The Great Holiday Baking Book Over 250 Recipes for Occasions Throughout the Year

By Beatrice Ojakangas

Book Overview

An expert on traditional holidays and the special baked treats that mark them, veteran chef and cookbook writer Beatrice Ojakangas presents recipes for twenty-one seasonal occasions and cultural holidays. She takes you from spring to winter with recipes like heart-shaped coffee cake for Valentine's Day, Austrian carnival doughnuts or spicy rabbit cookies for Easter, and cinnamon-walnut kamish bread or challah for Rosh Hashanah. For Christmas, the biggest baking season of the year, Ojakangas offers enticing recipes for thirty-eight classic and fancy cookies, eighteen yeast breads, thirteen quick breads, nine cakes, ten bar cookies and brownies, and many more. With these recipes, every holiday is sure to be memorable. In addition to its array of delectable foods, The Great Holiday Baking Book is brimming with holiday lore from cultures around the world. Ojakangas also provides helpful tips and practical information about hosting a cookie-swap party, organizing your bustling holiday kitchen, involving the kids in baking fun, and more. With its variety of specialties and treats for almost every gala occasion, The Great Holiday Baking Book is sure to become an indispensable part of your feasts and celebrations. Beatrice Ojakangas is the author of more than a dozen cookbooks, including The Great Scandinavian Baking Book (1999) and Scandinavian Feasts (2001), both published by the University of Minnesota Press. Her articles have been published in Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Cooking Light, Cuisine, and Redbook, and she has appeared on television's Baking with Julia Child and Martha Stewart's Living. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816638683
• ISBN13: 9780816638680
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A valuable cooking resource

I reviewed the hardcover edition of this book, and my comments hold true for the paperback version, as well: Cons: I'm giving it 4 stars because there is not one single photo, or an illustration, in the entire book! Pictures or drawings would be tremendously helpful when it comes to shaping some of the breads in the book. Pros: This book contains delicious, including some hard-to-find recipes for every holiday throughout the year, including some I'd never heard of. There is a comprehensive Advent and Christmas section, with heavy emphasis on Scandinavian baked goods (for example, Norwegian Kransekake). Some of the holidays in the book are Hannukah, Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, Valentine's Day, etc. The recipes include cookies, savory baked goods, breads, tarts, cakes, etc. The measurements are given in cups and teaspoons, not grams and mL, and the recipes are geared towards a home cook. The author includes several fruitcake recipes that were so delicious, my fruitcake-hating family insisted that I put them on the repeat list. A wonderful resource, and I'm glad I have it, despite the lack of photos or drawings.

Informative book

Cons: I'm giving it 4 stars because there is not one single photo, or an illustration, in the entire book! Pictures or drawings would be tremendously helpful when it comes to shaping some of the breads in the book. Pros: This book contains delicious, including some hard-to-find recipes for every holiday throughout the year, including some I'd never heard of. There is a comprehensive Advent and Christmas section, with heavy emphasis on Scandinavian baked goods (for example, Norwegian Kransekake). The recipes include cookies, savory goods, breads, tarts, cakes, etc. The author includes several fruitcake recipes that were so delicious, my fruitcake-hating family insisted that I put them on the repeat list. A wonderful resource, and I'm glad I have it, despite the lack of photos or drawings.

Fantastic as always:)

This book was a great reference for holiday baking, everything is covered, even April Fool's Day:) Beatrice Ojakangas is indeed one of the best cookbook writers today and it's the little touches that she puts into her books like the personal anecdotes and the invaluable tips that make her so. I highly recommend this book:)

Ojakangas is the Queen of Baking!

This book is full of recipes themed by holiday. It is worth buying for the Chocolate Beer Cake alone! Ojakangas is the Queen of Baking, I have enjoyed all of her books, and this one is no different. I would love to spend a year baking each of the recipes in this book on the appropriate holiday. Please, bring this book back in print, my library has it on a 7-day checkout because it is a holiday book!