Martha's Recipes...is It Just Me...
Decorating By 4Gifts4Lisa Updated 2 Jul 2009 , 5:17am by cathyscakes
Seriously, is it just me or do the recipes suck? That is pretty harsh, I guess. So far, every recipe I have tried from her books sucks...either too dry or no flavor, etc. I did have luck with one, but I ignored the instructions and added to it, so that doesn't really count, does it?
I guess I just need to finally get Rose's Cake Bible and be done with it. I think it may be the ONLY book I DON'T own...
You are not alone....I tried Marthas Red Velvet Cake.....It was horrible. I did everything right, I didnt add or anything. It was the nastiest cake I had ever tasted. That is the only recipe I have tried. Dont know about any of the other ones.
What about her new "cupcake" book? it is worth it? Has any of you had tried any recipe?
This is what prompted the post 
I tried the brown sugar pound cake cupcakes. No flavor, and they were "light"...light is not bad for regular cupcakes, but I expected denser for a pound cake...
I have subscribed to Martha Stewart Living from day 1. In all those years, I have had exactly ONE recipe work out (and be worth making again). It is a Chocolate Chip Cookie Tart from six or seven years ago. The others have all be mediocre; and a few have been spectacular failures. I still can't get over the Boston Cream Pie nightmare, and that had to have been fifteen years ago!
I finally learned my lesson. Now if something sounds good, I find another source for the actual recipe.
I've heard this before, and honestly, I do not use her cake recipes.
But in her defense, her pate brisee (pie crust) recipe is the best and easiest I've ever used, and I use that recipe exclusively for all my pies, sweet or savory.
I also recommend her Swiss Meringue Buttercream for cupcakes recipe to anyone who wants to learn how to make it. The instructions are extremely clear, so much that a 12-year-old can make it successfully. I suggest the cupcake recipe because the instructions are easier than the regular smbc recipe, even though the ingredients are the same. I'm not crazy about the taste of hers, as I find it too sweet.
Theresa 
I have subscribed to Martha Stewart Living from day 1. In all those years, I have had exactly ONE recipe work out (and be worth making again). It is a Chocolate Chip Cookie Tart from six or seven years ago. The others have all be mediocre; and a few have been spectacular failures. I still can't get over the Boston Cream Pie nightmare, and that had to have been fifteen years ago!
I finally learned my lesson. Now if something sounds good, I find another source for the actual recipe.
OMG!!! I have that recipe torn out, and I use it too!!!
She has a reputation for having recipes that don't work very well. I remember that some magazine had a bunch of professional pastry chefs make a variety of recipes from different authors, and NONE of them could get her recipes to work.
She apparently doesn't have a very good recipe-testing staff. You think she'd have a test kitchen, but maybe she doesn't.
Oh well! I saw the cupcakes book yesterday at Sam's for 13.72 and I got it and after few minutes I put it back! lol!! There is another post here on CC about the book but I can't find it. I did few cake recipes but like you said, there are not good, I also thought it was me! mmmm I don't think so to buy the book...
I have the cupcake book, and tried chocolate pb swirl cupcakes Sunday, and they were quite well received by a big crowd of people. My husband said that they were even better the second day. I also tried her strawberry shortcake cookies from last issue, and they were awesome, I could not stop eating them! But that's the extent of my experience with her recipes.
There's a cookie called mom's cookie or mother's cookie. Crean cheese and butter with flour worked like a puff pastry. Cut and brushed with egg white and sprinkled with sugar. When it bakes, it puffs like a pastry, but retains it's cut shape. All of the sweetness is from the sprinkled on sugar. Delicate. Elegant and delicious. But that's my only experience.
I have had my eye on that salty caramel cake from a guest bakery on the show . Anyone try that one?
Martha's meat recipes work pretty well but the cake ones seem way off. I always just thought that maybe people have different tastes in different parts of the country and that's why they didn't taste right to me.
I have subscribed to The Martha Stewart Magazine for years and out of all those years have only made one of her recipes multiple times. It is her blackberry bars, I live in a part of the country where we just can't seem to get rid of the blackberries growing in the yard, no kidding those things grow right up through cement so I figured if "Life gives you lemons make lemonade" so when I saw she had a recipe to use fresh blackberries I tried them and they are wonderful!
I have her new cookie book, got it when it came out, looked at the pics and just wasn't in awe so it still sits on the shelf....guess I should of looked at it more closely before I bought it! 
Guess I will stick to Martha's magazines for the cool Halloween decorations!
I live in a part of the country where we just can't seem to get rid of the blackberries growing in the yard, no kidding those things grow right up through cement
I grew up in Southern Oregon, and we had blackberries all over the place, too. I moved to Utah and haven't bought a blackberry because I keep thinking, "You want me to pay how much for a weed?" 
But anyways, my MIL has Martha's "Comfort Food" book, so I borrowed it and tried a few recipes. They weren't as good as I'd hoped, but I just chalked it up to not being a Martha Stewart fan. I haven't tried any of her cakes, but I'm glad to know I can look elsewhere!
I have several of her books and rec'd gift subscriptions to MS living and Everyday Food. So, needless to say I have tried a gazillion of her recipes, sweet and savory. I can agree with you somewhat.....there are many recipes I have tried that were nothing spectacular and not something I would ever make again. ANd yes, occasionally there are some that are just plain bad.
However, when she gets it right......those recipes tend to become my no-fail-favorite-recipes-for-life-make-them-constantly-make-all-my-husband's-friends-jealous-cause their-wives-can't-cook-as well-as-I-can recipes! So, I guess I look at it like a treasure hunt.......digging through the sand for the real gems!
I watch Martha all of the time, and I have to say some of her recipes are so bland. Like a apple pie with 1/4 cup of sugar, and no cinnamon, no butter, what a bland pie. I think she has a more of a natural style, letting the fruit shine thru, but my family wouldn't appreciate.
Also,miss-tiff, I live on the coast in Oregon, and I know what you mean about blackberries. we have 6 acres of land and we have all the blackberries we could ever need. Can't imagine ever buying a plant, can't kill the stuff, I really enjoy them too, can't wait to make a blackberry pie.
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