Southern Cakes

Who doesn't love cake? There's perhaps no dessert that makes you feel more special. It's how we celebrate birthdays and graduations. It's the rarified treat at engagement parties and weddings-and the way we welcome old friends and new babies. Whether it's a cupcake with coffee at the neighbor's house or a three-layer slice at the end of an extravagant meal, cake is a sweet, simple indulgence that makes you feel loved and a little better about the world. And who knows more about cakes than Southern Living, the magazine that outdoes itself every year with new pedestal-topping cakes? Its trusted kitchens and pages have launched or popularized some of the South's-and America's-most iconic and decadent cakes, from Hummingbird Cake to Red Velvet Cupcakes.

“Spectacular cake creations [that] are positively bursting with beauty, color, flavor, and fun . . . this book will ignite the baking passion within you!” —Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond, #1 New York Times–bestselling author Grandbaby Cakes is the debut cookbook from sensational food writer, Jocelyn Delk Adams. Since founding her popular recipe blog, Grandbaby Cakes, in 2012, Adams has been putting fresh twists on old favorites. She has earned praise from critics and the adoration of bakers both young and old for her easygoing advice, rich photography, and the heartwarming memories she shares of her grandmother, affectionately nicknamed Big Mama, who baked and developed delicious, melt-in-your-mouth desserts. Grandbaby Cakes pairs charming stories of Big Mama’s kitchen with recipes ranging from classic standbys to exciting adventures—helpfully marked by degree of difficulty—that will inspire your own family for years to come. Adams creates sophisticated flavor combinations based on Big Mama’s gorgeous centerpiece cakes, giving each recipe something familiar mixed with something new. Not only will home bakers be able to make staples like yellow cake and icebox cake exactly how their grandmothers did, but they’ll also be preparing impressive innovations, like the Pineapple Upside-Down Hummingbird Pound Cake and the Fig-Brown Sugar Cake. From pound cakes and layer cakes to sheet cakes and “baby” cakes (cupcakes and cakelettes), Grandbaby Cakes delivers fun, hip recipes perfect for any celebration. “[Adams] offers up her greatest hits alongside sweet stories of her family’s generations-old baking traditions.” —People.com “There is a heritage of love and tradition steeped in her recipes . . . A trip down memory lane that ends with delicious treats on your table.” —Carla Hall, TV chef and author of Carla Hall’s Soul Food

A compilation of sixty-five of the greatest cake recipes from the South, plus plenty of baking tips, from the author of Southern Pies. It’s time to relax on the porch swing and feast your eyes on some of the tastiest cakes you’ll ever sink your fork into. There are recipes here for everything from Brown Sugar Pound Cake and fluffy white coconut cakes layered with lemon curd or raspberry jam to the chocolatey goodness of Mississippi Mud Cake and the extravagant elegance of Lady Baltimore Cake. With cakes this delectable, it’s no wonder Southerners are so proud of their baking history. Jam cakes and jelly rolls; humble pear bread and peanut cake; cakes with one, two, three, and four layers; and even Eudora Welty’s bourbon-soaked white fruitcake—each moist and delicious forkful represents the welcome-to-the-South attitude of the sultry Southern states. The Baking 101 section explains the basics, including buying the proper equipment, mixing the perfect batter, putting on the finishing touches (that means frosting, and lots of it!), and the how-to’s of storing your lovely cake so that the last slice tastes as delightful and moist as the first. As you page through Southern Cakes, you’ll surely come across some old favorites as well as many new delectable treats, plus a generous helping of Southern hospitality in each and every slice. “Food writer Nancie McDermott has compiled 65 of the most sinfully delicious cakes . . . and the result could make even Scarlet O’Hara weak in the knees.” —Chocolatier Magazine “For my money, the grandest-looking cakes in this book are the brown sugar pound cakes baked in a tube pan with a lush mass of caramel glaze drooling down its sides, and the classic coconut cake, with its feathery, dazzling white frosting. When I brought the coconut cake to the office, people in the street were literally lunging at it.” —Los Angeles Times

Southern hospitality often includes a delicious Southern cake, and this book is dedicated to offering you some of the best Southern cake recipes available anywhere. There’s nothing like a freshly baked cake as a dessert or an indulgent snack, and this book is packed with cake ideas that you and your family or guests are sure to love. The recipes are designed to be easy enough for anyone with even minimal cooking and baking experience to try, and they are a fun way to experience different cake ideas that may cost you a lot more if you have to purchase them from a baker. Try out one of the cake recipes this weekend and see how easy it really is to make a delicious and satisfying Southern cake that may become a dessert favorite for you.

The food experts at Southern Living put a lot of love into thisvalue-packed, softcover version of their first-ever cookbook of the South's favorite desserts. A must-have for any kitchen, Classic Southern Desserts is as much a look-book as it is a cookbook, with gorgeous, full-color photos accompanying every mouthwatering dish. Over 200 of the Southern Living Test Kitchens' highest-rated recipes for luscious cakes, pies, cupcakes, cookies, and much more, as submitted by generations of home cooks, were handpicked for this book-the kinds of old-fashioned recipes that everyone remembers from childhood, updated to fit today's trends and ingredients. From a chapter on Luscious Layers & Other Cakes all the way through Ice Cream & Frozen Desserts, there's something for every sweet tooth. Special banners throughout, such as "Sweets to Share," "Kids Love It," "Bake & Freeze," and more, offer unique recipe ideas. Updated classics like Four-Layer Coconut Cake, Million-Dollar Pound Cake, and Fresh Georgia Peach Pie, are just a taste of what will keep readers coming back for more. Plus, helpful advice from the Southern Living Test Kitchens Professionals is included, with tips on topics ranging from beating egg whites to perfecting crumb crusts to frosting a cake.

A beautiful baking cookbook of 100 recipes for the delicious cakes that made Daisy Cakes a huge success story of ABC's Shark Tank, plus cookies, pies, cobblers, and more--with 60 photographs evoking a sense of nostalgia for making your own family recipes. The scent of cake baking in the oven, the pretty sheen of frosting being whipped up nice and light, or the glorious mess of measuring and mixing ingredients for cookie dough are memories cherished by many a home baker. Kim Nelson grew up learning to make family recipes alongside her mother, grandmothers, and great aunt. This pastime blossomed into Kim's beloved company, Daisy Cakes, which ships delicious Southern layer cakes in keepsake tins all across the US. Daisy Cakes Bakes shares those family cake recipes, as well as recipes for cookies, bars, confections, pies, ice creams, and more. The flavors are rich but never cloying, the recipes are crowd-pleasing and simple to make, and Kim's engaging stories will inspire everyone to start their own baking traditions.

Gather around the table to celebrate the versatility of vegetables with Southern flair.

As more and more Americans turn to locally-sourced and home-grown ingredients to help create their meals, vegetables have returned to the center of the plate, and there are few people who appreciate vegetables the way that Southerners do. Whether it's the incomparable sweetness of corn fresh from the stalk, a tomato so ripe and ready that you can almost taste the sunshine, or the versatility of the sweet potato - the garden workhorse that can serve as main, side, or dessert - Southerners know the secrets to preparing their favorite vegetables in the most delicious ways.

Now, in The Southern Vegetable Book, the wisdom of years spent in the garden, in the fields, and finally in the kitchen are yours in an accessible cookbook highlighting the Southern ability to create satisfying flavors from the simplest, freshest ingredients. The classic vegetables that we all know and love are represented, but lesser-known but equally-celebrated ones, such as Jerusalem artichokes and ramps, also make an appearance. The recipes in the book pay homage to classic Southern dishes while offering modern interpretations for the home cook, whether you call the South home or not.

Divided by season, The Southern Vegetable Book features 30 types of vegetables along with recipes as diverse as Balsamic Corn Salad, Salmon Tostadas with Zucchini-Radish Slaw, a BLT Benedict with Avocado-Tomato Relish, or a new take on Sweet Potato Pie. This book will guide you on how to select the freshest vegetables at the grocery store or the farmers' market, tips on storage, special features, and tips and hints on extracting the best flavor from your produce.

Whether you're a Southerner born and bred, hail from parts unknown, or just appreciate that the South has a way with vegetables, The Southern Vegetable Book will become your go-to guide to make vegetables the star of the show.

When the original Encyclopedia of Southern Culture was published in 1989, the topic of foodways was relatively new as a field of scholarly inquiry. Food has always been central to southern culture, but the past twenty years have brought an explosion in interest in foodways, particularly in the South. This volume marks the first encyclopedia of the food culture of the American South, surveying the vast diversity of foodways within the region and the collective qualities that make them distinctively southern. Articles in this volume explore the richness of southern foodways, examining not only what southerners eat but also why they eat it. The volume contains 149 articles, almost all of them new to this edition of the Encyclopedia. Longer essays address the historical development of southern cuisine and ethnic contributions to the region's foodways. Topical essays explore iconic southern foods such as MoonPies and fried catfish, prominent restaurants and personalities, and the food cultures of subregions and individual cities. The volume is destined to earn a spot on kitchen shelves as well as in libraries.