“The Rosie’s Bakery All-Butter, Cream-Filled, Sugar-Packed Baking Book” by Judy Rosenberg

I am happily baking my way thru this cookbook review of The Rosie’s Bakery All-Butter, Cream-Filled, Sugar-Packed Baking Book!  With a title like that and over 250 decadent recipes, who could resist this cookbook?  Every recipe is a winner!

Tonight we are having company over for Chili and I have decided to set up a brownie sundae bar with Rosie’s Chocolate Orgasm Brownies ( that’s really the name!) along with ice cream and several sundae toppings for an over the top dessert.

Look at how yummy they are:

There are so many things that I love about this cookbook!  First of all, every recipe is easy and Judy Rosenberg walks you thru the recipe step by step  — it’s like having your own baking instructor right in the kitchen with you!  And speaking of the author, after reading the Introduction to the book entitled “Meet Rosie”, I feel like Judy Rosenberg is an old friend!

She did not start out to be a baker.  In fact, she has no real formal training in baking.  She says people are absolutely amazed when she tells them that everything she knows about baking, she learned on her own.  I think that is why I LOVE her recipes and this cookbook so much.  She relates to ME.  I can easily understand her explanations on the various steps in baking in Chapter 1 ” Common Sense Baking”.  She says, ”  I don’t mean to denigrate expertise, but all this training business should be put in perspective.  Baking does involve chemical reactions, but so does taking an aspirin.  While you may not reach baker’s heaven on your first try, if good food is important to you, if you like desserts, and if you count, none of the recipes in this book are beyond you.”  

Judy started out baking in her second-floor apartment in Cambridge Massachusetts and selling her wares to a local Cheesecake shop.  It was during this time that she perfected some of her very famous recipes – Boom Booms, Harvard Squares, Chocolate Orgasms, Queen Raspberries- and the legend was born.  She went on to open her own shop three years later and named it Rosie’s.  The rest is history….and her success and recipes are inspiring.

This book combines the best of her previous books, Rosie’s Bakery All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed, No-Holds-Barred Baking Book and Rosie’s Bakery Chocolate-Packed, Jam-Filled, Butter-Rich, No-Holds-Barred Cookie Book , and adds 40 never-before-published recipes.  It’s a collection of ultimate, honest to goodness , indulgent dessert delights!

Most of the recipes are simple to make and don’t use a ton of ingredients.  Rosie’s Award Winning Brownies, featured on page 259 of the book, only have 6 main ingredients (plus nuts if you choose to add them) .  Judy spent years perfecting this fantastic recipe and now it can be yours!  The brownie recipe is the basis for the Chocolate Orgasims which I mentioned earlier.  Judy says, ” To me, brownies constitue one of the basic food groups, and these were simply the most luscious to be had.”  I agree!

Here is the synopsis of The Rosie’s Bakery All-Butter, Cream-Filled, Sugar-Packed Baking Book  from the back cover  of the book:

“Treat Yourself.  The joy of butter.  The heaven of fresh cream.  The sublime pleasure of eggs, sugar, rich dark chocolate, and lots of it.  Whether dessert is your life or just the occasional obsession, Judy Rosenberg takes it to a new level with her perfectly over-the-top and surprisingly easy-to-make recipes.  Velvet Underground Cake.  Maya’s Little Butter Cupcakes.  Rosie’s Raspberry Thumbprints.  Soho Globs. Ginger Snappers.   The unspeakably delicious Chocolate Orgasms.  And, of course, The Brownie.”

I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone on your holiday gift list who loves baking, cooking or the kitchen in general!  The author says about this cookbook , “It was to be a cookbook that grew dog-eared and smudged with fingerprints from generations of use while the recipes wormed their way into family lore and got trotted out with the old photos…..I still hope for something like that.  But, as I mentioned earlier, my more immediate goal is to demystify baking through common sense, because I’m convinced that that is the key to successful and happy baking.”  All I can say is HAPPY BAKING!

The Rosie’s Bakery All-Butter, Cream-Filled, Sugar-Packed Baking Book (Workman Publishing : 2011) $ 15.95

I received a copy of this book for my review and the Holiday Gift Guide.  No compensation was received.  These are my true and honest opinions.