person for that), but they are needlessly long and rambling.
There are some photos, but they vary widely in usefulness. A photo captioned "Making vanilla bean ice cream in Dahlia Workshop using an industrial ice cream machine" shows a pair of hands opening a food service container marked "vanilla." Not a machine in sight. The caption has little to do with the photo. Even if it did, it contributes nothing of value. The closeup showing the preferred consistency of pastry cream with a caption describing the thickness? Now, that's a good use of photos. Why did we need three pictures showing how to shake donuts in a bag, I don't know.
Let's get back to the ingredient lists because therein lies a problem. As others have pointed out, there are notable differences of the volume-weight numbers of the same ingredient in different recipes. While humidity or a different person scooping the ingredient can account for slight variation, a cup of AP flour should be close to the same weight from one recipe to the next, and someone should have caught this problem before the book went to print. (I guess he was too busy bragging about owning half the restaurants in Seattle to proofread. Whatever.)
Many of the recipes have portions that need to be made ahead or have a long rest. Not big deal long as you plan for it. Most of the cake and pie recipes focus on chocolate. That's a plus to some people. I'd rather see more interesting and diverse flavors.
I already knew restaurants in the NW don't know biscuits from the back end of a buzzard, but the so-called "southern style" biscuit recipe is, as my grandmother would have said, "just plain not good." It's dry, crumbly, and extremely salty. Southerners love salt, and this has enough salt to embalm one's eyeballs. There is a second recipe for a malted biscuit. It's actually pretty tasty, but I'd never call it a biscuit. Maybe a shortbread or a tall cookie or ???
The corn rosemary cake was good, as was the tomato soup. The blueberry muffins and ginger snaps were average. I wouldn't bother to make them again as I have other recipes with better texture. My opinion of what they call biscuits is already noted, and I can't say much encouraging about the carrot muffins or the whole wheat pastry dough. In the end, I found the results too inconsistent for this to ever be a cookbook I use frequently, although I may try the doughnuts next time I plan to have the fryer out. And there's that peanut butter cookie that I still might gamble on.
The ebook version is well organized. The table of contents lists each recipe with a hyperlink so one can go directly to the wanted recipe without endless tapping. Each chapter also begins with a list of the recipes included within and active links. Within recipes, there are links to information about processes (how to melt chocolate or sift flour), ingredients (mostly how to source) and what I'll call complementary or dependent recipes (e.g. jams to be served alongside or curd that goes inside something else.) Good job there. OTOH, the index is useless since the page numbers don't exist in the text and are not links.
The recipes are formatted as follows:
1. Title
2. Number of servings
(And you'd next expect the ingredient list, right? Wrong.)
3. Introduction. A chatty, author-centric intro that attempts to convince you that this recipe is the best thing ever (each one of them). It wasn't long before I found the tone of these annoying as hell, but you still have to read them because somewhere amid all the "I own 15 restaurants" and "we do this better than anyone and I stuff them in my face every afternoon" and "my wife Jackie..." for the 147th time, he does sneak in useful information about timing, substitutions, or the best way to store something.
4. Special equipment needed. Yes, after all that, in which time you probably forgot what the recipe was, we get down to business.
5. Ingredient list. Ingredients are listed by volume and weight (American and metric.)
6. Process. Steps are numbered (thank you to the layout person for that), but they are needlessly long and rambling.
There are some photos, but they vary widely in usefulness. A photo captioned "Making vanilla bean ice cream in Dahlia Workshop using an industrial ice cream machine" shows a pair of hands opening a food service container marked "vanilla." Not a machine in sight. The caption has little to do with the photo. Even if it did, it contributes nothing of value. The closeup showing the preferred consistency of pastry cream with a caption describing the thickness? Now, that's a good use of photos. Why did we need three pictures showing how to shake donuts in a bag, I don't know.
Let's get back to the ingredient lists because therein lies a problem. As others have pointed out, there are notable differences of the volume-weight numbers of the same ingredient in different recipes. While humidity or a different person scooping the ingredient can account for slight variation, a cup of AP flour should be close to the same weight from one recipe to the next, and someone should have caught this problem before the book went to print. (I guess he was too busy bragging about owning half the restaurants in Seattle to proofread. Whatever.)
Many of the recipes have portions that need to be made ahead or have a long rest. Not big deal long as you plan for it. Most of the cake and pie recipes focus on chocolate. That's a plus to some people. I'd rather see more interesting and diverse flavors.
I already knew restaurants in the NW don't know biscuits from the back end of a buzzard, but the so-called "southern style" biscuit recipe is, as my grandmother would have said, "just plain not good." It's dry, crumbly, and extremely salty. Southerners love salt, and this has enough salt to embalm one's eyeballs. There is a second recipe for a malted biscuit. It's actually pretty tasty, but I'd never call it a biscuit. Maybe a shortbread or a tall cookie or ???
The corn rosemary cake was good, as was the tomato soup. The blueberry muffins and ginger snaps were average. I wouldn't bother to make them again as I have other recipes with better texture. My opinion of what they call biscuits is already noted, and I can't say much encouraging about the carrot muffins or the whole wheat pastry dough. In the end, I found the results too inconsistent for this to ever be a cookbook I use frequently, although I may try the doughnuts next time I plan to have the fryer out. And there's that peanut butter cookie that I still might gamble on.
February 9, 2018
What a fine book this was with no wasted space and crammed with good recipes. I especially like the little tips scattered throughout the book and the background of the recipes. What I did not like, however, was the small print. I believe that's inevitable these days. Regardless it's a treat for the senses and tummy. Waste-wise author
January 13, 2025
I REALLY LIKE THIS BOOK
What a great book. I really enjoyed reading the stories. The book had lots of great baking tips and wonderful recipes. But it was the pictures that was the icing on the cake, yes pun intended! Full of wonderful pictures of the recipes. Hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.
What a great book. I really enjoyed reading the stories. The book had lots of great baking tips and wonderful recipes. But it was the pictures that was the icing on the cake, yes pun intended! Full of wonderful pictures of the recipes. Hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.
July 31, 2017
Great revipes
I have not made any of the recipes in this book yet, but I have read through all of them. I can tell this is going to be a well used addition to cookbook collection. I can't wait to get started!
I have not made any of the recipes in this book yet, but I have read through all of them. I can tell this is going to be a well used addition to cookbook collection. I can't wait to get started!
August 23, 2017
A taste of Seattle
I live away from the Northwest now, so it is nice to have a taste of home in these recipes. I am especially anxious to make the tomato soup with brown butter croutons.
Everything looks wonderful and the instructions are clear and detailed.
I live away from the Northwest now, so it is nice to have a taste of home in these recipes. I am especially anxious to make the tomato soup with brown butter croutons.
Everything looks wonderful and the instructions are clear and detailed.
November 4, 2017
Wonderful recipes!!!
April 27, 2019
Amazing
March 18, 2021
Quite a nice baking book with a few additional restaurant dishes thrown in. really nice explanation on how to do things and why to do them. Plus it's PNW!
June 1, 2022
Their maple ice cream is really good!! Now I want to try their recipe of English muffins and for Blueberry muffins! Great cookbook.
February 12, 2017
made the cornbread bacon muffins. they were fine, though pretty time/labor intensive for muffins. i just felt like they needed some more to boost them.
March 24, 2013
I put my name on the library reserve list for this book at the library weeks ago. It was definitely a cookbook worth waiting for. The pictures and all the recipes from the Dahlia Bakery, make this a great keeper for bakery fans. That said, I'm probably the only person in Seattle who hasn't been to the Dahlia Bakery, and let me add that super sweet desserts with lots of eggs and/or dairy aren't helpful in my kitchen. That said, I thouroughly enjoyed reading about the recipes and drooling over the pictures as I imagined flavors. I was impressed with the dog biscuit recipe (but then assume these biscuits are at the bakery, too.) I also liked the description of ingredients, equipment and baking tips. From english muffins to cookies, pies jams and jellies. The only chapter that seemed a bit out of place was Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese, though I bet it doens't seem out of place to fans of this bakery. Perhaps one day I'll stop in and sample some of these treats.
October 28, 2012
While I'm not a baker, this book makes me want to be. I wasn't through the introduction before I knew I had to own this cookbook. I found it to be very well written with easily understood instructions, as well as beautiful illustrations. Even if you never bake anything, it makes for good reading. It's 125 recipes includes recipes for baked goods (such as coconut cream pie and english muffins)as well as for ice cream, jellies and tomato soup.
While I received an advance copy from Edelweiss, I made sure to add it to my Amazon Wish List.
While I received an advance copy from Edelweiss, I made sure to add it to my Amazon Wish List.
July 23, 2014
What a terrific cookbook. Aside from the fact that I want to make almost every recipe in the book from English muffins to maple syrup ice cream, this book tells you all about the equipment you will need, the best ingredients for the job, sources and best of all why you should do things a certain way. In short, this is the most comprehensive baking book I have ever read with some of the most delicious recipes. Top it all off with stories about the area, the authors, the restaurants and you've got a winner!
January 19, 2013
Fantastic recipes from the famed Seattle bakery, including a couple of their most famous. I really appreciated the careful explanations of the importance of weighing ingredients, bringing them to room-temperature, and other baking techniques useful to any baker.
September 4, 2015
Most everything sounded good, so I tried baking the carrot cupcakes. The texture was off, the crumb was very dense. Perhaps I picked a bad recipe, but I would not want to waste time trying other recipes when there are many good ones out there.
January 19, 2022
Every single picture looks amazing. Every single recipe sounds delicious. Can someone please bring me one of everything?
February 6, 2015
The recipes look fantastic--great photography, easy to follow. The ingredient lists assume a large and diverse pantry for pastries and that is just never going to happen in my house. Off the shelf!
July 6, 2013
Using Brioche dough for doughnuts~! And a vanilla bean mascarpone--YUM! And I would really like to try their mushroom, sausage, & chard strata.
December 26, 2013
i liked most of the recipes that were in here i copied a few to try some seem easy enough so we will see what happens i would love to go to the bakery and have something there that would be awesome
February 15, 2025
Can't beat a Dahlia Bakery cookbook.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews