Baking at the 20th Century Cafe: Iconic European Desserts from Linzer Torte to Honey Cake

(Hardback)

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To taste Michelle Polzines desserts is to travel deliciously, stylishly, back in time. I count my lucky stars that through learning and cooking from this book, we can all access the wonder of her uncompromising vision.
Samin Nosrat, New York Times bestselling author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

Transporting readers straight to the grand cafs of Europe, Baking at the 20th Century Cafebrings renewed attention to the legendary sweet and savory baking recipes of Central and Eastern Europe. Polzine, one of San Franciscos best pastry chefs, pays homage to the foundational desserts of so many cultures, while lightening and modernizing the recipes through her California lens. Her fruit desserts, nut-based desserts, and chocolate treatsmany of them gluten-freeare smart, interesting, and foolproof, and deliver big flavor. Polzines coveted honey cake recipe is included, too, along with recipes for plum kuchen, walnut hamantaschen, Sacher torte, linzer torte, poppy-filled rugelach, vanilla cheesecakeeven pierogi and potato knishes, all full of twists and innovations. All the recipes are written with Polzines quirky, relatable you can do this enthusiasm to assure readers that they can achieve excellent results. Following in the footsteps of such esteemed bakers as Nancy Silverton and Dorie Greenspan, with Baking at the 20th Century Cafe, Polzine offers a new entry into the essential baking cookbook canon.

Reviews

A party waiting to happen. . . . [B]aked goods from across the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, rendered in Northern California flavors. . . . Recipes inBaking at the 20th Century Caferange from Ashkenazi Jewish cookies to Californian puddings, preserves, savory and sweet tarts and enough varieties of whipped cream to wear out a whisk. The instructions are descriptive and exact, heavy on butter and cornball jokes.
Wall Street Journal

Richly gratifying desserts . . . make the book worth owning. So does the indomitable life force of its author, whose mischievous spirit shines as brightly in her sentences as it does at her restaurant.
Los Angeles Times

Polzines knowledgeable explanations, humorous anecdotes and Hungarian and Austrian tales make this a book thats also exceptionally fun to read, even if all the baking youll ever do is warming up a frozen English muffin.
San Francisco Chronicle

Dazzling. . . . [Polzine] brings a fresh approach and singular panache to some fairly staid classics of Central European baking. While most of these recipes arent for beginners, her clear voice and precise, idiosyncratic instructions will allow home bakers to make exquisite fruit tarts with strawberries and plums, elegant cookies and layer cakes, and, with practice, sweet and savory strudels rolled with gossamer dough.
New York Times

Satisfying and splendid. . . . For the baker who wants a challenge with great results, this is your book.
NPRs Here and Now

Gorgeous.
Epicurious

I love [this] book.
David Lebovitz via Instagram

Michelle Polzine is one of the most gifted pastry chefs in America. . . . This book, as you flick through it, just keeps on giving. An absolute joy for bakers and pudding lovers.
The Telegraph(U.K.)

For passionate bakers, this book offers a path to one of the worlds greatest dessert regions without leaving your home kitchen.
Heated

Its an advanced baking book, from a professional pastry chef, assiduously detailing methods for assembling ten-layer tortes and stretching strudel. But for cake diehards, its a rare treat, digging into the details of sachertorte, dobos torta, and of course, honey cake. . . . [F]or the more ambitious home baker, theyre a serious treat.
EaterSF

To taste Michelle Polzines desserts is to travel deliciously, stylishly, back in time. I count my lucky stars that through learning and cooking from this book, we can all access the wonder of her uncompromising vision.
Samin Nosrat,New York Timesbestselling author ofSalt, Fat, Acid, Heat

Michelle Polzine is a master of dessert flavor and technique. Her recipes are the real deal. As a historian, she respectfully pays homage to a period of sweet cuisine mostly overshadowed by other parts of the world. Her deep creativity adds her own twists and adaptations.
Emily Luchetti, pastry chef

One might say that Michelles gorgeous book is worth having simply for the honey cake recipe, or just to see her outfits and aprons, or for the quietly spectacular photos. But passionate pastry people will want it for the flavors, details, and ideasbeloved pastries from the Austro-Hungarian Empire are honored and perfected, to be sure, but they are also made new and fresh by a gifted chef with an inspired palate. Recipes are carefully crafted with enough detail (and humor) to make it happen in your kitchen.
Alice Medrich, pastry chef and author ofFlavor Flours

Every recipe in Baking at the 20th Century Cafe is a treasure to be uncovered. Michelles lifelong practice and discovery of pastry technique is demystified here for everyone. She gifts us with in-depth process photography, taking the guesswork out of how she creates her beautiful desserts.
Nicole Krasinski, pastry chef and co-owner, State Bird Provisions and The Progress

The luscious desserts in this book are very much like their fashionable creatorbeautifully styled, with attention to detail and an innate sense of the final impression on the beholder. Michelle is inspired by Middle European sweets and gives each one her unique touch. In this, her first book, you get sure-to-impress recipes from not just San Franciscos beloved 20th Century Cafe but also some of the best bakeries in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, as seen through Michelles informed lens.
Rick Rodgers, author ofKaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafs of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague

Author Bio

Michelle Polzine is the chef/owner of 20th Century Caf, and one of San Franciscos best pastry chefs. She began cooking in North Carolina in 1992 and got her big break in 1995 at Chapel Hills Pyewacket restaurant. Polzine made the restaurants famous dinner rolls, and a pastry career was born. She has since worked at some of San Franciscos best restaurants, from Delfina and Chez Panisse to the Range. She has been covered in Bon Apptit, Food & Wine, and the New York Times, among other publications, and has been nominated as Outstanding Pastry Chef by the James Beard Foundation. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and cats. Follow her on Instagram @20thcenturycafesf.