Rating: 
Summary: beautiful & useful book of deserts
Review: A while back, I baked the "all in the pan chewy chocolate cake with butter-chocolate icing". It's probably the easiest & surely one of the most delicious chocolate cakes I've ever tried. I mention this because Regan Daley's book is full of delicious & inventive recipes. Recipes that are, mostly, not that difficult & that taste exceptional. One of the reasons for this is that Daley insists on excellent ingredients, & that surely is one of the basic secrets of good baking. Her book is much more than a wonderful resource for deserts: it's, mainly, a general baking resource, listing ingredients & talking about each one: how to use, what to substitute with what, what to combine with what etc. The book is full to the brim with information & tips, for the beginning & the experienced baker. As a bonus, the writing delighted me, & I think it will probably make all my other desert books redundunt!! (apart from Nigella Lawson's "Domestic Goddess" which I think has a similar style). It's always great to have a cookbook that you can use not just to throw together quick meals but also to savour, to indulge yourself with, to read & reread...
Rating:
Summary: beautiful & useful book of deserts
Review: A while back, I baked the "all in the pan chewy chocolate cake with butter-chocolate icing". It's probably the easiest & surely one of the most delicious chocolate cakes I've ever tried. I mention this because Regan Daley's book is full of delicious & inventive recipes. Recipes that are, mostly, not that difficult & that taste exceptional. One of the reasons for this is that Daley insists on excellent ingredients, & that surely is one of the basic secrets of good baking. Her book is much more than a wonderful resource for deserts: it's, mainly, a general baking resource, listing ingredients & talking about each one: how to use, what to substitute with what, what to combine with what etc. The book is full to the brim with information & tips, for the beginning & the experienced baker. As a bonus, the writing delighted me, & I think it will probably make all my other desert books redundunt!! (apart from Nigella Lawson's "Domestic Goddess" which I think has a similar style). It's always great to have a cookbook that you can use not just to throw together quick meals but also to savour, to indulge yourself with, to read & reread...
Rating: 
Summary: A very good reference
Review: An essential for the beginning baker or even more experienced hands this book provides not just a list of items or ingredients but clear explanation of the role played by each item. For the beginning baker it is great with flavour pairing charts that takes the agony of reinventing wheel away and provides definite opinions of ingredients such as, instant yeast (no) to chocolate (minimum 65-70% cacoa liquer for bittersweet). The layout and design is done well though I would have liked to have had a complete recipe index/list and not simply general chapter headings e.g., cakes and tea cakes which then breaks into the individual recipe listings. The only other niggle I can think of is not providing a recipe for producing one's one almond paste and marzipan, but that is a minor detail. Highly recommended for those who want a reliable, quick reference that has some very good recipes and a good eye for detail.
Rating:
Summary: More than 150 superbly presented recipes
Review: Compiled and organized by professional pastry chef Regan Daley, In The Sweet Kitchen: The Definitive Baker's Companion showcases more than 150 superbly presented recipes. Enhanced with sixteen pages of four color photographs, as well as chapters dedicated to "Tools and Techniques" of baking, the ingredients associated with baking, and an informative section on dedicated to flavourings, In The Sweet Kitchen offers savory fare ranging from cakes and tea cakes, pies and tarts, cookies and bars, custards, puddings and Moussses, to ice creams and other frozen desserts, fruit desserts, quick breads, sweet yeast breads and fritters, garnishes, sauces, and basic recipes adaptable for any occasion. In The Sweet Kitchen is a cornerstone addition to any "kitchen cook friendly" cookbook collection!
Rating:
Summary: If you bake, BUY THIS BOOK!
Review: I am a professional pastry chef and this is the book that I am now recommending when asked questions about baking desserts. Ms. Daley's information is complete and accurate and her writing style is easy to read and understand. The recipes are fresh and unique.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: I don't usually write reviews on Amazon, but after reading some of the other non-favorable reviews, I felt I had to put my two cents in. This is one of my two favorite cookbooks (the other is the very overlooked Cindy Mushet book). Some of the recipes I made just because I couldn't imagine what the thing must taste like - and it came out wonderful. Her advice has helped me fixed recipes from other books that I could never make work. I wasn't so fond of it when I first got it, but over time this book has become invaluable. Most of the recipes are time consuming and often esoteric, so it's not for busy parents looking to feed the family. It's primarily for making special occasion desserts to wow freinds and family.
Rating:
Summary: I love this book!
Review: I found this at the local library last week and will soon be purchasing my own copy. I love to cook, love to bake but pastries have always been a little intimidating. Not only are there wonderful recipes in here, but lots of information on tools and techniques that leave lots of room for inspiration. The "black sticky gingerbread" on page 414 is divine. I know I'll be putting this book to good use.
Rating:
Summary: Great reference, but frustrating to bake from
Review: I have not read this book from cover to cover, but my basic impression is that it is a worthy effort, although perhaps premature. My feeing is that Regan Daley is a talented and passionate baker, and might have benefited from a few more years' experience before writing her magnum opus on desserts. For one thing, I find most of the recipes way too sweet. I am no ascetic, yet the amount of sugar (and butter) called for in many recipes makes me see stars. The author has a warm, folksy, manner, but errs by saying too much about nothing: do we really need to wade through information such as pointing out that "all peaches have a large stone at their heart?" This is a useful book I will keep happily on my dessert shelf, but I don't think it has a wide enough range of recipes to be one's only resource. Nick Malgieri's "How to Bake" fulfills this function better, in my opinion. As far as nitty-gritty facts about ingredients, baking procedures, substitutions, equivalencies, etc., in my kitchen Rose Levy Beranbaum's "The Cake Bible" remains the untouched zenith of all baking reference books. I'd have to say 4 stars may be a generous rating, but I'll give the book the benefit of the doubt.
Rating:
Summary: Sweet, yes; "definitive," no
Review: I have not read this book from cover to cover, but my basic impression is that it is a worthy effort, although perhaps premature. My feeing is that Regan Daley is a talented and passionate baker, and might have benefited from a few more years' experience before writing her magnum opus on desserts. For one thing, I find most of the recipes way too sweet. I am no ascetic, yet the amount of sugar (and butter) called for in many recipes makes me see stars. The author has a warm, folksy, manner, but errs by saying too much about nothing: do we really need to wade through information such as pointing out that "all peaches have a large stone at their heart?" This is a useful book I will keep happily on my dessert shelf, but I don't think it has a wide enough range of recipes to be one's only resource. Nick Malgieri's "How to Bake" fulfills this function better, in my opinion. As far as nitty-gritty facts about ingredients, baking procedures, substitutions, equivalencies, etc., in my kitchen Rose Levy Beranbaum's "The Cake Bible" remains the untouched zenith of all baking reference books. I'd have to say 4 stars may be a generous rating, but I'll give the book the benefit of the doubt.
Rating: 
Summary: a disappointed baker in st paul
Review: I really wanted to love this book--the glossary alone is well researched and the recipes sound great. But beware. I've just tried two recipes; Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti and Old Fashioned Lemon Bundt Cake. Both turned out badly; the biscotti dough was way too dry to even form logs and the glaze on the cake is just weird and gloppy. 2 1/2 tbls. lemon juice does not melt 1 1/2 to 2 cups of confectioner's sugar. Maybe this volume is useful for the info on ingredients only.
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