Reviewed by nannah on
Ovenly is a creative bakery in New York run by Agatha Kulaga and Erin Patinkin, two bakers who bonded over their shared Eastern European heritage and probably a love for alcohol (though usually it’s one and the same -- and I’m Polish so I can say this … but there’s literally a whole section dedicated to bar snacks in here).
Overall, I have probably over 25 sticky notes saving recipes I want to try (and will most likely photocopy for later …). The flavors are unique, and there are lots of strange combinations that I’d like to try someday. After, you know, the chocolate cookie they touted as The Best Chocolate Cookie EVER. There are Jewish desserts in here, too, which I appreciate, when the two women talked about holiday desserts (I believe one of them is also Jewish). I think this is the first time a cookbook has introduced other-faith desserts in a holiday section, and I hope others follow suit.
But there are also things that made me side eye the authors a little. They said in the beginning that they wanted to create recipes anyone at home could make with things from their pantry … yet here they go saying this recipe is Best with lardons from Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams from Tennessee (they deliver), or you need a revolving cake stand or a bench scraper for this other recipe, or sanding sugar, or turbinado sugar, or pomegranate molasses (without giving you options in case you don’t have any of these). Okay, for their gratuitous brand-dropping, they do say you can use, “other high-quality ___”, but for the others, you’re left googling “what is an alternative to a bench scraper?”, etc.
The book also has this strange personality. The writers say “fuck” but refuse to say “pie crust”; it’s “pȃte brisée” every time.
Anway, the pictures are beautiful, and the recipes look great. It really doesn’t have to be more than that.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 27 October, 2019: Finished reading
- 27 October, 2019: Reviewed