Coffee Cakes: Simple, Sweet, and Savory

by Lou Seibert Pappas, Maren Caruso (Photographer)

Trust the author of Biscotti (over 200,000 sold) to deliver the secrets of great kuchen in the kitchen! Traditional coffee cakes, delicious new flavors, quick recipes, and more elaborate yeast breads they're all here, and they're all perfect for breakfast, brunch, picnics, and desserts. From sweet morning surprises such as Strawberry Coffee Cakes or Sticky Caramel Pinwheels to savories such as Ruby Grape Focaccia or Gruy re Cheese Brioche Braid and treats such as Dark Chocolate-Almond Cake, here are more than 50 simply-can't-go-wrong pleasers. Tips for baking techniques including preferred ingredients, how to manage dough, and how to store and serve coffee cakes are included in this gorgeously photographed collection. Bringing comfort to the table is made easy all it takes is Coffee Cakes !

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction

132 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

About the author

Food has been Lou Pappas's lifelong passion. She is the author of many cookbooks, including nine titles in the Artful Kitchen series-- Biscotti, Cheese, Cheesecake, Chutneys and Relishes, Cinnamon, Ginger, Holiday Feasts, Pesto, and Pizzette. Her many food, wine, and travel articles have appeared in a variety of magazines and newspapers. A former newspaper food editor, Ms. Pappas lives in Palo Alto, California.

Reviews

[GoldGato · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every once in a while, I like a good coffee cake, but they are getting harder to find, so I thought I would try this book for its recipes. However, I think this is the first cozy cookbook I’ve ever read. I know what cozy mystery books and cozy romance books look like, but this book must be an example of the new type of cookbooks. Recipes with cute illustrations.

The recipes are sectioned off as:

Fruit Cakes and Tarts
Bundt Cakes
Loaf Cakes
Yeast Cakes

Each recipe gets two front-facing pages, with the ingredients on the left side and the preparation on the right side. Sprinkled throughout are the illustrations for the coziness factor. I’ll admit that I have one type that I do enjoy and that is the basic everyday walnut coffee cake. Alas, there isn’t a recipe for the most basic of basics, so I guess it’s not a cozy enough recipe. I also am unable to find my favorite at the markets, where blueberries and polenta versions now rule. Umm, no.

There aren’t any actual final photographic representations of the various cakes. For instance, I liked the recipe for the Almond-Crusted Citrus Loaf, but I have no idea what it should really look like when fully completed. I do prefer my coffee cakes to look more like a Danish Kringle ring, but then I’m not cozy enough. Still, it’s a cute book.

Book Season = Year Round (where are my walnuts)

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has potential, based on the one recipe I tried (blueberry streusel coffee cake). Possibly better with modifications. With this particular one, all the blueberries sank (just like the cover photo) and created a bit of a tasteless mush on the bottom but the rest of it was good enough to forgive that and try it again. I think a lot of these will be possible to modify to vegan and/or use alternative flours, which will be useful.

[Tanja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite some good recipes but I agree with another reviewer: I like to have an idea what I'm going to be baking or cooking, so pictures with each recipe are greatly missed here.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely little book. Lots of yummy recipes, though I can’t speak to how they turn out, I haven’t attempted to bake anything yet. I absolutely adore the illustrations in this book~

[Christy Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually a book I've owned and used for a large number of years. It has provided the recipes for a number of the sweets I've brought into a variety of offices and to gatherings over the years, most of which were quite successful. The majority of these are simple to follow recipes with a few slightly more time consuming additions. These aren't fancy pastries, but rather more homey offerings from bundt cake and rectangle pans that are the type of comforting flavors that people tend to return to for a second helping. A favorite recipe that came out of here is the lavender polenta cake as well as the prune plum coffee cake. I love the basic Sunday coffee cake. A small volume, but worth keeping on the bookshelf.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love coffee cakes. Maybe because they provide the perfect justification for eating cake in the morning. How else can one get away with a recipe for a cake with frosting - not glaze mind you, not evening drizzle or pipping but frosting.
This looks to be a reorganized and maybe updated version of an earlier cookbook. This one is divided into 3 types: fruit cakes and tarts, bundt and yeast with 6 to 7 recipes for each type. Many seems tasty.

[Pattie Tierney · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I have tried a number of recipes from this book with great success, for a cookbook to really resonate with me, I have to have pictures -- lots and lots of colorful, mouthwatering pictures. While this volume is petite and fun, it lacks the photos that I demand and, as such, wasn't one that I could award more than three stars.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great recipes & I can adapt them for use with boxed cake mix if need be....

Nice pictures and the recipes aren't too hard to make.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

lots of variety including a picnic section, along with everyday and fancy, savory and bundt
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