The Village Baker's Wife: The Desserts and Pastries That Made Gayle's Famous

Rating:
Summary: Great book for all levels of experience --
Review: I love Gayle's in Capitola -- all the pastries taste exactly like those from your fondest childhood memories. In the past few months I've made several cakes from Gayle Ortiz' cookbook, and each one tastes just like Gayle's! Even somewhat complicated recipes are broken down into manageable components with easy-to-follow, detailed instructions. I have an embarrassment of cookbooks and baking manuals from four generations of avid bakers, and Gayle's combines the best qualities of all of them. As evidenced by another reviewer's comments, the inherent subjectivity of baking renders no cookbook foolproof. (I've made the pastry cream according to the directions several times, with no problems.) However, this cookbook is nearly foolproof -- my self-proclaimed "not-a-baker" boyfriend & his three children made the carrot cake for my birthday with no assistance, and it was wonderful -- just like Gayle's! (The one error I've found is that recipe's baking time seemed to be incorrect -- 30 minutes instead of the 50-60 mine needed to bake).

Rating:
Summary: delicious-sounding recipes
Review: This book come with a delicious assortment of recipes: poppyseed cake with raspberry whipped cream frosting, crocodiles (a tasty-sounding puff pastry made with nuts and brown sugar), banana split cake (banana cake layers filled with strawberry whipped cream and chocolate ganache), fresh fruit tartes, chocolate mousse cake, as well as croissants, muffins, cookies, and some savory items (such as a mushroom turnover with cream cheese pastry) as well.

My results, however, have been below expectations. The pastry cream was very thick (due to a lot of cornstarch) and not as flavorful as the pastry cream in "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook"; also, the crust for the fruit tart needed to be baked a lot longer than the 20 minutes called for.

More recently, I made the Florentine cookies and the results were horrendous! Gayle has you cook the cookie mixture way too long so that the cookies will not spread in the oven. After throwing the dough away, I found a Florentine recipe in my Fannie Farmer Baking Book and the cookies turned out excellent (cooking times were very different from Gayle's).

Rating:
Summary: My all-time favorite cookbook for special occasions
Review: This cookbook is, by far, the most influential book in my life of baking! I bought it shortly before my wedding a couple of years ago, and I was able to use several recipes for wedding events! For instance, I made the poppyseed cake with raspberry cream icing for my bridesmaids' luncheon, complete with the traditional "cake charms" for the perfect pink cake! I was asked by four people for the recipe, and in fact, I made it again when I gave a good friend her bridal luncheon last June! For my wedding reception, one of my own contributions to the reception table was the lavender shortbread. A truly interesting myriad of flavors, of course, but it got rave reviews! ("What in the world is IN these cookies?") Five stars!

Rating:
Summary: DEE-LISH-US!!!
Review: What a find! This book has some great recipes. It really caters to folks that know their way around the kitchen and have some knowledge of baking, even though the directions are very well written and each recipe has a refer to page to remind you of a technique that was explained early on in the book.

I've never been to Gayle's but I certainly won't pass it up if I'm ever in the area. Everything I have made, with the exception of the croissants, have been phenominal (the croissants were way too buttery and greasy - this was probably due to my handling of the dough rather than the recipe though). The pastries are to die for even though they took some time to make - no one believed I made them, they looked too perfect - exactly like the photo! The chocolate mousse cake is sinfully delicious and the key lime pie is the BEST I have ever had. Needless to say I have added a few pounds from all the experimenting in the kitchen.

The ingredients are easy to find, the recipes are the ones you'd want from a traditional bakery (danishes, pastries, cakes, cookies, pies). What a gold mind this book has been, I feel like Gayle's has 'revealed' all their secrets. I keep reaching for this book when I want to try a sweet treat.

Rating:
Summary: THE BOOK HAS IT ALL!!!!
Review: WHAT A SUPERB BOOK - PACKED WITH INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS RECIPES THAT MOST CHEFS WOULD NEVER SHARE WITH YOU. THANKS TO THE AUTHORS FOR SHARING MANY OF THEIR MOST WONDERFUL SECRETS AND HINTS - SO HELPFUL FOR ALL THE BAKERS (NEW AND EXPERIENCED). IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU COULD NEVER MAKE A PERFECT PIE CRUST, BUY THIS BOOK!!!! YOU WILL FIND ALL KINDS OF PASTRIES, SUCH AS RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE ALMOND DANISH, SUGARLESS RASPBERRY OATMEAL BARS, MOLASSES COOKIES, WHITE CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA NUT COOKIES, TIRAMISU, PECAN TASSIES, CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE, BEAR CLAWS, CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS, KEY LIME PIE, SOURDOUGH PANNETTONE, AND EVEN THE MOST WONDERFUL BUTTERFLAKE ROLLS. DO I NEED TO SAY MORE? I HAVE USED AT LEAST TEN RECIPES FROM THE BOOK AND EACH ONE OF THEM CAME OUT PERFECT AND EVERYONE KEEPS ASKING ME FOR THE RECIPES. THE BOOK HAS THE BEST BAKING TIPS YOU WILL FIND ANYWHERE. AND MUCH MORE!!! I AM NOW ON MY WAY TO BAKE A DAIQUIRI CHEESECAKE FOR TOMORROW PARTY. ENJOY!