Amazon.com (ISBN 0743205790, Hardcover)

Think Caramel Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting, Strawberry Banana Muffins, Lemon Meringue Pie, and Sour Cream Coffee Cake. These old-fashioned comfort sweets are among those that Jennifer Appel turns out at her Buttercup Bake Shop. And while The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook evokes lazy afternoons in small towns, white picket fences, well-worn aprons, and warm fruit pies cooling on the window sill, the Buttercup Bake Shop is actually in Manhattan. Appel has included 80 bakery favorites in this little gem of a book, and the recipes are easy to follow and easy to make, and read like a list of favorite American desserts: Rice Krispies Treats, Gingersnaps, Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Pie, Glazed Pumpkin Squares, and Rice Pudding. Keep this wonderful cookbook in the kitchen, close at hand, so that with just a moment's notice you can whip up a special sweet something that'll make everyone smile. --Leora Y. Bloom