Product Description

If your mother made the world's best apple pie, you probably know that baked goods made for and with children are the stuff of family memories. But before creating warm and fuzzy memories, you need recipes that allow you to bake without fear and don't keep you chained to the kitchen for hours. Find those recipes in Mom's Big Book of Baking, which has more than 200 recipes tailor-made for today's extremely busy mom. The recipes are all tested in a real mom's kitchen (Lauren Chattman's) and tasted by real kids (her own). Chattman has created streamlined recipes that produce the highest quality baked goods with the least amount of fuss, striking a balance between familiar favorites and new twists. Try Caramel Swirl Brownies on a rainy afternoon, Strawberry Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream at the next school bake sale, Thin and Crispy Pizza for a slumber party, and Chocolate Milk Pancakes at breakfast the next morning. Chattman provides you with advice on when and how to let kids participate. There are loads of tips on vital topics including how to mass produce cupcakes, how to make the most Christmas cookies in the least amount of time, and how to make a birthday cake your child will remember forever without losing your own mind.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #589484 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From Amazon.com
Lauren Chattman is both a pastry chef and a mom, so she's in the perfect position to offer Mom's Big Book of Baking, a cookbook filled with recipes the whole family will love. This collection of 200 recipes for simple, home-style baked goods lets already busy moms bake for bake sales, slumber parties, the family cookie jar, and other special occasions, without spending what little spare time they might have tied up in the kitchen. Tips called "Kids Can Help" describe different ways to involve children in the kitchen, and there are also plenty of funny sidebars, entitled A Good Excuse to Make..., that will give you a chuckle whether or not they convince you to try the recipe. Chattman includes favorites like Caramel Swirl Brownies, Rolled Sugar Cookies, Lattice-Top Apple Pie, and Chocolate Milk Pancakes. You'll be well prepared for birthdays with recipes such as Strawberry Cupcakes with Vanilla Whipped Cream and Strawberry Roses, a "magical" Marble Pound Cake, and Chocolate Birthday Cake Frosting. --Leora Y. Bloom

From Publishers Weekly
Author of the highly successful dessert cookbook Instant Gratification, Chattman now offers her skills as a mother as well as pastry chef. The book covers baking from pancakes, waffles and muffins through cookies and cakes to pies and breads. The recipes are clearly written and prefaced with short descriptions and notes. Many of the recipes offer tips on ingredients, variations and how and when to involve children. The Instant Homemade Microwave Brownies, recommended for kids seven and older to help in the baking fall well within their capabilities, although she suggests, "The dish will be hot... so removing it from the microwave should be mom's job." Her use of butter as the fat of choice, while not for cholesterol watchers, makes the recipes rich and inviting, particularly when she pairs it with the large quantity of blueberries in Best Blueberry Muffins to give a very berry satisfying result. One or two recipes, such as the Sprinkle Cookies, are slightly disappointing, although the description did prove to be accurate, as her daughter says, that "these taste like cupcakes." However, with such a wide variety of baked goods and the effortlessness needed to produce good results, this book will be a solid bake book for the busy mom, particularly one who wishes to involve her children.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Chattman, author of Instant Gratification and Just Add Water, is known for her quick and easy recipes. Although she has worked as a pastry chef, the desserts in her new baking book are in that same style, just the thing for busy moms (and dads). The cookie chapter is, logically enough, the biggest one, but there are also dozens of recipes for birthday and other cakes; pies, tarts, and cobblers; and muffins, quick breads, and pizzas. There's even a breakfast chapter, with treats like Chocolate Milk Pancakes and Gingerbread Waffles. Recommended for most collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.