The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook

by Cheryl Day, Griffith Day

Overview

New York Times best seller
Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Cookbook of the Year
 
Fire up your oven with recipes Food & Wine calls “down-home and fabulous . . . classics with a little something extra.”

Nationally recognized and locally adored for its decadent homespun desserts and delicious rustic breads, Back in the Day Bakery is a Savannah landmark. As Paula Deen says in her foreword, Cheryl and Griff Day “bake decadent treats, but they also bake wonderful memories that stay with you forever.”

To celebrate the bakery’s tenth anniversary, this duo has written a book filled with customers’ favorite recipes. It’s packed with Cheryl and Griff’s baking know-how plus recipes for their famous Buttermilk Biscones, Old-Fashioned Cupcakes, Chocolate Bread, Cinnamon Sticky Buns, S’more Pie, Almond Crunchies, Drunk Blondies, Pinkies Chocolate Lunch-Box Treats, Rustic Cheddar Pecan Rounds, and much more. Irresistible full-color photographs of food and behind-the-scenes bakery shots will give readers a glimpse into the sweet daily life at the bakeshop. Celebrating family traditions, scratch baking, and quality ingredients, The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook is like a down-home bake sale in a book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781579654580
Publisher:	Artisan
Publication date:	03/06/2012
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	160,379
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 9.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Cheryl Day and Griffith Day are self-taught bakers who founded Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia, in 2002. Their latest cookbook, Back in the Day Bakery Made with Love, is a national bestseller, and they were semi-finalists for the 2015 James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Baker. Cheryl honed her skills in her mother’s and grandmother’s kitchens, and her enthusiasm for enriching lives through the time-honored art of scratch baking is one of her most endearing qualities (along with a few dance moves she picked up in her days as a Soul Train dancer!). Griff’s interest in baking was piqued by the magical sourdough starter that his mother kept in the family kitchen when he was a child. He is a master of flavorful breads and creative savory dishes. Cheryl and Griff got married in their bakery, and the recipe for their wedding cake appears in their first cookbook, the New York Times bestseller The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook.

Recipe

Credit: "Excerpted from The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook by Cheryl Day & Griffith Day (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2012. Photographs by Squire Fox."

Cinnamon-Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Serves 8 to 10

This recipe makes the quintessential coffee cake, the kind you find in an old-fashioned coffee shop or diner, served with a steaming cup of joe. The addition of cardamom gives it a flavorful and unexpected zing. With a honey drizzle on the crumb topping, it's fancy enough for an afternoon gathering of friends or a Sunday brunch.

For the streusel:
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
^3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

For the cake:
2 ½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups sour cream

For the glaze:
^3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons honey

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350?F. Spray a 10-inch tube pan with vegetable oil spray and line the bottom with a ring of parchment.

To make the streusel: In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and pecans, if using. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the crumbs are the size of peas. Put the topping in a covered container and set in the freezer while you mix the cake batter.

To make the cake: Sift together the flour, baking power, baking soda, salt, and cardamom; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer), cream the butter and granulated sugar for 4 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix just until blended.

With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in thirds to the butter mixture, mixing it until just combined and no streaks of flour are visible; scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Scrape half the batter into the prepared tube pan and spread it evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle with ^3/4 cup of the streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter into the pan, spreading it evenly, and top with the remaining streusel.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes.

While the cake cools, make the glaze: Mix the confectioners' sugar, honey, and 2 tablespoons water together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Turn the cake out of the pan, then invert onto a serving plate, with the streusel side up. Use a fork to drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake. Wrapped in plastic wrap, the cake will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.

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Editorial Reviews

Food Network star Paula Deen introduces the couple behind Savannah’s Back in the Day Bakery and their cookbook. Broken down by baked good, including “Cupcakes and Cakes,” “Pies,” “Cobblers, Crisps, and Tarts,” and “Cookies,” chapters feature Southern favorites such as baked eggs with grits and ham, and buttermilk chess pie, along with old-time favorites like lemon meringue pie, and strawberry-rhubarb crisp. The author’s “homespun style” permeates the collection—from font and borders to recipes—including the “Savories” chapter, featuring dishes such as roasted chicken and vegetable cobbler (touted as “A potluck favorite”) and vegetable potpie. Sidebars on topics from clever packaging for baked goods to ingredient information for items such as sorghum, as well as a resource pages, add value to this retro-style book that’s all about comfort food. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Down-home and fabulous, the recipes . . . are classics with a little something extra.” —Food Wine

“A delightful marriage of the sweet and savory . . . Cheryl and Griff honor these time-tested classics even as they infuse them with vibrant, unpredictable layers of flavor.” —Savannah Magazine

“Beautifully photographed and charmingly conversational, and full of recipes I’m dying to try.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
“Old-fashioned American treats with a healthy dose of Southern flair. . . . A well-rounded baking book suitable for home cooks of all levels.” —Library Journal

“Impressive yet decidedly unfussy baked goods.”
—Booklist
 
“Their recipes are easy, but irresistible.”
—Toronto Globe and Mail

From the Publisher

Approaching its tenth anniversary, the Back in the Day Bakery is a popular Savannah destination serving up old-fashioned American treats with a healthy dose of Southern flair. Following an enthusiastic foreword by Paula Deen, founders Cheryl and Griffith Day share sweet and savory bakery favorites like Old-Fashioned Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting, Salted Caramel Apple Pie, and Bacon Jam Empanadas. By incorporating some less traditional ingredients (e.g., flavored sugars, guava paste, and bennecake flour), the authors successfully breathe new life into familiar favorites. VERDICT A well-rounded baking book suitable for home cooks of all levels. [Five-city tour.]

Library Journal