Top Secret Recipes: Creating Kitchen Clones of America's Favorite Brand-Name Foods

by Todd Wilbur

This irresistible collection of cloned recipes is the product of years of obsessive research by self-confessed junk-food addict Todd Wilbur. Big food manufacturers guard their recipes like the gold in Fort Knox, but Wilbur's dogged pursuit of taste-alike versions of his—and our—all-time favorites has paid off in this unique cookbook of 50 scrumptious treats. Whether you're a kid or just a kid at heart, you'll have a great time making the incredible clones of a Hostess® Twinkie®, McDonald's® Big Mac®, a Burger King® Whopper®, a Tastykake® Butterscotch Krimpet®, a Yoo Hoo® Chocolate Drink, and all the other famous foods. Helpful illustrations let you recreate them to perfection. And both taste and guilty pleasures are just like the real thing!

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2010

Reviews

[Matthew Barlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, the KFC recipe is pretty good.

[Adrianne Haugen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too Secret Recipes: Creating Kitchen Clones of America's Favorite Brands

I m giving this a 3 Star. I have tried chick filet cheater recipes. This one is different, I don't want to reveal how. But the one I had tasted exactly the same as when you go to the chain. I am looking forward to trying the Twinkie, the candies and the Sara Lee cheese cakes. They are a must try.

[Shauna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Worth what I paid

I got this book for free on a Kindle promotion, and I'm so glad I didn't pay for it. The recipes were a joke. The author cautions that the recipes might not taste the same, and I can guarantee he's right. These would be "barely in the ballpark as the original" recipes.

[Dee brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

We haven't tried any recipes yet. But do plan on it!
Will report back with my findings! :D

[Barbara Clifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read. I've tried a couple of the recipes came out great.

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you eat out a lot at popular chain restaurants and are dying to know how to make one of your favorite soups or biscuits this can be really fun. To Wilbur does not set out to steal their famous recipes but to reproduce a taste with items you can buy at your grocery store. The illustrations, Not pictures were pretty amusing, elaborate "blueprints" to assemble your creations. IT was fun, but not at all healthy food.

[Lorna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess this may be the book that "started it all" in regard to recipe cloning. It was okay. We use the Wendy's chili recipe often and I'd like to try pressure cooking chicken like Chick-Fil-A, but what gives it a 2 instead of 3 star rating is that there were more than enough hamburger recipes that didn't seem all that different, other than how each restaurant stacks the items on the bun.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this cookbook as Christmas gifts, but after looking at the recipes, decided to get it for us. Love the recipe for Starbucks Pumpkin Scones, IHOP griddle cakes, and more. Great way to enjoy some of those favorite restaurant food cravings from home.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I pick up this at a used book sale for my husband - made for a sort of fun read, if reading cookbooks full of recipes you never intend to make is your thing, but I could feel the calories just leaping off the page.

[Saleris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I've read for interest's sake. I'm not able to eat ny of the recipes in this book, but the work that the author did to re-create the recipes is very interesting. The book is worth it for the engineering drawings alone.

[Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several items I will make and not be tempted to eat out. I now see a few more that I might try.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

yummy yummy yummy! I love the chocolate chip cookie recipe in this book.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excited to try a few of these recipes, while I’m not interested in others - primarily because I have a recipe I prefer more or do not have access to fresher options (looking at fish recipes longingly).