Since when did every cookie on the plate have to be just like the next? Or each layer of cake exactly the same height? Each piecrust an impeccable work of art and encircled by stunningly perfect pastry leaves? To the uninitiated, all that fastidious, spotless baking is intimidating, not to mention exhausting. The Messy Baker celebrates baking as it happens in the real world--sweet, messy, fun, not always gorgeous, but a way to show love. Which doesn't make it any less delicious; to the contrary, Charmian Christie's flavor combinations rise far above the ordinary. Why have a raspberry galette when you can enjoy a raspberry-rhubarb galette with drippy, unctuous walnut frangipane? Or how about a Brie and walnut whiskey tart? It's all yours without the rigid perfectionism or complicated instructions of other gourmet cookbooks. Christie's warm, irreverent voice brings the fun back into baking at a time when home cooks--pulled from pillar to post by jobs and errands--need to have fun. The Messy Baker is a full-service book that not only guides the reader through simple, delicious recipes but is also there to help out when things go wrong. For anyone who gave in frustration when that cake collapsed or the frosting smeared, Christie's practical advice is here to rescue even the worst disaster and inspire the baker to try the next recipe.

“Filled with entertaining behind-the-scenes stories and technical tips . . . this cookbook will thrill meticulous bakers and Huckleberry's devotees” (Library Journal). “Everything in generosity” is the motto of Zoe Nathan, the big-hearted baker behind Santa Monica’s favorite neighborhood bakery and breakfast spot, Huckleberry Bakery & Café. This irresistible cookbook collects more than 115 of Huckleberry’s recipes and more than 150 color photographs, including how-to sequences for mastering basics such as flaky dough and lining a cake pan. Huckleberry’s recipes span from sweet (rustic cakes, muffins, and scones) to savory (hot cereals, biscuits, and quiche). True to the healthful spirit of Los Angeles, these recipes feature whole-grain flours, sesame and flax seeds, fresh fruits and vegetables, natural sugars, and gluten-free and vegan options—and they always lead with deliciousness. For bakers and all-day brunchers, Huckleberry will become the cookbook to reach for whenever the craving for big flavor strikes.

A collection of dessert recipes that gives you more than seventy-five delicious reasons to stock up on napkins. Chocolate Caramel-Pecan Soufflé Cake Cinnamon-Donut Bread Pudding Chewy Lemon-Pistachio Financiers Double-Crumble Hot Apple Pies Butterscotch-Bourbon Macadamia Nut Pie Still not satisfied? How about Cheesecake Pops, Giant Coconut Cream Puffs, Hawaiian Caramel Corn, Milky Way Tempura-on-a-Stick, or Sticky Pear and Walnut Upside-Down Gingerbread? And there are plenty more where that came from. In addition to each buttery, sugary favorite, author Jill O’Connor has included all the techniques and tools you’ll need to re-create these perfectly decadent treasures. Sprinkled throughout are sweet tips on using phyllo dough, toasting nuts, choosing the right cocoa, and making a heavenly ganache, ensuring that every pudding, cookie, cake, pie, and over-the-top treat tastes as irresistible as it sounds. If you think chocolate, marshmallow, whipped cream, and caramel belong in a separate food group all their own, you’re ready to bite into all that’s Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey.

Butter Baked Goods began as a tiny bakery in Vancouver. Opened in 2007 by Rosie Daykin, the bakery is a pink-and-pistachio slice of heaven, its counters overflowing with irresistible treats. Not long after opening, word got out about the bakery’s marshmallows, and Butter Baked Goods soon became known as the home of the very best gourmet marshmallow in North America, a delicious morsel that can now be found in more than 300 stores. The recipe for Butter’s Famous Marshmallows is just one of the gems tucked inside the pages of this beautiful book. Other recipes include: SATURDAY MORNING CINNY BUNS & CHOCOLATE PISTACHIO POUND LOAF MAPLE SNICKERDOODLE SANDWICH COOKIES & DOUBLE CHOCOLATE TOFFEE BISCOTTI CHOCOLATE BERRY CHEESECAKE BARS & PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP BLONDIES BUTTER’S CLASSIC WHITE CAKE & APPLE CAKE WITH MAPLE SAUCE PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY CUPCAKES & RED VELVET WHOOPIE PIES BUTTER’S LEMON MERINGUE TART & SOUR CREAM RHUBARB PIE CHOCOLATE HONEYCOMB BRITTLE & SURPRISE MOCHA FUDGE And a whole chapter dedicated to BUTTER CREAMS AND FROSTINGS, with Rosie’s top tips for “spreading the love”! But don’t be intimidated! Every recipe in Butter Baked Goods has simple instructions written in an accessible and easy-to-follow style, plus tips on how to stock your pantry and your toolbox with everything that you’ll need to get started. Everyone can create Butter’s delectable desserts—from grandmothers who have been baking all their lives to teenagers making their very first cupcakes. Rosie’s baking is not about trickery, flamboyance, or hard-to-find ingredients, but about great-tasting, homemade treats that celebrate life’s milestones: birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, baby showers, bridal showers, or just that gloomy afternoon when you need a little pick-me-up. Butter Baked Goods showcases nostalgic home baking at its very best.

In this James Beard Award-winning cookbook, George Greenstein reveals 125 recipes for the yeasted and quick breads that have been handed down through his family by three generations of bakers—the breads that made his bakery so well-loved for so many years. For more than twenty years, Greenstein owned and operated a Long Island bakery that produced a wide variety of baked goods, from many different ethnic traditions—focaccia and Irish soda bread, Bavarian pumpernickel and naan—including many from his own culture, such as Jewish corn bread, challah, and bagels. Now that most neighborhood bakeries like Greenstein's are long since closed, this classic collection not only teaches bakers everywhere how to make those delicious, classic breads, but it also preserves authentic versions of the recipes for all to enjoy. With the same helpful features that made this a cherished cookbook upon its original publication—separate instructions for mixing each recipe by hand, food processor, and stand mixer; tips for baking a week's worth of bread in as few as two hours; invaluable baker's secrets; and a very approachable style throughout—this revised edition also includes twelve new recipes to satisfy both old fans and new. So bring the spirit of that great old bakery back to life right in your very own kitchen, filling every room of your house with the wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread. And rest assured you'll bake with ease and success every time, thanks to George and his long-learned, very happily shared SECRETS OF A JEWISH BAKER.

While most of us trudge toward the cross with the best intentions, at times our lives just don't pan out the way we've planned. Messy Faith addresses the muddled adventure that we call "working out our salvation." It is being sure and unsure, whole and broken, warring, losing, and winning. It is being right and being wrong and having no clue, but believing anyway. And it is trusting in God to perfect the final product of our flawed, human lives. Author A. J. Gregory explores her own personal experiences, and those of a handful of flawed biblical heroes and others who have endured painful or simply ordinary realities in the journey to belief. This honest book will comfort anyone who has had a less-than-straight path to belief and those who continue to struggle.

They say you can’t have your cake and eat it too. But who would want a cake they couldn’t eat? Just ask Emma Rae Travis about that. A baker of confections who is diabetic and can’t enjoy them. When Emma meets Jackson Drake, the escapee from Corporate America who is starting a wedding destination hotel to fulfill a dream that belonged to someone else, this twosome and their crazy family ties bring new meaning to the term "family circus." The Atlanta social scene will never be the same!