Product Description

Texas accent and all-American flavor, even pitching in to help her put a fresh coat of paint on the porch of her Main Street shop. Rather takes the best of the Lone Star State—pecans, peaches, pralines, chiles, dulce de leche, German sausage—and turns out treats that taste like home, only better than anything homemade ever tasted before. There are the Bacon-Cheddar Scones, the Texas High Hairs Tarts (the only big hair Rather has ever had!), Fourth-of-July’s Fried Pies, Turbo-Charged Brownies with Praline Topping, pillowy Kolaches (yeasted buns with savory fillings), dulce de leche, German sausage—and turns out treats that taste like home, only better than anything homemade ever tasted before. Self-taught, Rather’s 150 utterly original recipes reflect her made-with-love-from-scratch philosophy and are guaranteed to get everyone fixin’ to bake.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13795 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This cookbook offers recipes for dozens of classic treats like oatmeal cookies, carrot cake and pecan pie—but often with novel twists: pineapple and coconut swirl through the carrot cake, the pecan pie takes the form of a brownie and the oatmeal cookies are fashioned into "crisps." Still, most of the recipes are pleasingly old-fashioned and sweet enough to send an unsuspecting baker into diabetic shock. The Grasshopper Pie calls for an entire cup of sugar, plus marshmallow crème and hot fudge sauce, and the Bananas Foster Shortcakes deliver sugary banana flavor amped up to maximum volume. The author is the proprietress of The Rather Sweet Bakery and Café in Texas, and she offers several signature Lone Star state desserts: a rich Fredericksburg Peach Cream Cheese Tart, crunchy Texas Pralines and Texas Big Hairs Lemon-Lime Meringue Tarts, with meringue piled as high as a Houston debutante’s coif. The cookbook also offers a few non-dessert selections, mostly soups, salads, quesadillas and the like. Though these dishes are tasty—it’s hard to object to Prosciutto Tostadas with Shrimp and Parsley or a warm, pleasing Wild Mushroom Soup—it’s the sugary-sweet and fun-to-bake Texas-style desserts that make this rather sweet, and rather expensive, cookbook worth the splurge.
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From the Publisher
* More than 150 rigorously tested recipes and 50 fullcolor photos from the best little from-scratch bakery in Texas.

* Rebecca Rather was featured in the 2003 Saveur 100 (#43).

* The first baking book from Texas, a state with a rich baking tradition shaped by its cowhand culture, Mexican roots, and Czech and German settlers.

About the Author
REBECCA RATHER has worked as a caterer and baker for 15 years, first for a couple of upscale Houston catering companies and then as the executive pastry chef for a group of high-end Houston restaurants. Then, while overseeing research and development for the Austin-based Schlotzky’s Corporation, she studied with renowned artisan baker Daniel Leader. Rather opened her own bakery, Rather Sweet Bakery, first in Austin in 1999. In 2000, she moved the bakery to a larger yet more intimate setting about an hour west of Austin. Rather and her recipes have been featured in Texas Monthly, Ladies’ Home Journal, Food & Wine, Saveur, Southern Living, and Chocolatier. She and her daughter, Frances, live in Fredericksburg, Texas.

ALISON ORESMAN has been a journalist for more than 20 years, writing for newspapers in Wyoming, Washington state, and Florida, where she served as entertainment editor and food critic columnist for the Miami Herald. A lifelong baker, Oresman had much in common with Rather when they met on a dude-ranch cattle drive in Arizona; they have been collaborating ever since. She lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband and their two children, Danny and Callie.

Customer Reviews

My FAVORITE cookbook!
We visited the Rather Sweet Bakery in Fredericksburg, TX last year and I LOVED it. We ended up going there for breakfast every morning we were there. When I saw she had a book with the actual recipes from her restaurant I could not resist.

Everything I have made has been perfect. These recipes are not for the person looking to lose weight (butter, suger, YUMMY!), but they are absolutely delicious. I have not had one thing come out less than delicious. I love the scones, kolaches, and chocolate chip cookies (the best I have ever made or eaten). If I cooked from this as much as I wanted I would be so fat (but very happy). I swear this cookbook has made my husband and little boys love me more!!!

Buy this book!

One note, most recipes make enough for a party, so I would suggest cutting the recipes in half if you are a family of 4 like us.

The Pastry Queen: Royally Good Recipes from the Texas Hill Country's Rather Sweet Bakery & Cafe
As the owner of more than 700 Cookbooks, I can't honestly say that both books by this Author are my Favorites. I am planning a trip especially to visit the Bakery & Cafe for the real experience.

Rather terrific cookbook!
This cookbook is terrific on all counts--great recipes (the Sugar Saucers are the end-all, be-all sugar cookie), beautiful coffee table book, and entertaining read. The fact that the book is printed on glossy paper means the pages will stand up to the occasional butter sputter and drool from looking at all of the wonderful photos. I really enjoyed reading the introduction and narratives that precede each chapter and recipe--a nice addition for those of us who can only dream about visiting Rather Sweet's Bakery & Cafe. I look forward to working my way through all the recipes!