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Two New Maida Heatter Books Out in April


Voracious Publishers (an imprint of Little, Brown & Co.) will publish two new books by Maida Heatter on April 7, 2020. Thanks to NetGalley, I was given the opportunity to review digital copies. Like last year's Happiness Is Baking, both books are compilations of her most popular recipes.

The first is Cookies Are Magic: Classic Cookies, Brownies, Bars, and More. The recipes in this book have been assembled from Maida Heatter’s previously published books, including Happiness Is Baking, Maida Heatter's Cakes,  Maida Heatter's Cookies, Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts, Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts, Maida Heatter's New Book of Great Desserts.

There are chapters on Drop Cookies, Bar Cookies, Icebox Cookies, Rolled Cookies and Hand-Formed Cookies. A More! chapter includes recipes for macaroons, crackers, marshmallows and other items that don't necessarily fit into any of the previous categories.

The book includes some of the recipes that I have tried and shared on the blog here, such as Palm Beach Brownies, Pennies From Heaven, Pinwheels, and Positively the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. The large majority, however, are recipes that I haven't tried so I have my work cut out for me. Some of the ones that I need to try are Mrs. L.B.J's Moonrocks, Norman Rockwell's Oatmeal Wafers, Johnny Appleseed Squares, Lebkuchen, Vienesse Marzipan Bars, Maxines and the list goes on. 

 The book contains a foreward by Deb Perelman which was unavailable on the galley. The colorful illustrations are by Alice Oehr, who also did the ones for Happiness is Baking. Maida Heatter's notes on equipment, ingredients and how-to's are included in the preface.

 The book appears to be designed exactly like Happiness Is Baking, which has a very attractive layout. My only gripe with it was that it is impossible to keep the book open so you have to use a weight to hold the pages down.

Chocolate Is Forever: Classic Cakes, Cookies, Pastries, Pies, Puddings, Candies, Confections, and More  follows the same format and features Maida's chocolate delicacies.  The recipes in this book are compiled from the same titles listed above.

Chapters include Simple Cakes, Special Occasion Cakes, Cookies & Bars, Pastries, Pies, Puddings & More and Candy, Fudge and Chocolate Drinks. I have made many of these recipes and they include some of my all-time favorites, such as 86-Proof Chocolate Cake, St. Louis Chocolate Layer Cake, Country Fair Chocolate Cake, Frozen Chocolate Mousse and Rocky Roads. But there are also a number that I haven't tried, chief among them are the September 7th Cake, Robert Redford Cake, Queen Mother's Cake, Hungarian Seven Layer Cake, Mocha Velvet, Chocolate Bread and a host of others. Just seeing the list of contents reminds me, that despite blogging her recipes for the past decade, I still have tons of recipes to go!





Comments

Terri said…
Thank you for the “book report”, I had no idea there were two new books available. Interesting.....wonder who has the executive authority over her estate? I would imagine it has some real market appeal. One thing I have not been able to find are any videos of Maida. Would love to see her teaching in the kitchen. Still mad that I only found her about a year ago! It she has taught me a lot.

Thank you for your blog!

Hope you all are holding up, many prayers and good wishes.

Terri


March 10, 2020 at 8:14 PM
Phillip Oliver said…
Hi Terri, I too would love to see her in action and I have searched in vain for videos but have come up empty-handed. Apparently she did appear in an episode of the Wolfgang Puck show on Food Network but I never saw that and I cannot locate it online. We can keep hoping that something will eventually turn up. As for her estate, I'm not sure who that would be. Thanks for visiting my blog!
March 10, 2020 at 8:18 PM
tigerlille said…
A word to the wise... These are not “new” books; they are new compilations if previously published recipes. Buying 2nd hand will save you a lot of money.
March 27, 2020 at 12:53 AM
Phillip Oliver said…
Tigerlillie, you are right about that. I actually like the old books better too.
March 27, 2020 at 7:43 AM
Unknown said…
I am new to learning about Maida ... are there any of her cookbooks with photographs of her baking, or just illustrations?
Thank You!
Maria G.
September 30, 2020 at 11:50 AM
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