Review by Booklist Review
Anyone who's visited Vienna, Budapest, or Prague knows the ineffable delights awaiting the famished sweet tooth behind the doors of these cities' numerous cafés. In Kaffeehaus Rick Rodgers has done a laudable job of scouring the kitchens of these coffeehouses to uncover the recipes for their finest pastries. He shows how to reproduce delicate pastry bases, fillings, and icings; and he carefully details the construction of these sweets' complex, classic decorations. In both text and sidebars Rodgers offers detailed historical and culinary secrets that empower the home cook to enthrall guests with good-looking and better-tasting pastries. Rodgers' recipes, although carefully written, require some experience in the pastry maker's art to reproduce successfully. Mark Knoblauch.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague by Rick Rodgers (Barbecues 101, etc.) celebrates the sweet excesses of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's fascination with elegance, music and romance. Rodgers explores the lore of these legendary establishments, traces the creation of their extraordinary desserts loved throughout the world and provides detailed instructions for their re-creation at home for the enjoyment of new generations. Kelly Bugden's full-color photographs of the sumptuous confections, as well as the coffeehouses themselves, pay homage to an earlier more gracious era. Sachertorte, Apfelstrudel and Croissants are among the creations Rodgers demystifies. ( Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Rodgers is a food writer and prolific author with more than a dozen other cookbooks to his credit. His latest is clearly a labor of love: "Austro-Hungarian desserts are part of my heritage," he writes, and the idea for the book began with recipes from his great-aunts and other bakers in the family. Because the featured desserts (e.g., Apfelstrudel and Sachertorte) are steeped in tradition, this is as much a fascinating culinary history as it is a recipe collection. The recipes for simple and fancy cakes, sweet yeast breads, "slices" and other individual desserts, crepes, and more are for the treats that appear on the menu of any traditional coffee house. Some come from the cafes, while others are derived from the cooking schools, pastry chefs, and home cooks whom Rodgers encountered on his travels. The recipes are clearly written and accessible even to novice bakers, but professionals will also learn from the book. Thoroughly researched histories of both individual desserts and various aspects of the coffee house tradition appear throughout, and there is a useful culinary glossary as well as a personal guide to favorite cafes. Highly recommended for all baking collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.