The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices, and Other Ingredients

The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices, and Other Ingredients
Average customer rating:

Disappointed

Unique & Delicious Recipes

An excellent general manual for occasional baker. Buy It.

Viva Coconut Biscotti

The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices, and Other Ingredients
CCP Carole Bloom
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0764576453

Book Description

If you are a beginning baker, this book offers an accessible introduction to essential baking ingredients, equipment, and techniques as well as detailed, step-by-step recipes that make it easy to prepare even the trickiest baked goods. If you are already an accomplished baker, it offers many sophisticated and unusual recipes that will help you refine your knowledge and skills.

The book features a distinctive organization based on six key baking ingredients, from fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and chocolate to dairy products, spices and herbs, and coffee, tea, and liqueurs. Select an ingredient or flavor you love, and you'll find many delicious ways to incorporate it into your baking.

Bloom's recipes encompass every type of baking. You'll find spectacular versions of familiar favorites - Cherry Pie, Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, and Double Peanut Butter Cookies - as well as intriguing variations and extravagant indulgences, including Coconut Biscotti, Lemon Verbena and Walnut Tea Cake, and Dark Chocolate Creme Brulee. Her meticulous recipes specify essential gear, offer tips on streamlining the recipe and storing the finished dish, and provide advice on varying ingredients and adding panache.

With in-depth guidance on techniques and ingredients, 225 standout recipes, variations and embellishments for almost every dish, and 32 pages of striking full-color photographs, The Essential Baker is truly the only baking book you'll ever need.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointed.......2007-09-09

The first three reviews all gave "The Essential Baker" top 5-star ratings and, frankly, I was impressed and ordered the book. However, my elation quickly turned to disappointment once I scanned the pages. The first 50 pages on baking essentials had brown text on a light brown background and the remainder of the book, the text remained brown on white rather than black on white. Moreover, the font style and small size in addition to the brown text made reading difficult for a senior citizen as myself. This difficulty was more pronounced since the ingredients listed on the left margin were in bold type whereas the instruction were not, thus I personally would find difficulty in using the book while trying to cook.

One thing the author mentions up front is that all her recipes use Extra-Large eggs and every recipe for making pie dough uses a food processor. Just be aware to adjust your thinking. The book is hefty with 220 pages devoted to fruits, 21 to vegetables, 48 to nuts and seeds, and 125 to chocolate, 29 to dairy, 45 to spices and herbs, and 50 to coffee, tea, and spirits. The way the recipes are formatted, as discussed in prevous comments, are unique and at times it takes three to four pages for a recipe such as Pumpkin Pie or Lemon Meringue Pie.

In comparing the recipe for Anise and Almond Biscotti (Carole Bloom vs Martha Stewart), for example, Bloom calls for 3 extra-large eggs and 3 extra large egg yolks, but no butter and Stewart calls for 4 large eggs and 4 tablespoons of butter (both use 2-1/4 and 2-1/2 cups of flour respectively. I would have to bake each recipe to determine which I preferred, but someone like Alton Brown (author of, "I'm Here Just for the Food") could tell you the pros and cons of eggs vs butter.

If I had to choose an all round baking book, my choice would be, "The Dessert Bible" by Chrisopher Kimball who is also Publisher and Editor of Cooks Illustrated. His recipes include a feature that explains "what could go wrong" explaining things that could go awry whch I found helpful.

Bloom incorporates some innovative features in laying out her baking techniques and no doubt has many excellent recipes, but I downgraded the book primarily on "mechanical" features rather than content and the fact that I personally find the book difficult to use.

Unique & Delicious Recipes.......2007-08-09

"The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices and Other Ingredients" is a new book by Carole Bloom, who is a professional pastry chef and confectioner. As the title promises the contents include an impressive array of recipes that use everything from coffee & tea to vegetables & fruits as their main ingredients. More than this, however, Bloom's recipes are unique, with a dash of sliced almonds adding both flavor and texture to banana muffins and pearl sugar enhancing the visual appeal of apple turnovers. I loved her recipes for coconut biscotti, jasmine tea cakes and spiced sugar coin cookies. Indeed, though I usually give away most of the goodies I bake, I couldn't bring myself to share the biscotti with anyone other than my husband. On a few occasions I wasn't entirely thrilled with the way a recipe turned out, but given my delight with other recipes I have to chalk this up to taste. One cannot expect every single recipe in a book to enthrall, after all, and modifications can always be made to suit your preferences.

Bloom's instructions are clear and easy to follow, though the way ingredients are presented took some getting used to. Instead of listing ingredients before the recipe, as most cookbooks do, recipes are divided into stages with the ingredients for each stage listed beside the instructions. At first I didn't like this aspect of the book, but as I continued to cook with it I realized that this arrangement a) forced me to read through the entire recipe before beginning, I'm a notorious improviser, and b) made it nearly impossible to become confused about which ingredient should be used where. Essential gear is listed along side the recipe, where helpful information is also included: storage tips, variations, and instructions for streamlining the baking process over more than one afternoon (i.e. How to begin cookies one day and finish them the next.) While I'm always appreciative of baking books that have photos for every recipe, the straightforward presentation of Bloom's recipes made it easy to visualize the final result without an image. Photos for twenty recipes are collected in the center of the book, representing the various chapters, which include: fruit & vegetables; nuts & seeds; chocolate; dairy products (milk, cream, cheeses); spices & herbs; and coffee, tea, liqueurs & spirits. The first chapter is devoted entirely to baking techniques, language and an overview of essential baking gear.

Recipes range in difficulty from easy to challenging, so this may not be the best book for a novice baker. Yet those with baking experience and a curiosity for novel recipes may want to check it out. From Key Lime Squares and Raspberry-Blueberry Galettes to Pomegranate Butter Cookies and Triple Vanilla Souffle, there is something in this book to pique everyone's interests.

An excellent general manual for occasional baker. Buy It........2007-05-11

`The Essential Baker' by professional pastry chef and culinary writer, Carole Bloom presents itself as a complete baking manual, with a distinctively different organization, by ingredient. For its size, price, and claims, the book begs us to compare it to the recent `Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook', which is also a comprehensive introductory baking text.

As I first open the book, Bloom's `Essential Baker' does not readily impress me when stacked up against Team Stewart. Like Stewart, the book does not delve into a lot of the more technical explanations of baking science (as one may find in Rose Levy Beranbaum's more advanced `Bibles' on baking technique), but then the average baker really doesn't need most of this, as long as they get the message that with baking, one really needs to follow the recipe closely, even down to the size of the baking pans. Bloom does go into just a bit more detail, and may get herself into a few questionable statements, as when she states that one should not use all purpose flour for baking bread (every book I've ever seen on bread baking uses and condones `all purpose flour', with a preference for the higher protein products such as those from King Arthur.)

Based on their enormous magazine publishing resources, it's no surprise to find Team Stewart's book with wonderful pictures all along the way, especially with good series of tutorials on some basic techniques. Ms. Bloom oddly has virtually no pictures, and all she has are in two middle of the book rotogravure sections, to keep the cost down.

Two more comparisons tend to favor Team Stewart. The first is that their organization is by end product and method rather than by principal ingredient. For an introductory manual, I simply find that more useful and intuitive. Unlike savory cooking, one is much more inclined to begin with `lets bake a cake' or `lets make a pie' or `lets make some cookies' or `lets make some bread'. One of the few cases where this may not be true is with some highly seasonal local ingredients such as rhubarb. Otherwise, my baking choices are largely based on birthdays needing cake, picnics needing pies, and Christmas needing cookies. The second is that Ms. Bloom does not cover yeast breads at all. There are recipes for quick breads such as biscuits and Irish Soda bread (under the subject of buttermilk), but that's it. Team Stewart has a 70 page chapter on yeast breads with 31 recipes, including muffins, bagels, pizza, Danish, croissants, and babkas. If this were the whole story, Team Stewart would have it all over Ms. Bloom. Ms. Bloom, however, has an ace up her sleeve.

Only after reading the long and highly informative (but pictureless) introductory chapters in `The Essential Baker' did I discover that Ms. Bloom is hiding her light under a basket. While celebrating her ordering by ingredient, she neglects to trumpet the fact that her method for writing recipes is really superior. Everything is laid out in exactly the way one may wish to find it. And, on this count, she has Team Stewart beat hands down. But that's not all. I also find her recipes to be more interesting (albeit not necessarily more complicated) than those from Team Stewart. I compared at least a half dozen recipes and in all cases, Ms. Bloom had the more satisfactory recipe for the beginner. Stewart either tended just a bit too much to the simple or overembellished to fit her overriding motif of cooking for entertaining.

I'm still inclined to see Stewart's `Baking Handbook' as the superior book for the beginner, except for the fact that Ms. Bloom does something that is rare in bigger baking books. She does not `divide and conquer' by separating all her utility recipes for crusts and other pastries in a separate section, so that one must constantly be flipping back and forth when doing a pie or an icing. This is really an exceptionally good thing for the occasional baker, who wants `the recipe, the whole recipe, and nothing but the recipe' in one place.

And, although both books retail for $40, Ms. Bloom has about 200 more pages, with a corresponding 30% more recipes. She also has an exceptionally good list of sources, the best I've seen in quite some time (although Miss Martha does a good job here too).

On the arrangement by ingredient, I'm still a bit agnostic about it, and it would have been nice to see a supplementary table of contents by type of recipe, but if you happen to really like books such as Aliza Green's `Starting With Ingredients' or books on vegetable or fish cookery, you will love this book. Otherwise, you may just like it very, very much.

Viva Coconut Biscotti.......2007-04-14

Though I love to cook and entertain, I seldom bake. Somehow, in planning my meals, dessert is often an afterthought. Thus, when a friend gave me Carole Bloom's latest tome, The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices, and other ingredients, I thanked her profusely and thought I would relegate the exhaustive 650 page book to the upper reaches of my kitchen shelf. Last week, in need of an easy dessert recipe, the stunning chocolate madeleines on Bloom's book cover came to mind. What delights might I find within its pages, I wondered? I thumbed through it, looking for something simple to complement a bowl of fresh strawberries. The Coconut Biscotti on page 229 caught my eye.

I followed Bloom's instructions to the letter. The author of Chocolate Lovers' Cookbook for Dummies, among eight other books, made it all the easier thanks to her clever organization: ingredients and their corresponding usage are laid out side by side on the page rather than one following the other as is usually the case. I assembled the dough in minutes, shaped it into two loaves as instructed, and popped them in the oven. I waited for them to cool before slicing them into biscotti, and returned them to the oven a few minutes longer. Twenty minutes later, "my" biscotti looked like those sold by the piece at an extravagant price in upscale coffee shops--sweet and crumbly and ready for dunking. "Those are the best biscotti I have ever tasted," opined my husband, a cookie connoisseur from way back.

The Essential Baker may not turn me into a pro but the clarity of recipes inspire me to try the Cherry Clafouti(page 61) and the Pineapple Tarte Tatin (page 247). I may even read through Bloom's extensive Baking Essentials section to expand my newfound skills!

Average customer rating:

For true lemon lovers
Mmmmm! Triple Lemon-Cheesecake...
Luscious Indeed!
Recipes completely unreliable
Useful book.

Luscious Lemon Desserts
Lori Longbotham , Alison Miksch , and Chronicle Books LLC Staff
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Desserts | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Fruits | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 081182893X

Book Description

Lemon sweets are the divas of desserts. Assertive and bold, lemons can be flamboyant, tart, and tangy as in the Lemon Granita or sweet, mellow, and velvety like the creamy Lemon Panna Cotta. Over 70 recipes--from the classics to lip-smacking new favorites--are all enticingly presented in Luscious Lemon Desserts. These recipes vary from the simple to the sublime, from the quick and easy to the most elaborate showstoppers. Author Lori Longbotham provides great tips on buying, storing, and using this most popular fruit. Whether it's a fast and fabulous lemon pudding or a Mile-High Lemon Angel Food Cake, the name says it all: Luscious Lemon Desserts. Yum!

Customer Reviews:

For true lemon lovers.......2007-04-10

"Luscious Lemon Desserts" is the must-have cookbook for the true lemon aficionado. Lori Longbotham showcases the clear, piercing flavor of lemon in all of its magnificence, whether you long for the creaminess of rice pudding, the luxuriousness of lemon mousse, or the palate-cleansing clarity of gelatin.

The flavor of lemon can be delivered through several distinct mediums, all of which have different uses and tones: zest, juice, and oil. Most home cooks have used the first two, but the third is an unusual addition. Ms. Longbotham recommends not using lemon extract, comparing the results to furniture polish, and I must agree with her comparison--the warmer, subtler flavor of lemon oil makes a significant difference.

Ms. Longbotham's recipes include standard desserts with a lemon flair, such as pudding, mousse, gelatin, rice pudding, angel food cake, pudding cake, pound cake, lemon meringue pie, lemon tart, three different cheesecakes, souffle, lemon curd, and more. They also, however, include some more unusual takes on dessert. For instance, while I adore pots de creme, I haven't quite been able to get myself to try the version in here that includes coriander seeds, and the same with the creme caramel that includes fennel. Of course you can leave these little additives out easily enough, so I don't think they should put you off of buying the cookbook if they don't sound good to you.

We've made a number of recipes out of this cookbook since we first purchased it. The "ultimate lemon mousse" is still my favorite, and yes, it truly deserves its name! We've made it repeatedly, and it's been a big hit at multiple dinners we've thrown. The lemon rice pudding is mild and not-too-sweet, almost something of a palate-cleanser; it's unexpected and delicious. The lemon curd goes beautifully over biscuits. The only recipe we had any trouble with was "my favorite lemon pudding;" it broke and didn't thicken properly, but I suspect that may well have been due to problems with our old refrigerator rather than the recipe.

For those who find cooking to be a delight and love the flavor of a good lemon, I can't imagine a cookbook library without "Luscious Lemon Desserts!"

Mmmmm! Triple Lemon-Cheesecake..........2007-04-05

I think the Triple Lemon Cheesecake and Lemon curd are worth the price of the book. I'm a fan of cheesecake but only make one at a time, and very occasionally. As often as not, my family requests the Triple Lemon Cheesecake over any other cheesecake I make. And the Lemon Curd (which goes on the cheesecake, among other things), Yowza! Fantastic!

I don't cook or bake much, so I don't tend to try out new recipes often, but have been very happy with what I've tried in this book. It's also lovely to look at and enjoyable and friendly to read. Two thumbs up.

Luscious Indeed!.......2006-01-07

For anyone who likes lemon desserts-which is just about everybody! It's pretty surprising that no one had written a lemon dessert book before Lori Longbotham, but fortunately for any home baker that it's one of her favorite flavors. This book is filled with delicious, easy desserts-try the homey Ultimate Lemon Pound Cake, the Chocolate Ganache Tart with Lots of Lemon (wow!), or the delectable Crisp Lemon Wafers-and then move on to the dozens of other delectable recipes. When summer comes, there are lots of great frozen desserts too. The recipes are clear and easy to follow, and she includes lots of tips. And the color photographs are gorgeous!

Recipes completely unreliable.......2005-06-03

I'm a huge lemon dessert fan so when I saw this book, I didn't hesistate to buy it, even at retail price. Then I hurried home and got to work on the recipes. I do quite a bit of baking and I love to meticulously follow directions, but almost everything I made from this, with the exception of the lemon curd, turned out almost inedible. This book offered the worst recipe for madeleines I have ever had the misfortune to encounter, the cheescake with dense and disgusting, etc. I was very disapointed in this purchase, and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It seemed as though the author had never tested these recipes herself. Completely unreliable.

Useful book........2004-12-22

This book is very useful especialy if you know somone who loves lemon desserts (for me it would be my mother).
There are great glossy photos throughout the book which is nice.
Good Recipes.
I'm satisfied with my purchase.

Sweet and Sugar Free: An All Natural Fruit-Sweetened Dessert Cookbook

Average customer rating:

bland brick-like and tasteless
Where's the sweet?
Bland and Bad is more like it
tried the cheescake--it was not good.
Good Book

Sweet and Sugar Free: An All Natural Fruit-Sweetened Dessert Cookbook
Karen E. Barkie
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Accessories:

Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 0312780664

Book Description

At last there's a way to have your cake without the calories and harmful effects of sugar, honey and artificial sweeteners. Karen Barkie has created over 200 imaginative and easy-to-follow recipes for cakes, pies, cookies, breads, sherberts, custard, and much more, sweetened with a variety of fruit and fruit juices--and without one spoonful of sugar! Luscious pinepple cream pie, easy-to-make apple raisin bars, and peach cheesecake are but a few of the delectable--and wholesome--treats in Sweet and Sugarfree. Complete with charts listing caloric and nutritional values, tips on baking with a dozen different flours, and instructions for creating hundreds of toppings and fruit combinations, Sweet and Sugarfree is a delicious contribution to the better health of us all.

Customer Reviews:

bland brick-like and tasteless.......2007-06-01

A co-worker of mine who tried 2 recipes and took them to a party of 20 people, came back with only one square missing from each pan. Everyone said "yuk". She gave me the book to keep. I thought that she was so sweet to "give" this book to me. I tried the Hawaiian Cake and some others. They were indeed "yuk". It's in my recycle trash can now. Someone wrote the apple pie makes it worth buying. You don't need a cookbook to make a delicious fruit pie. These are nearly no brainers, as the fruit adds the sweetness. I don't recommend buying this at all.

Where's the sweet?.......2007-02-13

Tried the apple almond cake. Came out like a giant bisquit and wasn't even close to being sweet, not even a hint. I had to add brown sugar to the icing so it would at least pretend to be a dessert.

Sorry but I just cannot recommend this one. I was really excited about it while reading it, too... I'm so disappointed.

Bland and Bad is more like it.......2006-02-19

I bought this cookbook a few years ago because a friend and I were trying to eat healthier. We made the peach cake and it was inedible, tasted like dog food with peaches. We were afraid to try much else. We started laughing about it over time and calling the author "Karen Barfie." One of the worst cookbooks I've ever used.

tried the cheescake--it was not good........2005-03-18

The cheesecake (I used a pear puree -- one of the purees that were recommended) came out rubbery and not sweet at all. I was so disappointed... This was so bad that I didn't want to risk trying anything else. I guess I'll keep looking for other sugar-free cookbooks.

Good Book.......2004-01-28

"A Reader" from 1998 is reviewing the wrong book. "Sweet and Sugar Free" by Karen E. Barkie, does not contain any recipes calling for date flour. The book "A Reader" is referring to is called "Cook With Me SUGAR FREE" by Sharon D. Gerstenzang. It is also available here at Amazon, and is an excellent book.

This book, "Sweet & Sugar Free" by Karen E. Barkie, is also an excellent book. The recipes are not as simple as your recipes calling for 2 eggs, 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of flour. When cooking with fruits and fruit juices, you need slighly different techniques to come up with a tasty finished product. That said, the techniques are explained in detail and after making a few of them, you really feel confident enough to try to alter some of your own recipes, to make them with fruit juices instead of sugar or honey.

Karen Barkie's recipes are reliable. The baked goods have a nice texture, a sweet flavor, and are family-friendly. After learning and experimenting with fruit-sweetened recipes and techniques, the recipes become quite easy. If you are avoiding artificial sweeteners or sugar, honey and other sweeteners that send your insulin soaring, these recipes will really hit the spot. They taste good, feel good in your mouth, satisfy the kids, and are relatively inexpensive easy to prepare.

Williams-Sonoma Collection: Fruit Dessert (Williams Sonoma Collection)
Average customer rating:

Love this book :->

Williams-Sonoma Collection: Fruit Dessert (Williams Sonoma Collection)
Carolyn Beth Weil
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743261895

Book Description

A trifle layered with ripe summer raspberries, frothy whipped cream, and sponge cake. Tender gingered apricots baked with a crisp almond topping. Sweet, juicy blackberries concealed inside a flaky pastry turnover. Whether stewed with spices or simply dusted with powdered sugar as the topping for a tart, almost every kind of fruit can be transformed into a delectable dessert.

Williams-Sonoma Collection Fruit Dessert offers more than 40 favorite recipes, from homey pies and cobblers to elegant tarts and sorbets. For the perfect end to a dinner party, serve your guests an exotic coconut cake with fresh mango or homemade strawberry ice cream enriched with crème fraîche. When you are short on time, whip up a batch of easy baked apples or a warm berry compote to serve alongside ice cream or pound cake. And during the holidays, indulge yourself with a homemade pumpkin pie or apple crisp.

Full-color photographs and helpful sidebars on key ingredients and techniques accompany each recipe, so you can successfully picture and prepare your dish of choice. An informative basics section at the back of the book offers tips on how to select fruit at its peak of ripeness and perfect your tart dough and pie crust. Whether you are looking for an impressive dessert or a simple dish that takes just minutes to prepare, you will find no shortage of inspiration in these pages.

Customer Reviews:

Love this book :->.......2006-07-02

All of my Williams Sonoma books are beautifully presented and so helpful around the kitchen and this book is no exception. I have found myself using it often. There are times when you don't always want to make chocolate desserts and cakes; people sometimes prefer the more natural sweetness that comes from fruit and this way, there are 40 or so really delicious recipes to make fruity desserts that make you feel like you've had something sweet yet somewhat healthful (maybe).
Lemon Meringue Pie (although not entirely healthful) is one of my favourite desserts and I tried this recipe with great success thankfully. I've yet to try other good looking recipes like the Coconute Cake with Mango and the Grand Marnier Souffle but they all look scrumptious thanks to the fantastic pictures and I know I'll get to them soon. There are sorbets, pies and tarts and I can't wait to give them a go. I love this book and I recommend it to all adventurous cooks.

Ripe for Dessert: 100 Outstanding Desserts with Fruit--Inside, Outside, Alongside

Average customer rating:

An Outstanding Book
Delicious!
Quinces and Gravensteins and Rhubarb, oh my
Another Clever Title for a Cookbook
Yummy fruit desserts!

Ripe for Dessert: 100 Outstanding Desserts with Fruit--Inside, Outside, Alongside
David Lebovitz
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0066212464
Release Date: 2003-06-03

Book Description

David Lebovitz loves fruit. From the richness of a summer blackberry to the mellow sweetness of a juicy mango, fruit inspires and delights this celebrated pastry chef. In Ripe for Dessert, David shares his passion for fruit and his treasure trove of inspired, innovative, and luscious dessert recipes.

These sweets celebrate fruit in all its diverse glory, as David's intensely flavorful and imaginative recipes show off the best of every season and reward every dessert lover's fancy. The seven chapters, with more than 130 recipes in all, are organized by category, with an eye to the seasons. They feature apples, pears, and quince from the fall harvest; citrus and dried fruits from winter; stone fruits and berries for the height of summer; figs and melon for its waning days; and David's signature tropical fruits desserts, which will surprise and delight your sweet tooth year round.

Such light, elegant dishes as Pomegranate Granita and golden Honey-Poached Pears let the fruits' flavors shine, with minimal fuss or adornment. But David is no spartan. His recipes go all out, with rich cakes and creamy custards, pastries, frozen desserts, and soufflÉs, accented and enlivened by complex fruit flavors. A luxurious Lemon-Ginger CrÈme BrÛlÉe puts a tart, fruity twist on a classic sweet, while a Candied Orange and Rosy Rhubarb Sauce raises a perfect, anise-scented Ricotta Cake to a new level of sophistication. For chocolate lovers, David presents pairings that will surprise and satisfy, including Anise-Orange Ice Cream Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce, Pear and Fig Chutney with Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse, and a Chocolate SoufflÉ Cake with Prunes, Cranberries, and Kumquats in Port. David even offers a fabulous, thirst-quenching Gingery Lemonade.

With Ripe for Dessert's bounty of easy, user-friendly recipes, you can transform your favorite fruits of every season into dishes that will impress and delight all the dessert lovers in your life.

Customer Reviews:

An Outstanding Book.......2007-06-02

When I ordered this book I was very excited about it. I love fruit, and using it in cooking for me is always fun. When I use fruit in savory dishes I do it to be innovative and for something "new," but when I use fruit it dessert, it's for elegance, and style.

This book did not dissapoint. There are recipes for almost every fruit imaginable, most available in any grocery store, along with some beautiful photos of some of the finished and plated desserts.

The book starts with the authors, Mr. David Lebovitz, acknowledgments, and continues with a foward by Ms. Deborah Madison. This is the first book of Mr. Lebovitz's I've owned, and seeing how great this one is, must now get his other, Room for Dessert.

Then there is an introduction from Mr. Lebovitz, including some tips, techniques, and a section on different types of fruits.

There are then seven chapters, seperated by fruit catergory, full of recipes.

Apples, Pears, Quince, and Rhubarb - Included are fourteen recipes, mostly for apples and pears. The quince and rhubarb being included in this chapter, since they don't really fit anywhere else. There are six recipes for apples, one being a tempting spiced apple charlotte with cider sabayon. There is one recipe for quince; quince marmalade with manchego cheese. Then six recipes for pears, including; stilton shortcakes with honey-poached pears and cornmeal shortcakes with spice-baked pears. This is followed by a single recipe for rhubrab; rhubarb tart with almond nougatine.

A chapter for tropical fruit follows with ten recipes. There's a papaya recipe for papaya cake with coconut glaze, then a tropical version of baked Alaska, reightly re-named here, a baked Hawaii. There's two mango recipes, and three pineapple recipes, including one for a caramelized pineapple flan. There are two banana recipes, and a recipe for mango and lilikoi butter.

Next is a chapter full of citrus fruit desserts, with nineteen recipes, nine being for oranges, or one of their counterparts. The orange recipes include orange allspice cake with brown sugar glaze and ricotta cake with candied orange. There are then three lime recipes, the best being the lime-marshmallow pie, a single grapefruit recipe; pink grapefruit champagne sorbet, and six lemon recipes including; lemon-ginger creme brulee and gingery lemonade.

There is a whole chapter for dried fruits, which I believe are under-used in America. Mr. Lebovitz has managed to take these under-rated fruits, and come up with fifteen recipes including them. Most recipes include more then one fruit, so it's impossible to seperate them by fruit, like in the other chapters. Some examples of recipes included are; pear and fig chutney with bittersweet chocolate mousse, date ginger and candied pineapple fruitcake, and peppery chocolate-cherry biscotti.

There is then another chapter of more misc type fruits, that seem to hard to group with any other fruits; Figs, Grapes, Melon, and Pomegrantes. There are only seven recipes, two of them being; fig and raspberry tart with honey and a duo of wine grape sorbets. This is not a bad chapter, but is weaker compared to the other chapters.

There is then a chapter of stone fruits with fifteen recipes, with four cherry recipes including chocolate bread with sauteed cherries, four peach recipes, including the cover recipe; peaches poached in wine syrup, an apricot recipe; apricot and marzipan tart, two tempting nectarine recipes, and four plum recipes, including a spiced plum streusel cake.

The last chapter is devoted to my favorite fruits; the berries. Fourteen recipes are included. There are four strawberry recipes, which seem to be a favorite of everyone, including; strawberries in red wine syrup with almond meringue baskets, a boysenberry recipe, two blackberry recipes, only one blueberry recipe, and two recipes for mixed berries. There's also a recipe for tomatoes.

The only fruit that I find to be missing in the whole of the book is raspberries. Though it is used as a supporting ingrediant in some recipes, it deserves a stand alone one that all other fruits have been given.

Mr. Lebovitz has also included two indexes, one which lists the recipes by type, i.e. cakes and pies, which is handy since the book is divided by fruits, and another general index.

Delicious!.......2004-05-18

I am a big fan of David Lebovitz's "Room For Dessert", but was skeptical to try "Ripe for Dessert" because I am not a huge fan of fruit desserts. this book, however, proved me wrong. The recipes are delicious. My favorite was the Lime Marshmellow Pie (although I did use whip cream and storebought graham crackers). A lot of the recipes have fruit on the side and would be delicious without the fruit. I have enjoyed the Chocolate Bread toasted with cream cheese. This is a great book for someone who loves baking and pastry and is looking to get creative. I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner because the techniques are not well explained if you don't understand them already.

Quinces and Gravensteins and Rhubarb, oh my.......2004-01-09

David Lebovitz' new title `Ripe for Dessert' is a word play on his subject of fruits in dessert. The teacher and former pastry chef with Paul Bartoli and Alice Waters at Chez Panisse has done a book composed exclusively of dessert recipes, which include fruit in some fashion.

The chapters divide the recipes into a slightly quirky seven different types of fruit, where type is not determined by botany but by a combination of season (apples, pears, quinces), terroir (tropical), and preservation (dried). The seven chapters are:

Apples, Pears, Quince, and Rhubarb
Tropical Fruits
Citrus Fruits
Dried Fruits
Figs, Grapes, Melon, and Pomegranates
Stone Fruits
Berries

The most striking thing about the collection of recipes is that there seems to be not a single classic fruit recipe such as simple Apple Pie or Strawberry Shortcake or Peach Melba or Peach Cobbler. Almost every recipe is original with the author or based on a suggestion made to the author. Many are certainly based on classics, but each and every one has some modification. For example:

Apple Crisp becomes Gravenstein Apple and Blackberry Crisp
Tarte Tatin becomes Apple and Quince Tarte Tatin
Rhubarb Pie becomes Rhubarb Tart with Almond Nougatine
Key Lime Pie becomes Lime Marshmallow Pie
Linzertorte become Peanut Butter and Jelly Linzertorte
Peach Crisp becomes Peach and Amaretti Crisp

There is definitely a place on many bookshelves for this kind of book. But it is important to know that this is what the book is all about before buying it. The author is so fastidious as a baker that he does not use generic pastry crusts. Rather, the crusts are customized to the job at hand. I count this as a major plus in a serious work on baking, but his may not be your particular bowl of cherries. I can see this book being justly popular with people who entertain a lot and need something new for dessert once or twice a month, especially since the book is organized to make finding a particular type of dessert very easy. I can certainly see that this book should be popular with restaurants and caterers and all professional bakers.

One important fact to know about the recipes is that many ingredients are not restricted to their proper chapter titles. Shredded coconut, for example, is something like the grated Parmesan cheese of the dessert world. It gets sprinkled on lots of different recipes.

These recipes are all very good. But, they reminded me of a comment on a TV documentary on a pastry competition where a team lost out because their tastes were just too unfamiliar to the judges.

The few pictures in the book are competent. The style of the book is a bit garish. I would have been happier with a nice sedate Alfred A. Knopf treatment to the book design rather than the hot pink and orange colors they chose. I am always pleasantly surprised by a bibliography in cookbooks. This would have been just a little better done as footnotes. The double table of contents by fruit and by type (cakes, tarts, cookies, etc) is wonderful. More cookbooks should do this.

If I were looking for a good general-purpose book on desserts including fruit, I would go with Wayne Harley Brachman's new `American Classics' volume. Highly professional treatment of familiar favorites.
This book is good for the right audience.

Another Clever Title for a Cookbook.......2003-11-07

Mr. Lebovitz' first dessert cookbook was called ROOM FOR DESSERT. Now he has given us RIPE FOR DESSERT, a collection of 100 recipes with fruit in them. I have tried his Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake (pp. 132-133) and can testify that it is richly wonderful although I don't think it's really a fruit cake with dried cheeries soaked in kirsch as the only fruit involved. (There are almonds and chocolate chips, however.) His Date, Ginger and Candied Pineapple Fruitcake looks doable as well. I must say that I was hard put to find any other recipe I wanted to try. (This was not my experience in cookbook number 1.) It's all subjective on my part-- food always is I suppose-- but I think one can get too many flavors in a dessert if not careful. For example, I cannot imagine baking Prune, Coffe, Chocolate and Amaretto Tiramisu. Additionally, and once again this is just my personal bias, I enjoy baking cakes. There are few cakes included in this collection. Finally you don't four letter word with some classics. Key Lime Pie is one of them. Mr. Lebovitz for his lime pie does a "creamy homemade marshmallow topping and instructs the cook on how to make homemade marshmallow topping as well as homemade graham cracker crust. Does anybody on earth want to know how to make these two items from scratch? And do they have time?

I have a suggestion for the author's next cookbook. He should all it READY FOR DESSERT and include only quick and easy recipes for those of us who are (a) very busy, (b lazy, (c) poor-- some of these recipes would cost bunches--(d) all of the above.

But if you are looking for very exotic recipes with lots of contrasting flavors, this cookbook is for you.

Yummy fruit desserts!.......2003-10-21

If you love fruit, this is the book for you. But I have to say, the chocolate brownies are truly the best I've ever had!!! Everything is yummy, and unusually for me, everything I made turned out great.

Highly recommended.

Sweet Simplicity: Jacques Pepin's Fruit Desserts (Pepin, Jacques)
Average customer rating:

Wonderful

Everyday Sumptuous Desserts

Outstanding! Let the fruit's natural taste shine through!

a user-friendly cookbook by the master

Perfect Endings

Sweet Simplicity: Jacques Pepin's Fruit Desserts (Pepin, Jacques)
Jacques Pepin
Manufacturer: Bay Books & Tapes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Desserts | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Fruits | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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Jacques Pepin's Simple and Healthy Cooking

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Cuisine Economique

ASIN: 0912333987

Amazon.com

There's no reason to deny yourself the pleasures of dessert when you're cooking with Jacques Pépin, for he's assembled a delicious assortment of fruit desserts in Sweet Simplicity. From summer's Fragrant Melon Soup (with one scant gram of fat per serving) to the winter warmer Grapefruit Gratin, Pépin serves up swift and sweet endings suitable for every season of the year. Organized by type of fruit, the beautifully photographed book offers more than 115 recipes for old favorites such as Nectarine Crisp and Banana Fritters, as well as fanciful new dishes, including Grapes, Oranges, and Currants in Lime Cookie Cones and Pinwheels of Peaches with Strawberry Coulis. Nutritional information accompanies each easy-to-read entry, and as one might expect from Claudine's father and instructor, the directions are clear and informative (heating a lime in a microwave oven yields more juice than just pressing it on the counter before slicing, for example). Nearly all of the desserts in the book are low in fat and light in calories, and even the heartiest, such as Warm Raspberry Gratin with Sour Cream, have only about as much fat as a Snickers bar. To achieve this level of healthfulness in a dessert cookbook, Pépin doesn't rely on silly low-cal substitutes, but instead on the rich, sweet, ripe fruits themselves--and he's careful to note that the ripeness of the fruit usually determines the quality of the dish. --Rebecca A. Staffel

Book Description

Jacques Ppin has endeared himself to fans of his cooking shows with his strong beliefs about food. To Ppin, preparing meals from wholesome, beautifully fresh ingredients is not only logical, practical, and economical -- it's delightful as well. Sweet Simplicity collects all of Ppin's fruit confections in one handsome volume -- more than 100 recipes in all. From Banana-Mint Ice Cream with Rum-Raisin Sauce to Roasted Caramelized Pears and Apricot-Fig Souffl, he transforms seasonal fruit into culinary masterworks. Illustrated throughout with 35 color photographs and organized alphabetically by type of fruit, this will be an essential volume for every home cook who loves desserts.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful.......2007-06-25

This book is filled with easy-to-make, never-fail to impress deserts using fruit as the central theme. Most of the recipes are easy to understand, easy to make, and the ingredients are easy to find.

Everyday Sumptuous Desserts.......2005-04-06

As Pepin states in his intro, desserts at his house are special meal events, but more regularly does he have fruit desserts. Such then is the emphasis of this collection featuring seasonal fruit in this easy to use and prepare fruit dessert recipe collection.

These are arranged by fruit with several what may be termed "standard recipes" while others are creative and not found in other collections. Being one who is attracted to the latter type, intrigued and delighted with the following: Cheeese, Apple and Nut Melange; Carmelized Apple Timbales; Lemon Bananas in Crisp Shells; Summer Cherry Pudding With Rum Sauce; Crepe Souffles in Grapefruit Sauce; Souffle of Mango with Mango Sauce; Fragrant Melon Soup; Peach and Walnut Tart; Pears Au Gratin; Roasted and Carmelized Pears; Quick Plum and Almond Cake.

I'm with Pepin in his approach to cooking and dining, here specifically that fruit desserts are refreshing and symphonic in bringing the entire meal into harmony. This book will aid in that realized goal.

It has wonderful color photos with many of the recipes, and instructions and advice on fruit buying and prep are worthwhile reading.

Outstanding! Let the fruit's natural taste shine through!.......2002-07-09

This is a wonderful guide to using fruit at its best, whether fresh, frozen, or dried. I'd thought for some time that "Greene on Greens" and "The Grains Cookbook" by the late Bert Greene needed a third companion volume on fruit. Pepin's solution is better. The first day I had it, I made blackberries in a honey cream sauce. I adapted the blackberry/kiwi recipe to use peaches instead of kiwi. I even like the melon recipes, and I don't even care for melon! Pepin does rely a bit on special liqueurs such as kirsch, Grand Marnier, etc. But the Pepin way is the spirit of experimentation, so substituting something else might be just the ticket (my homemade cognac vanilla extract was superb with the blackberries and peaches). Simplicity is the word. If you love fruit, you can't be without this serious book.

a user-friendly cookbook by the master.......2001-06-27

Jacques Pepin is a joy to watch on television. He is a natural teacher with a flair for beautiful yet simple little masterpieces in the kitchen.

This is my first book by Pepin, and those same talents shine through. Sections are divided into various fruits, and a one to three page introduction to each section gives information about the history, origin and uses for the fruits (including apples, apricots, bananas, berries, cherries, citrus, grapes, dates, mangoes, melons, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums and mixed fruits) as well as Mr. Pepin's personal anecdotes. There are about 120 recipes and they are generally easy and not too time-consuming. Simple yet elegant. Each recipe contains information about yield, preparation time, and calories, protein, carbs, fat, cholesterol and sodium per serving.

The recipes I have tried have been well-explained and have come out as planned. Most, but not all, dishes are shown in color pictures. The index includes many ingredients so if you want to make something with, for example, red wine, you will easily find the eight recipes which use it.

Perfect Endings.......1999-12-29

Looking for something different to cap off a dinner party, I was loaned this book by a friend. I've tried several recipes - all work just as described. I especially like the many 'easy' recipes that take little time, and the fact that many recipes are light on fat. It's a lovely book.

Fruit: Recipes for Lunch, Brunch, Desserts And More

Average customer rating:

Very nice collection of recipes. Buy it cheap!

Fruit: Recipes for Lunch, Brunch, Desserts And More

Manufacturer: Ryland Peters & Small
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Fruits | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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The Sweet Life: Desserts from Chanterelle
Tartine

ASIN: 1845971043

Book Description

Healthy, delicious, and infinitely varied, fruit is the world's favourite food. As this irresistible book makes clear, it is the ideal choice at any time of the day, and it can be used in so many ways: in salsas to spice up meat and fish dishes; in soups and appetizers, and, of course, in desserts. Start the day with some delicious treats such as Blackberry Buttermilk Pancakes with Apple Butter. See how using fruit in Appetizers, Soups, and Salads can take them to new heights. Ideas for Entrees include Duck with Spiced Plums and Chicken Tagine with Quinces and Preserved Lemons. For Dessert try Summer Fruit Salad with Kaffir Lime Sorbet or Exotic Fruit Scrunch. Finally, Preserves are an excellent way to use all types of fruit. Red Berry Jelly and Apple Chutney are among the delicious homemade treats.

Customer Reviews:

Very nice collection of recipes. Buy it cheap!.......2006-07-11

`Fruit Recipes for Lunch, Brunch, Desserts, and More', with an introduction by Brian Glover, appears to be a book originally published by a United Kingdom publishing house similar to Conde Nast in the United States which publishes cookbooks derived from material in `Gourmet' or `Bon Appetit'. There is no one person credited as the author, but the author of the introductory essay, Brian Glover is credited with being a major UK culinary writer, transplanted from his career as a librarian.

The main thing this book has going for it is the fact that there are very few good books written exclusively about recipes for fruit. The best one I have seen so far is `Chez Panisse Fruit'. There are certainly far fewer such books than for vegetables; however, there are some very good books dedicated to Berries (see `The Berry Bible' by Janie Hibler'). The book has that very glossy air about it so common with books destined to take the expressway to the bargain book table. And, if you happen to find the book offered at a steep discount, I suggest you snap it up right away.

Books on fruit recipes other than in pies or smoothies are a boon, since virtually every fruit known to man is healthier for you than virtually every common `snack food', but how can we stomach five servings a day by simply eating raw fruit.

The second thing going for this book is the fact that many of the recipes appear immediately attractive to me AND they are very easy to prepare. This is true because most fruit is used raw or cooked oh so quickly in a quick poach, except for preserves, which are a whole different story. In fact, it takes even less time to cook fruit than it does most vegetables.

Understandably, almost all the dishes, especially the entrees, are not composed exclusively of fruit. They are typically paired with a protein such as fish, chicken, duck, lamb, or pork. As such, this is a nice tutorial on which fruits go well with which proteins, such as the well known pork and apple combo.

There are a few things about the book which are not ideal for American readers or readers in general. As the book was written and edited by a gang of Brits, many of the names of fruit varieties, especially apples, pears, and berries, are unfamiliar to their American cousins. To the good, all measurements are in the very familiar cups, ounces, and spoons units.

The one thing which bothered me most about the book is that it was organized by type of dish rather than by species of fruit, as we find in the Chez Panisse volume. This is because so many fruits, especially berries and melons, are so much better in season than out of local season, so one is much more inclined to search out strawberry recipes in June and peach recipes in August and orange recipes in December than to look for a fruit brunch or entrée. Another good reason for organizing everything by species is the fact that it puts everything on one fruit, strawberries, for example, together in one place. In this book, information about strawberries, including its selection, care, and preservation is spread out across three or four different chapters.

Overall, I still really like this book as something which is easy to read from front to back, in spite of the slightly overripe prose. Sentences emulating an almost overripe peach are great in Shakespearean comedy, but tend to distract in a factual book. If for no other reason, I would recommend this book as a way of opening up your curiosity about fruits you may have passed over in the past, such as dates, figs, and pomegranates (Unfortunately, the book gives no clever and efficient way of harvesting pomegranate seeds from it's tightly wrapped package).

Very nice browsing book when you have simply run out of ideas for new easy dishes for all times of the day.

Chop: Expert Soups, Salads, Entrees, Fruits, Desserts

Average customer rating:

Chop: Expert Soups, Salads, Entrees, Fruits, Desserts
Caroline Barty
Manufacturer: Laurel Glen Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Culinary Arts & Techniques | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Special Appliances | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1571455868

Book Description

Chop teaches the techniques of paring, slicing, shredding, chopping and dicing. It begins with a review of cutting boards and knives, their intended uses, and crucial care. Cooks are then coached through the nuances of chopping, variations from rough to fine. Chop makes even the intimidating tasks of boning fish, filleting, or working with cleavers a breeze.

Average customer rating:

Look & Cook: Fruit Desserts
Anne Willan
Manufacturer: DK ADULT
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Desserts | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Fruits | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1564580970

Cobblers, Crumbles, & Crisps and Other Old-Fashioned Fruit Desserts

Average customer rating:

Pure Heaven!

Cobblers, Crumbles, & Crisps and Other Old-Fashioned Fruit Desserts
Linda Zimmerman
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Desserts | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Reference | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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The Cobbler Crusade: Bringing an Old-Fashioned Dish to Modern Cooks
Cobblers & Crumbles

ASIN: 0517574896
Release Date: 1991-04-30

Book Description

Fresh fruit always makes an appealing finish to any meal, but now you can turn it into something really special by serving it up in a cobbler, crumble, crisp, or slump; a pandowdy, flummery, betty, or grunt. You'll find the recipes for all these wonderful-sounding, great-tasting desserts -- plus pies and tarts, shortcakes, batter cakes, and other fruit favorites in this unique little book that provides a taste of our American culinary heritage from early New England, the Midwest farm country, and the Old West.

Included are more than fifty easy recipes, traditional and new, from Apple-Cheddar Crumble, Blueberry Flummery, Warm Rhubarb Shortcakes, and White Peach and Mango Betty to Pineapple-Blood Orange Ambrosia, Frosty Mango Fool, and Floating Lemon Sponge Pie. You'll also find master recipes for crusts, toppings, and sauces, and tips on ingredients and preparation that will help you to whip up any of these heavenly desserts in no time at all.

Customer Reviews:

Pure Heaven!.......2000-03-18

I received Coblers, Crumbles and Crisps as a gift a few years ago, and since then I have made almost every recipe in this book! I would like to thank the authors for giving me a reputation as a decent baker among my friends, who often call me up for the recipe for the Blueberry Grunt! Great Stuff. I also highly recommend the British Isles Blackberry Cobler with some rich vanilla ice cream melting over the top! It is unbelievable. This book is easy to follow and the authors descritions are tantalizing and full of personality. I have tried out recipes from many other books but none have matched up to the ones in this collection. Whether you are a beginner or just love to bake, this book is a must have!

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