Recipes for delectable baked goods, from the chef-owner of San Francisco's 20th Century Cafe. Note that many of these recipes are for a somewhat experienced baker with access to a high-end grocery store and/or who don't mind mail-ordering ingredients. Despite that, Polzine's instructions are detailed enough for even novice bakers, noting where she has tried making changes to a recipe to increase its ease but failed, alerting the reader that it will likely take several tries before a recipe comes out just right, and more. Gorgeous, mouthwatering photographs accompany each recipe.

A stunner. Beautiful pictures, fantastic recipes - an all around wonderful baking book. Anyone who loves baking would be happy to have this gorgeous cookbook.

Full confession: I will likely never bake a single recipe from this book, but I look through it regularly and gift it to people who are similarly obsessed with baking. It's beautiful and fascinating.

A great recipe book for some classic, iconic baked goods. Easy to follow and everything sounds delicious.

Beautiful baking book! The recipes within are mouth-wateringly delicious and the pictures are stunning. I thoroughly enjoyed the character and wit that came through in the writing throughout this book. I heartily recommend this book to advanced-beginner or intermediate bakers looking for that next level yum or some scrumptious kitchen inspiration!

Highly anticipated, beautifully presented, this is expertise in its most obvious form.
This is one I will be adding to my permanent baking collection.

Baking at the 20th Century Cafe is the perfect cookbook at the perfect. Many self-isolating citizens are home with family or alone and baking cakes and breads they have never baked before. Polzine writes with detail that is needed. She instructs as she writes. It is a beautifully produced cookbook that is highly recommended if you would like to bake the best best products found in European bakeries and restaurants.

I love a good baking book and this was was a good one. Clearly laid out and easy to follow recipes for some deliciously, yummy treats that I cant wait to try!

Oh my God so many delicious cakes, I have no idea what to do with myself. These recipes are not for the casual baker – these aren’t something you can whip together on a Saturday night – these are the sort of cakes you have to prepare for, the sort where you have to go to multiple stores to acquire the ingredients, the sort of cakes that take all day to make. Professional cakes. The sort of cake you’d normally pay someone else to bake, but when you take the time and effort to make them yourself? Man oh man they are so, so, so worth it. One day, I plan on just dedicating a whole weekend to making a pastry or a dessert like the kind they served to royalty in 19th century Vienna. Mmm. 19th century Vienna.

Although if you’re like me, you might want to skip the cakes and start experimenting with the cookies. Linzers, shortbreads, coffee-dunker cookies galore! Stock up on butter!

This book was received as an ARC from Artisan Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

All of the recipes and photos in this cookbook looked delicious to a whole new level. I can't wait to make most of these recipes including all of the cakes and fruit tarts which I know will be very popular throughout our community. This definitely could be a potential candidate for our cooking demo and I can't wait to see how these recipes will turn out.

We will consider adding this title to our TX collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

What an absolutely charming book. I am not quite skilled and experienced to try my hand at any of the recipes but it was a joy to read and the pictures simply gleamed. Her recipes were easy to comprehend, although some of them are very involved and targeted for a more dedicated baker than me. Thanks, Netgalley for giving me the chance to preview such a scrumptious title.

Enjoyed reading this cookbook. The pictures are lovely and the instructions are clear. It has a European feel to it.

Step-by-step picture instructions? I"m always sold on that. Interesting recipes? I think so, however they're not overly unusual (although who has heard of tangerine and coffee granita?) I'm looking to learn new baking methods and recipes that are a bit more involved, and I think Baking at the 20th Century Cafe will help for sure. I'm a little overwhelmed at the detailed instructions (but they're numbered, so I'm semi-okay with it) - but it's also what I'm looking for. I know the recipes and style of this book will make me read the recipes thoroughly and hopefully come out with a picture-perfect (ummmmm), recipe #Bakingatthe20thCenturyCafe #NetGalley

Although my good intentions never really come out the way as I had hoped.

This book had charming details about 20th century foods as well as elements of the style of the time. The author's love for the century and its style come through in an appealing but not overwhelming way for those who are like-minded. Recipes are fairly clearly written with good photos.

This is a gorgeous cookbook! Michelle Polizine has put together a really enticing collection of recipes celebrating old-world Eastern European flavors presented with a cute and hip retro flair. Most of the recipes in this collection are for desserts, although there are a few entree-worthy choices in the "Strudels" chapter and an entire chapter devoted to "Savory Pastries." These recipes include "Goat Cheese and Fig Tartlets with Arugula and Hazelnuts," "Pepper, Feta and Tomato Tart," and "Wild Mushroom, Kasha, and Sour Cabbage Strudel." The rest of the chapters focus on fruit desserts, cakes, puddings & custards (includes ice creams, as well), cookies & candies, and creams & sauces. Many of the recipes focus of the flavors of poppy seed, Meyer lemons, plums, apricots and hazlenuts, with some chocolate and coconut thrown in for good measure. Polzine's recipes and directions are detailed and many of the techniques are illustrated with photographs. This cookbook was a pleasure to peruse, and I feel confident the recipes would be a success if I ever get around to trying any. I would definitely recommend.

Delicious photography, interesting recipes, and thoughtful historical analysis and context! This is a must for any baker.

While it remains to be seen if I will actually take the time to construct a honey cake or extract the kernels from an apricot pit, the tips on how to do so and why one should make this book both beautiful to look at and interesting. This is not another compilation of recipes you've seen before, these are vintage recipes that are quite complex, challenging and beautifully worthwhile. The author provides an anecdote for each of the recipes relating to her discovery of the recipe and how she learned to make the item or overcame challenges in developing the recipe from her experience of the item elsewhere. Each section includes a note about the skills and equipment a baker would need to possess to accomplish the recipe, beautiful photographs and in several places, step by step photos of the process. This is a great read for anyone who collects cookbooks or has binged too many episodes of The Great British Bake Off.

Excellent recipes and beautifully written and photographed book. The mix of easy and hard recipes make this a good resource for all bakers and I love the Eastern European recipes

If you're looking to impress your friends with your pastry creations, this is the right cookbook for you.

Baking at the 20th Century Cafe is filled with unique recipes inspired by Central Europe and the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. Many of the recipes will take you all day to complete, but this isn't necessarily a fault. I view myself as more of a practical cook but even I could appreciate the complexity of these recipes. I found the Traditional Cakes, in particular, to be absolute show stoppers. It makes sense that it takes time to create perfection.

All in all, this is a book to consult if you're ready to advance your culinary skill set and the author does a good job of walking you through the steps in the recipe with both pictures and detailed instruction.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
This is a beautiful book! I am completely fascinated by many of the recipes--I've had sons who lived in Austria and Romania and I'm sure some of these delish looking items would catch their eye too! I love the instructions, the author's "you can do it" attitude, and while I'm probably not going to try to cover an entire table with strudel dough anytime soon, some of these I might give a try! I think this is my favorite cookbook I've read this month.