Rating: 
Summary: Baking with a Friend
Review: Baking in America is one of those rare cookbooks that both experienced and beginning bakers will treasure. My copy already has 14 sticky notes marking recipes that I've tried or want to in the near future. The introduction sets the tone for the book - lots of helpful information about various ingredients, tools and equipment, intermixed with interesting historical tidbits. The color photographs seduce the reader into marking yet another recipe that just has to be tried.Then on to the "meat" of the book - the recipes and insight into challenges bakers have faced in past generations. Each recipe has tips that beginners will appreciate ("adjust an oven rack to the center position" or "beat for one minute," "stir constantly for 2 minutes"), as well as new ideas for more experienced bakers ("cake is covered tightly with foil for the first 10 minutes..."). I'm still getting kudos and demands for a repeat of the Irish Whiskey Fruitcake with Spiced Walnuts and Pecans (p. 208) even from friends who don't like fruitcake. The Cranberry Muffins from Nantucket (p. 105) are easy and delicious. The Spicy Buttermilk Pecan Layer Cake with Pecan Buttercream (p. 295) that showed up on the Thanksgiving table has become the cake-in-demand for family birthday cakes. Some recipes include tips about ingredients that can make a big difference, like using whole citron chopped at home instead of the packaged grocery store variety, or home-grated nutmeg. A source list of books, ingredients and equipment at the end of the book is an invaluable part of Baking in America. It puts truly distinctive recipes within easy reach for any baker. This cookbook makes readers feel like they are baking with a knowledgeable friend in the kitchen - easy-going, dependable, innovative, and full of quirky historical gems.
Rating:
Summary: Baking with a Friend
Review: Baking in America is one of those rare cookbooks that both experienced and beginning bakers will treasure. My copy already has 14 sticky notes marking recipes that I've tried or want to in the near future. The introduction sets the tone for the book - lots of helpful information about various ingredients, tools and equipment, intermixed with interesting historical tidbits. The color photographs seduce the reader into marking yet another recipe that just has to be tried. Then on to the "meat" of the book - the recipes and insight into challenges bakers have faced in past generations. Each recipe has tips that beginners will appreciate ("adjust an oven rack to the center position" or "beat for one minute," "stir constantly for 2 minutes"), as well as new ideas for more experienced bakers ("cake is covered tightly with foil for the first 10 minutes..."). I'm still getting kudos and demands for a repeat of the Irish Whiskey Fruitcake with Spiced Walnuts and Pecans (p. 208) even from friends who don't like fruitcake. The Cranberry Muffins from Nantucket (p. 105) are easy and delicious. The Spicy Buttermilk Pecan Layer Cake with Pecan Buttercream (p. 295) that showed up on the Thanksgiving table has become the cake-in-demand for family birthday cakes. Some recipes include tips about ingredients that can make a big difference, like using whole citron chopped at home instead of the packaged grocery store variety, or home-grated nutmeg. A source list of books, ingredients and equipment at the end of the book is an invaluable part of Baking in America. It puts truly distinctive recipes within easy reach for any baker. This cookbook makes readers feel like they are baking with a knowledgeable friend in the kitchen - easy-going, dependable, innovative, and full of quirky historical gems.
Rating: 
Summary: Great 'history story' but mediocre recipes.
Review: Greg Patent does a wonderful job giving cute history tidbits and including a wide range of recipes. However, I personally think the recipes are bland and could use a little work. The Black-Eyed Susans needed a chocolate icing to counter the 'plain' peanut butter cupcake (even with a Reese's cup inside!). A couple of the cakes I tried were okay; but I expect MUCH more than `okay' from a cookbook with a list price of $.... For the cookies in the book, just skip that section and go with Betty Crocker's cookie book :)
It is a cute book, but the recipes could definitely use some livening up! Go with "Baking By Flavor," by Lisa Yockelson. You won't be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Great 'history story' but mediocre recipes.
Review: Greg Patent does a wonderful job giving cute history tidbits and including a wide range of recipes. However, I personally think the recipes are bland and could use a little work. The Black-Eyed Susans needed a chocolate icing to counter the 'plain' peanut butter cupcake (even with a Reese's cup inside!). A couple of the cakes I tried were okay; but I expect MUCH more than 'okay' from a cookbook with a list price of $.... For the cookies in the book, just skip that section and go with Betty Crocker's cookie book :)
It is a cute book, but the recipes could definitely use some livening up! Go with "Baking By Flavor," by Lisa Yockelson. You won't be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Now I Can Bake in America, Too
Review: How I wish I had had Greg Patent's book, Baking in America, 41 years ago when I was a young bride, trying to impress my husband with traditional recipes I had brought with me from Norway. Until I read Patent's book, I never understood why my baking went awry. Now I know it was the flour. Although my cooking is appreciated, I never became a baker. But I love this wonderful book; just to read the recipes is delightful. With all-encompassing guides on how to bake the best recipes from the past, this charming book has turned me on to baking again. Greg Patent has written an interesting, historically fun and excellent book - one I will frequently use and then pass on to my children and grandchildren.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Cookbook And A Great Collection Of Stories
Review: I own this book and it is without a doubt the best baking book I own and one of the top cookbooks that I have ever seen. The Introduction alone will get you hooked, with Greg Patent's intriguing preview of how thousands of years of cultures have been combined, modified, and enhanced to create the modern cooking of today. And what about the recipes? I have tried many and they are flawless. Particularly delightful are the Lemon Sponge Cloud (p. 348), the Boston Creme Cakes -- that's right -- cakes (worth the price of the book on their own -- p. 252), and the irresistable Malted Milk Chocolate Cake (p. 276). But this is much more than just a cookbook of delicious recipes. It is a culinary geneology full of rich accounts of how the cooking of today came to be. So while you are waiting for your sponge cake to bake, you can pass the time learning how it used to take 4 hours of beating to produce its predecessor back in the 17th century. And when you bite into that delicious and fluffy treat, you will thank Greg Patent, but you will also appreciate those folks along the way who were part of the evolution of American baking.
Rating:
Summary: I love this book.
Review: I really enjoyed reading this cookbook. I learned so much about the history of American baking, the ingredients that were and are used in baking, and about the origins of some of the foods that I bake for my family. I read it cover to cover, like a history book, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Then I started baking from it. The first thing I tried was the honey apple torte, and it was one of the best baked goods I have ever made or tasted. It disappeared in a day--my family couldn't stop eating it. And it is a beautiful cake, too. I am looking forward to baking it for company. Next I tried the lemon sour cream pound cake, and that too was exquisite. I can't wait to try some of the other recipes. I found the recipes very original, and there were many that I haven't seen in other cookbooks. I also enjoyed reading the introductions to each recipe, which give history of the recipe or the ingredients contained in it. After reading (and baking from) this book, I feel like I have a better understanding of American culinary history. This was a very enjoyable cookbook. Thank you, Greg Patent.
Rating:
Summary: Big Bulky Book, few Pictures
Review: I recently received a copy of "Baking in America" and for such a LARGE book, I found the design extremely poor. The first 37 pages are NOT recipes but definitions. Some of which I felt needed no definition. Do we really need a full paragraph description of "Granulated sugar" or "Honey?" I mean, come on. this stuff belongs in a cooking theory book, or at least in the a section at the back, but not in the first pages... Once we get to the recipe section, few recipes really caught my attention. I also HATE HATE HATE the cheap publishing trick of putting the photographs of only some of the dishes in the center. This makes work for the cook as he/she looks at the picture then must search out the recipe and who wants to do this? I prefer photos and illustrations to be next to the recipes so the cook can see what the finished product might look like. I also felt the recipes were poorly indexed and seemed to span several pages apiece. For a book this size I expected thousands of recipes instead of the measly few included. Overall: A big beefy book, without a lot of recipes or contents useful to the experienced cook. Beginners might appreciate the length Patent goes to describe basic cooking principals. Lack of photos and poor design did not appeal to this reader.
Rating:
Summary: Attractive and all-round practical
Review: Patent sifted 200 years of cookbooks, journals and newspapers to select these 250 recipes, tested and adapted for the modern kitchen. Organized by type, from yeast breads to quick breads to doughnuts, pound cakes, layer cakes, pies and tarts, cheesecakes and more, this is a solid all-round baking book, with clear directions. Sidebars sprinkled throughout offer quotes from old cookbooks and advertisements and brief prefaces give the provenance of the original recipe, serving suggestions and a few words about its character. Patent also offers tips on choosing and handling ingredients, and cooking techniques, such as deep-frying doughnuts, pound cake pointers and step-by-step layer cakes. A section of full-color pictures (Coconut Layer Cake, Lemon Genoise with White Chocolate Buttercream and Raspberries, Rhubarb Strawberry Pie) should be kept away from dieters. From Martha Washington's Currant Cake to Jalapeno, Cornmeal and Cheddar Bread, Patent does justice to the American baking scene.
Rating:
Summary: Classic American Recipes
Review: Patent uses the Introduction to disclose his inspiration for the cookbook: an unusual recipe for Indian Pound Cake from 1828. He takes us on his journey through reading rooms all over the United States, musty cookbooks and the beginnings of Bake-Offs. Interspersed throughout the text are historical blurbs discussing "Hints to the Working Classes" (1846), "Weights and Measures" The New England Economical Housekeeper (1846), and "Recipe or Receipt?" Following the Introduction are thirty pages "About the Ingredients." This valuable section discusses types of flour, leaveners, sugar, fats, nuts, and a listing of equipment used in the book. Baking in America features twelve chapters of recipes. Some of the chapter titles are: Sweet Yeast Breads and Doughnuts, Layer Cakes, Cheesecakes and Tortes, Cookies, and Fruit Desserts. The recipes themselves are adapted for today's bakers, there are no antique baking tools called for or obscure ingredients. The recipes range from Buttermilk Bread to Chocolate Tart in a Chocolate Crust. Patent has meticulously researched the recipes in this book. For example, the Golden Butter Layer Cake with Chocolate Frosting on page 260 includes this introduction: "I've based this cake on the nineteenth century 1-2-3-4 cake, made with 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour, and 4 eggs." Patent doesn't stop with historical trivia, he also shares the elimination of the flour category in the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1996 on page 114. I made the Caramel Pecan Candy Bar Cookies on page 421. These "cookies" are bar cookies, not individually baked. The recipe makes 20 bars, baked in an 8-inch by 8-inch pan. The recipe is very easy to prepare, and yields a treasure of tastes. This treat calls for: butter, brown sugar, salt, vanilla, flour, caramels, evaporated milk, and pecans. The bars have a crunchy crust that is reminiscent of a fine shortbread. The topping, composed of caramels, vanilla, and pecans, adds a chewy texture, hence the "candy bar" in the recipe name. These bars are pure, simple goodness. Some of the recipes call for special equipment. For example, the very last recipe in the book, Chocolate Tart in a Chocolate Crust calls for a ten-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. To compensate for using recipes calling for special baker's tools, Patent has provided a listing of Sources for Books, Equipment, and Ingredients on page 522. On pages 528 - 535, there is an extensive Bibliography including everything from The Original White House Cookbook to Civil War Recipes. The alphabetical index has 11 different recipes under the heading "cake" and 29 recipes for "Cookies." Greg Patent has left a historical treasure for future generations of bakers. The recipes in this book have stood the tests of time and taste: Chocolate Buttermilk Layer Cake, Boston Cream Pie, Cranberry Muffins from Nantucket, and Coconut Layer Cake. This cookbook is valuable to anyone seeking the baked tastes of America.
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