Beatrice A. Ojakangas

The cookbook that makes you go “Awww”

Who knew baking could be so cute? But every time one of my co-workers sees this cookbook on my desk, they say, “Awww.” Then, they flip through the pictures and say, “Yum!” And then they fling it away and say that it’s making them hungry, LOL.

So, basically, this is book full of recipes of adorable, miniature desserts. The idea behind mini-desserts is that you can eat a smaller portion because it’s healthier, because you don’t want any show more more than just a little somethin’, or because you want to sample lots of mini-desserts. These are all good thoughts in my book! And on top of that, the presentations of these charming sweets, thanks to lots of wonderful photos, is inspiring enough to make me want to whip up a few of everything in the book.

Petite Sweets contains chapters on Basics; Little Cakes; Petite Pies and Tarts; Fruit and Berry Desserts; Mousses and Chilled Desserts; Creams, Custards, and Frozen Desserts; and Pastries and Sweets. I think you’ll agree that that pretty much covers the sugary territory. Most of the recipes are fairly simple—in some cases a little more basic than I might have chosen, but the author, Beatrice Ojakangas, offers useful advice on how to adapt other favorite recipes for miniature versions. And some of her shortcuts are just plain clever, such as using a whole vanilla wafer as the base of a miniature cheesecake.

A lot of the recipes call for specialized mini baking dishes, but there are helpful substitutions like to use mini muffin tins with foil cupcake liners for those of us who don’t yet own 24 miniature baking ramekins. And who are you kidding? You know you’ll be prowling Williams-Sonoma waiting for a variety of mini pans and dishes to go on sale. How can you resist, when the results are so darn cute and scrumptious? Soon you too will be turning Coconut Rum Butter Cakes out of the mini Bundt cake pans. And you’ll be filling up that old shot glass collection with Chocolate Espresso Mousse. And you’ll be collecting vintage parfait glasses to hold your Vanilla Banana Cream Pies.

Have I not tempted you yet? Can you resist the Miniature Bread Puddings, the Whoopie Pies, the Angel Cakes with Lemon Sauce, the Mini Chocolate Soufflés, the Strawberry Bruschetta, the Fresh Ginger Carrot Cakelets, the Greek-Style Honey-Nut Pastries, the Blueberry Cobblerettes, the Crispy Cream Puffs, the Mango Mousse, the Chocolate Truffle Tarts…? As you can see, the list goes on and on. Resistance is futile. Get to baking! show less

What a thoroughly enjoyable book. Beatrice Ojakangas is a Minnesota author of Finnish descent. She is also the author of 29 cookbooks. This, her latest project, is an autobiographical memoir. She covers, in great detail, her upbringing in Northern Minnesota, the beginnings of her career as a chef/cookbook author, the raising of her family, and her current roles as a wife/mother/celebrity. Ojakangas has a remarkable gift in her ability to tell a story, she makes you feel like you were next to show more her in the kitchen. Her memory of the details of her childhood is amazing. And her humor is contagious! As I noted in an update of my reading status, I was reading this on a cross-country airline trip, and the people seated next to me were concerned because I kept bursting out laughing and snorting. Great book, highly recommend it! show less

Calling your cookbook The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever, as author Beatrice Ojakangas does, is a big boast, but Ojakangas delivers. Not only does this exhaustive casserole cookbook provide hundreds upon hundreds of recipes, Ojakangas provides a great breadth of variety: everything from appetizers to main dishes of every kind, side dishes, desserts — you name it. How much did I love this cookbook? I initially read it for free through Kindle Unlimited, and I decided partway through that I had show more to buy it. What greater recommendation is there? show less

I love to make soup, usually without using a recipe...just throw some stuff in a pot and call it good and then there is the bread, I have a bread machine and I use it constantly. I can not tolerate eating regular bread from the store so I am always on the lookout for a great bread recipe. It doesn't matter if it is for a bread machine or not, I can usually just use the ingredient list and modify it for the machine.

This awesome cookbook has wonderful pictures, easy to follow recipes and is show more separated into five sections, the basics which include tips on how to make stocks, broths and basic breads, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. There are also recipes on sandwiches, pretzels and bread sticks.. a recipe that will appeal to everyone.

As I was looking through this cookbook, I found a lot of great sounding recipes for bread and soup that I will definitely be making, with fall on its way I think that this book will be used a lot. show less