Sugar Baby: Confections, Candies, Cakes & Other Delicious Recipes for Cooking with Sugar

It’s my fault for not reviewing this book before ordering so I would know more about it. Will definitely make some rock candy!

I looked through this book and was inspired to start trying recipes immediately! The author introduces each recipe with a memory or anecdote and discusses variations. I first tried the traditional fudge recipe with the addition of a little orange peel (the author inspired me to experiment). It came out perfectly. I then tried the Ginger Cookies because they just had so many different spices in them that I could not resist seeing what they would taste like. They were a huge hit at a pot-luck! Then, I flipped to one of the most complicated recipes in the book; I tried the Bread Pudding. It is made of three or four of the previous recipes combined. I had never heard of any of the components and had no idea what they were to look like (Pastry Cream, Creme Anglais ???, Italian Meringue, Pralines), but I followed the instructions carefully, and they looked great and tasted wonderful! I made it for a Christmas party, where it was an amazing hit. In short, I love everything I have made so far. I have not tried any of the cakes, but all of the recipes are so different from those I have seen before. That is one of the strengths of this book--unique and yummy treats!Now, a few concerns. Most of the recipes have no pictures. You will not know what you will end up with if you've never made a similar recipe. You will be on your own for decorations and such.Many of the recipes call for hard-to-find ingredients. There is Muscavado sugar, maple sugar, vanilla paste, and lime oil, none of which I can find in my city, which is one of the largest in the US. You can get these things online, though.Also, all of the candy recipes ask you to "stop stirring" at some point. Take the fudge recipe. The first time I made it, I stopped stirring as the recipe suggested. Half of the fudge then stuck to the bottom of the pan. The result was a small (but delicious) morsel of fudge for all my trouble. The next time, I tried the careful and exact stirring instructions given in the Culinary Institute's book, and nothing stuck and the texture was the same. I'm not sure what to say about this. Make sure you have a high-quality pan and take heart--even if the candy sticks, it still melts in water, so it's easy to clean.

Here's what I think a good cookbook should do: it should inspire you to want to cook, to bake, to get into the kitchen.With that in mind, this is a GREAT cookbook.First, it's beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. The pictures are stunning but the cookbook isn't crammed full of them. They're scattered here and there, enough to be titillating. The layout of the book, however, is just a confection: lovely colors and quirky fonts.Second, it's arranged sensibly. If you've ever made candy before, you know that the candy hardens in stages - those are duly noted on the candy thermometer. That's how the book is arranged from soft to hard, a celebration of sugar.Third, it's entertaining. I love Gesine's stories interwoven with the recipes. I like knowing the history and culture of a particular dessert, as well as why it matters to the author (why this recipe as opposed to another). I love the bit of human-ness that she brings to cooking.Finally, I think it's practical. I suspect that there are some folks who might quibble at that characterization since some of the desserts require a certain amount of technique. But Gesine is very frank about which desserts may require some extra skill (or extra tools) and I find that refreshing rather than daunting. It makes me want to try the recipes rather than just flip by them.My 7yo and I flipped through the book the first day that I got it and she begged me to make practically everything - and she wanted to help. Later, I read through many of the recipes by myself and decided that it would be a great resource for making memories with my own family. A really great purchase.

I really love Gesine's work, but there are a few things in this book that made me raise an eyebrow.She mentions swapping out one invert sugar for another when in truth just because two substances are invert sugars doesn't mean they have the same make-up and therefore function the same way. It is corn syrup's make-up that aids in preventing crystallization.Her choux recipe is puzzling. Never have I needed nor seen a recipe of that size for choux that could take ten eggs. Six is on the higher end for that amount of flour. I'm not surprised it failed a previous reviewer because I don't see how it could even work.She refers to buttercream made with custard as French/American buttercream, when that is actually German buttercream, or mousseline buttercream. French buttercream is made with a pate a bombe, which is how mousses are often started. American buttercream is made with just butter/shortening and icing sugar or sometimes a syrup.She also mentions that creme brûlée is made with whole eggs when creme brûlée is the richest in the custard family and should be made with all yolks, with a lone whole egg added sometimes for body.So there are a lot of inaccuracies.Also check out her recipe for candied peel. The editing for this book is terrible. She instructs you to bring syrup to a boil, then cook for 20-30 minutes to 200 degrees. If you brought syrup to a boil, it's already over 200 degrees! That's just a terrible bit of recipe-writing. Then you would add the peel and BOIL for 40 minutes. Do you know what you would get? A pot of burnt caramel.It's too bad because the method she uses for candied peel is a favorite for making really tender, not too bitter peel, but other writers do a much better job of instructing.On the positive side, you have Gesine's great flavor combinations, beautiful presentations, and she has a lot of useful tips and a lighthearted approach.I also appreciate the classic recipes where now it can take a long time to find recipes for things like fudge that don't include marshmallows and other cheats.

I loved this book when it first arrived, the ideas are fantastic, I couldnt wait to get stuck in. Initially when the recipes didnt work i assumed it was my fault then on a third attempt i noticed that there were ingredients in the list without instructions to add them, and when i looked furthr there were steps missed from one stage to the next. Its such a shame because i was so excited about this book. I suppose is is useful for ideas, its got so much stuff in it, unusual things Ive never seen before. I use it now to get ideas then i look the recipes up online

Technical book ....some recipes are just too long winded and I didn't get on with the style of writing. Will probably re-sell or donate to charity.

If you only make the macarons from this book it is worth buying, have made many this recipe is the only one you should use never fails.

Habe das bUch eigentlich nur wegen dem Cover gekauft. Es ist ja anhand des Titels relativ klar welche Rezepte man hier findet ;)Auch wenn es auf englisch ist, so finde ich amerikanische Rezeptbücher bringen immer einen ganz anderen Flair in die Küche.Zum ausprobieren bin ich aber leider noch nicht gekommen.

Este libro realmente muestra diversas formas de jugar con el caramelo y otros ingredientes, sería genial que se tradujera al castellano, para sacarle mejor partido, recetas y lenguaje cercano y agradablemente delicioso!