Recipes Blog

Recipe for Every-Day Chocolate Cake from Sweet Little Cakes from Mrs. Zabar’s Bakeshop by Tracey Zabar

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

Here is a delightful little cake from Sweet Little Cakes from Mrs. Zabar’s Bakeshop, my latest cookbook. It is small, yummy, and easy to make. If you are baking for a crowd, triple the recipe and use three pans. This, dear readers, is sadly my last blog posting. I thank you for your devoted loyalty and lovely comments over these last six years. Please buy the book (and more copies for holiday gifts!). Love, Tracey

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Recipe excerpted with permission from Rizzoli Publications

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Recipe for Aniseed-flambéed sea bream from The Complete Book of French Cooking by Hubert Delorme and Vincent Boué, photography by Clay McLachlan, foreword by Paul Bocuse

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This beautiful book is filled with recipes to expand your cooking repertoire. There are technique instructions for sauces, soups, stocks and cakes, illustrated with step-by-step photographs. Next on my list: lime and honey duck fillets on a bed of zucchini; a Provençal vegetable tian; lemon meringue tartlets; and tutti-frutti waffles, dripping with fruit. And of course, the classic French onion soup.

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Recipe excerpted with permission from Flammarion/Rizzoli Publishing

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Recipe for S'mores Bars from Cake & Loaf Gatherings by Nickey Miller and Josie Rudderham

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This cookbook is overflowing with sweet things to bake, and a few savory ones too. I started with this gooey, yummy s’mores bars recipe, then the black and white coffee cake. Next on my list: a fresh vegetable pizza, peach custard pie, walnut snowball cookies, gingersnaps, and tiramisu jars. Sweet.

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Recipe excerpted with permission from Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher.

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Recipe for Lemon Cake from Sweet Little Cakes from Mrs. Zabar’s Bakeshop: Perfect Desserts for Sharing by me, Tracey Zabar

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

Although I often find myself baking desserts for dozens of people, such as my family or our local FDNY friends, sometimes you just want a little treat. I spent a year scaling down some of my favorite cake recipes. I hope they will become yours, too. Try the Every-Day Chocolate Cake, Cranberry Orange Cake, Cheesecake with Cherry Sauce, Chocolate Chip Madeleines, or my favorite, babkas, with four different fillings. Then go back in the kitchen to make an adorable Gumdrop Cake, Pear Cake, or a small batch of Cupcakes. Happy baking!

Enter the Giveaway of: Sweet Little Cakes from Mrs. Zabar's Bakeshop: Perfect Desserts for Sharing and Classic Zabar's Basket on Instagram (Beginning on Sunday, 10/08 - check back then!) You can also enter by emailing [email protected].

Recipe excerpted with permission from Sweet Little Cakes from Mrs. Zabar's Bakeshop: Perfect Desserts for Sharing by Tracey Zabar (Rizzoli).

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Recipe for scones from Deliciously Vintage Baking & Desserts by Victoria Glass, photographs by Isobel Wield

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This sweet little book has wonderful desserts for you to bake. Start with these simple scones, and then try the Louise cake, filled with jam and topped with a thick cloud of coconut meringue. There is a sticky toffee pudding; something described as “bamboozlingly delicious” (banoffee pie); and snickerdoodles. The photographs are lovely and the treats yummy.

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Recipe excerpted with permission from Deliciously Vintage Baking & Desserts: 60 Nostalgic Recipes that Will Make You Feel Like a Kid Again by Victoria Glass, Ryland Peters & Small. Photographs by Isobel Wield © Ryland Peters & Small, 2014, 2023

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Peppered Pan-Roasted Olives from Cheese Boards to Share Deck: 50 Cards for Stunning Boards & Platters to Style at Home by Thalassa Skinner

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This boxed set of cards has dozens of beautiful photographs of food to place on boards. Delight your guests with these cheese selections and some yummy roasted olives. Next on my list: lovely boards with cow, goat, buffalo, and sheep's milk cheese; a picnic with figs, honey, and blood oranges, and of course cheese; and a recipe for homemade pickles. And then a flatbread with tomatoes; and some nectarine and Serrano pepper paste.

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Recipe for Peppered Pan Roasted Olives excerpted with permission from Cheese Boards to Share Deck: 50 Cards for Stunning Boards & Platters to Style at Home by Thalassa Skinner, Photography by Erin Kunkel © Ryland Peters & Small

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Recipe for Raspberry Squares from Summer Fruit Pastries

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

Start with these sweet raspberry squares from this perfectly lovely baking cookbook. Then, move on to summer fruit jam tarts. Next on my list: tarte au citron and a lovely cherry pie.

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Recipe excerpted with permission from Summer Fruit Pastries: 60 Bright and Fresh Recipes for Tartlets, Eclairs, Roulades, Pies and More, Ryland Peters & Small 2023. Recipe by Bronte Aurell. Photograph by Peter Cassidy (c) Ryland Peter & Small

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Recipe for Lemon Blueberry Bars from Anna Olson's Baking Wisdom by Anna Olson

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This baking cookbook is lovely and filled with instructional photos. It was a hard decision—what to make first? Lemon Blueberry Bars won. And it is indeed a winner. Next on my list: savory onion, herb & parmesan upside-down cake; a sweet creamsicle cake; and cranberry lollipops. And an adorable pink lemonade Eton mess. And chocolate pudding. And then, learning to make banofee crème brûlée. Sugar heaven.

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Excerpted with permission from Anna Olson’s Baking Wisdom: The Complete Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Make You a Better Baker (with 150+ Recipes) by Anna Olson Copyright © 2023 Olson Food Concepts Inc. Photography by Janis Nicolay. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

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Recipe for Fried Rice Balls from The Eternal City: Recipes and Stories from Rome by Maria Pasquale

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

Any day in Rome, you can eat pizza three meals a day. Or I can. Add a slice of crostata di marmellata, a tart with jam, or a different one with sour cherries and ricotta, later in the afternoon. There are recipes for these delights in the book, and plenty more. Try making these delightful fried rice balls. Next on my list: grilled lamb cutlets; gnocchi with tomatoes and red mullet; broccoli and potato smash; and zeppole. This beautiful book is almost as good as a trip to the eternal city. Then, go there, wander around, and try some pizza and gelato everywhere you go. 

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Recipe excerpted with permission from The Eternal City: Recipes and Stories from Rome Maria Pasquale (Smith Street Books)

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Recipe for Sugar Cream Pie from Iowa from 50 Pies, 50 States by Stacey Mei Yan Fong, photographs by Alanna Hale, illustrations by Shelby Warwood

Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar

This book is full of wonderful pie recipes and stories. Travel around the country in your own kitchen. Start baking this sweet, creamy pie. Next on my list: Heirloom tomato and cheese pie with herbed crust from Arkansas; sour cream and raisin pie from Iowa; shoofly pie from Pennsylvania; and Maine’s blueberry pie with Moxie. Yes, the soda pop (or as we call it in New England, tonic).

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Recipe excerpted with permission from 50 Pies, 50 States (Voracious/Little Brown)

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