Bake Happy: 100 Playful Desserts with Rainbow Layers, Hidden Fillings, Billowy Frostings, and more

by Judith M. Fertig

Colorful, flavorful home-baked treats just say "happy," and Bake Happy is all about adding a bit of joy back into your kitchen. A sweet baking book that will bring a smile to the dessert table, Bake Happy includes 100 recipes for cheerful cupcakes and cookies, bars and brownies, tarts and turnovers, and delicious cakes that are speckled, marbled, and striped.

This cookbook can be used year-round and will satisfy your sweet tooth and your soul. Whether you're in the mood for creamy chocolate, colorful cake layers, tasty cake batter, or special occasion desserts, you'll find recipes for Citrus Glazed Sunset Cake, Rustic Cherry Pudding, Secret Filling Devil's Food Cupcakes, and more. There are also various options for color and flavor combinations, and 30+ full-color photos throughout.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

240 pages, Hardcover

First published April 14, 2015

About the author

Judith Fertig is an award-winning novelist and cookbook author. Flavor speaks to her in stories and recipes, whether for baking or barbecue.

She resides in Overland Park, Kansas, which is not quite somewhere-over-the-rainbow, but close.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The luscious looking pink cake on the cover drew me in. The gold standard for me for any baking book is the chocolate chip cookie. Therefore, the first recipe I tried was, "Chocolate Chunk Cookies." According to the recipe, "In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes." I have been baking chocolate chip cookies for 30 years and have never beaten the batter that long. The dialogue in my head went, "Is it really necessary to beat it that long? Will it taste better than my regular recipe? What if I only beat it 2 minutes?" The answer, I am sticking with my tried and trusted favorite.

Next, as I have a milestone birthday looming I studied the recipe, "Strawberry Birthday Cake" which is featured on the cover. The recipe calls for 1 recipe "Flavored Buttercream Frosting (page 24)" this is a typo as the recipe for "Sea Salt Caramel" is on page 24. I looked in the index under "F" and found, "Frostings, Buttercream Flavored Syrup, 204." Okay, now we are getting somewhere. However, my heart sank when I read the list of ingredients which includes "1 cup (250ml) Rosy Strawberry Syrup (page 29). This book is just not for me.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to love to bake but since my children grew up I have barely done any baking at all. Sometimes I’ll bake something for Christmas or other holidays or just because I feel like it.

When I saw this book the title reminded me of the fact that baking did make me happy and I wanted a copy of this book asap.

The book starts off with Acknowledgements, Introduction, and The Bake Happy Language Of Flavor. My favorite flavor is chocolate, and from the chart chocolate means risk taking, shoulder to lean on and indulgence.

There are eight chapters in this book:
Bake Happy Basics
Fruit
Meringues and Souffles
Cookies
Tartlets, Tarts, Pies, and More
Little Cakes, Cupcakes, Brownies, and Pastries
Cusards, Flans, and Bread Puddings
Cakes
and then the index.

Since my son loves brownies, the first two recipes I want to try is the Marbled Pumpkin and the Venezuelan Spiced brownies. Another one I want to try is Chocolate Chunk Cookies since my kids loved the Chocolate Chip Cookies I used to make. There are also some fruit and other recipes I want to get to soon.

There are “So Happy Together” banners throught the book. One example is from the recipe Chocolate Chunk Cookies that says “Chocolate Chunk Cookies + Affogato”. Since I didn’t know what “affogato” was I looked it up and the definition is a coffee-based beverage. It usually takes the form of a scoop of vanilla gelato or ice cream topped with a shot of hot espresso. Some variations also include a shot of amaretto or other liqueur.

There are also variations included with some of the recipes and quotes by different people. One of my favorites was “One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats” (Iris Murdoch, novelist). I couldn’t agree more.

This book is a quick read with 240 pages, and it’s loaded with all sorts of yummies that seem easy enough to make.

If you are a baker or know someone who is, this is an excellent book to add to your shelf. It’s one you can go to over and over whenever you want something sweet. There are many different desserts and they all look good.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hardly any photos! Appreciated that a recipe for homemade sprinkles exists, though. These flavours are a little too fancy for my family's tastes but I liked reading about them.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

More fun to peruse than to actually cook from. Most of the recipes in here are a bit too fancy for my family. The few pictures that are here look beautiful though!

[SilverReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not enough photos.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great collection of baking recipes - cookies, cakes and more. The strawberry birthday cake was an amazing recipe.