Creating A Sweets Cookbook: What To Include, How To Categorize Certain Recipes And How To Verify Your Information

Posted on: 25 May 2016

If you are currently compiling a sweets cookbook for sale, you may need some help organizing the book. Some recipes may not go where you think they should, and others may be in a category all their own. Here are some tips on what to include in your first sweets cookbook, how to categorize recipes and verifying the information you are given by others.

What to Include

Sweets can fall under many different categories (see below), as well as utilize many different flavorings and spices. You will have to see how many of each category of sweet and how many different variations you get on a single theme. Once you have worked through which of the dozens of recipes you want to include, you will have to verify that each and every one of them works, is tasty and delicious, and will appeal to those who purchase your cookbook.

Verifying Your Information

Many people consider themselves good cooks. Unfortunately, not all of those self-named good cooks are good pastry chefs and/or sweet treats crafters. To verify your information for your cookbook, you will need to prepare and consume every recipe you have gathered and selected for your book. By working through every recipe and tasting it, you can confirm that the sources of your selected recipes were either telling the truth or may have exaggerated slightly. In any case, you will be able to select the best of the best to include in your book.

Categorizing Everything

Most categories for sweets include:

  • Hard candies
  • Soft chewy candies
  • Chocolates
  • Donuts and fried pastries
  • Baked pastries
  • Quick breads with fruit and/or nuts
  • Traditional holiday sweets (Christmas cookies, fruitcake, babka, etc.)
  • Brownies
  • Cakes/cupcakes
  • Bars
  • Pies
  • Cheesecakes
  • Ice cream and frozen treats
  • Sweetbreads (which utilize internal organs ground or chopped and thrown into a dough) and mincemeat pies
  • Others that are in a category by themselves

Since you could easily make a sweets cookbook that is several inches thick, you may have to cut back on some categories, especially if you do not have enough recipes to fill out that category fully. Some recipes, such as Mexican hot cocoa (which includes a hot pepper of some kind, usually cayenne) may not fit in any of the categories above. If you do not also include a sweet drinks category, then this is an example of those recipes you may wish to exclude even though the recipe sounds tempting. 

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