Butter, flour, sugar, joy

Rustic Joyful Food blogger Kartes (Meant to Share) offers unfussy one-bowl recipes for sweets in a straightforward collection stressing shortcuts, fun, and community over a rigid, chemistry-based approach. Choices lean toward tried-and-true American favorites like peanut butter cookies with Hershey's Kisses, red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, and snickerdoodles, though occasionally a trendy ingredient makes an appearance--marshmallow toffee cookies, for example, call for black sea salt from Hawaii. More sophisticated options are also scattered throughout: a chapter of spoonable dishes features passion fruit panna cotta alongside standbys like butterscotch pudding, while classic coconut cream pie rubs shoulders with a rhubarb and frangipane galette in the pie chapter. Kartes is the mother of two young children who feature heavily, and many of the recipes seem suited to children's tastes: the proclaimed "heart and soul" of the book is a layer cake meant to mimic the flavor of animal crackers and dotted with rainbow sprinkles. Numerous Christian references throughout, including a handful of exhortations to prayer, will further limit the appeal, but as promised, recipes are easy to follow and low stress, and Kartes evinces an honest, often vulnerable tone that will comfort novices ("even the best bakers have bad bakes some days"). Beginners will find this a handy guide. (Nov.)

Seattle-based celebrity food star Kartes (Rustic Joyful Food) explains that she comes from a long line of "dump-and-stir" home bakers who improvised ingredients and never precisely measured anything, while still achieving fabulous results. Kartes adapts that relaxed approach to baking in an enticing range of classic all-American dessert recipes. To simplify things, she eliminates the weight measures commonly seen in baking tomes and streamlines ingredient lists. Many of the recipes are made in a single bowl to reduce mess and cleanup. Readers will find plenty of special-occasion options for birthday cakes, summer and holiday pies, popular cookie creations, and indulgent puddings. Although most of the recipes are fairly straightforward, new bakers may miss the presence of step-by-step photos and detailed instructions for the more challenging recipes like pie dough, pastry, and meringue. Kartes also writes openly and often about her Christian faith throughout the book. VERDICT Kartes offers a refreshing and relaxed approach that is especially suitable for medium-level bakers. Both the decadent recipes and heartfelt stories about their origins will entice fans of Paula Deen and Taste of Home magazine.--Kelsy Peterson