Home bakers are encouraged to tackle normally complex recipes via shortcuts. For kitchens without mixers and food processors, Yvonne Ruperti's One Bowl Baking shows how general prep work can be accomplished by using a single bowl or, in some instances, combining ingredients right in the baking pan.
Ruperti's recipes feature breakfast muffins and scones, "Kitchen Sink" cookies that use odd amounts of anything at hand (e.g., chocolate, coconut and nuts), piña colada and peanut butter and jelly bars and "Sweet Story Cupcakes," a treat handed down from Ruperti's great-grandmother that showcases chopped cherries, walnuts and almond extract. The snack-cake recipe for Mega-Crumb Cake challenges Entenmann's; "Chocolate Monkey Banana Cupcakes with Malted Milk Ganache" taste just like a milk shake. Other chapters include recipes for quick breads, pound cakes, cheesecakes and tarts. Photographs that ooze delicious sweetness accompany clear, concise recipes that range from the easy to the sublime. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines