Saturday, September 27, 2014

Ovenly - Cookbook Review


Ovenly: Sweet and Salty Recipes from New York's Creative Bakery by Agatha Kulaga and Erin Patinkin

I love cookbooks.  One of my favorite ways to relax is to put a TV show on and sit back with a new cookbook and a pack of Post-It tabs tagging the recipes I want to try.  If I had Ovenly in a hard copy it would be bristling with tabs.

Baking books can be kind of repetitive.  Cookies, bar cookies, breakfast muffins, quick breads and maybe yeast breads.  There isn't a huge difference in recipes.  This is not the case with Ovenly.  Flipping through the book the chapter titles are pretty similar to any baking book -  Quick Breads and Coffee Cakes, Muffins, Cookies and Shortbreads, Pies and Tarts, Brownies and Bars and Cakes and Cupcakes.  There's a chapter on scones and bar snacks which are a little different than the norm which is kind of the first hint that this isn't your ordinary baking book.


The flavor combinations throughout the book are tantalizing - Strawberry Basil Loaf Bread, Salted Apple Bread, Bourbon Chocolate Chip Cookies with Tarragon, Caramel Bacon Hot Tarts, Nectarine, Blueberry and Vanilla Bean Tarts and Black Chocolate Stoutcake with Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Butter Cream and their famous Bloody Mary Scones.  How can you not want to make these?  I liked that they recipes look unique but not so odd that I couldn't imagine making them.  These are flavor combinations that I never would have thought of but not flavor combinations that I can't imagine.  Once I've imagined them it's hard not to run to the grocery store to pick up any necessary ingredients with my mouth watering.  The majority of the recipes are sweet but there are some savory muffins, scones and breads and a quiche or two.  While the recipes are definitely unique I think for the most part they're not so out there that my non-adventurous family wouldn't be willing to try them.

There are several recipes that are illustrated by step by step picture instructions which is really useful for finicky things like scones and pie crust.  There are also a decent number of finished product pictures. There are so many yummy recipes I had a hard time deciding which one I wanted to test.  I decided to go with the buttery shortbread for 3 reasons - 1. I like shortbread, 2. It calls for 4 ingredients all of which I had, 3. The very simplicity of the recipe is a good test of all the recipes.  You can hide a recipe that isn't amazing when it has 9 different spices but it's a lot more difficult when the main ingredients are butter and flour.

The results: Amazing!  So good I can't believe I made this kind of amazing.  I ended up eating half the pan in one sitting and then immediately taking the rest to my mother's just to get it out of my house.

Conclusion:  I will be buying this book - possibly as soon as it's released.  If you enjoy baking and like experimenting I think you should buy it too.  Now I can't wait to try the scones!

23 comments:

  1. This would make a great Christmas present for my daughter!

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    1. Definitely! I think this would be good for anyone who is interested in baking at any experience level.

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  2. Strawberry Basil Loaf Bread sounds very intriguing.

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  3. Oh the flavors sound different (and in a good way) -- I'll have to see if I can get a copy from the library.

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    1. I'm really looking forward to getting the print copy of this one. It's a lot of fun!

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    1. The shortbread was amazing! I can't wait to try out more recipes!

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  5. I love the idea of the sweet and savory ingredients! Not sure I could sell my family on them, though. Can you believe that I've never made (or had!) scones.

    I kind of failed at my own challenge for this month (still hoping to get SOMETHING made by next Saturday) but I really need to sit down in front of the TV with some tabs. Definitely more productive than scrolling twitter. ;)

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    1. This cookbook made me want to try basically everything in it. My only hope of selling it to my family is leaving out the savory part and just telling them to eat it!
      This month hasn't been the best for me either challenge wise!

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  6. I'm not a baker, but do like to eat baked goods! And I love mixing sweet and savory (I've been on a savory bread pudding kick lately) - that strawberry basil bread sounds so interesting!

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    1. I definitely want to try the strawberry basil bread! I love the sweet and savory combo too.

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  7. I love cookbooks too! I was paging through a gluten free baking book this morning. Made me so hungry! The combos in this one are fascinating. I don't know that I'd be able to eat them myself--I'm way too dang neurotic with my food lol--but I love seeing what people come up with :)

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    1. I do love a cookbook. It's very inspiring to flip through! I do love the flavor combinations in this book but I love to experiment with recipes!

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  8. There's too much goodness in this post ... yum!

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  9. "Salted caramel cream cheese butter cream"...quick, hide this book from my doctors, lol! I really want to eat all those listed recipes, but I'm not good at baking for some reason. Thanks for sharing a great review. Sounds yummy and worth every penny!

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    1. The salted caramel cream cheese butter cream got me too! I'd send you one but I don't think this could survive the trip!

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  10. Really interesting recipes combining sweet and savory I can see this as a Christmas present for some of my adventurous friends. As a chocoholic, I find the chocolate stout cake intriguing!

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    1. I'm very curious about the chocolate stout cake too. Hoping to try it soon!

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  11. Yum!! The Bourbon Chocolate Chip Cookies sound amazing.

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    1. I'm hoping to try those soon! Probably as soon as I get a print copy of the book!

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  12. This would be a great book for anyone who likes to bake!

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