There is a lot of appeal to little desserts. As good as a big cake can look, there is something about a perfectly decorated cupcake or well-presented miniature chocolate mousse that will having you reaching out for just one more bite. Petite Sweets: Bite-Size Desserts to Satisfy Every Sweet Tooth is just packed with recipes like these, as it is a cookbook that specializes in small desserts. The book covers all the categories you would find in any other dessert cookbook – cakes, pies, mousses, fruit desserts, custards, etc. – just in much smaller portions. This makes it a good choice if you’re looking for some recipes to entertain with, as well as if you’re looking for recipes with some portion control.
Unlike other mini dessert books, some of which really specialize in helping you recreate pastry chefs’ gourmet restaurant desserts at home, this book has a homier feel to it with recipes like mini cobblers. It also takes a few shortcuts on some of the recipes to try and make them simpler. It makes the book a bit more accessible to newer cooks, but more experienced bakers might want to skip the shortcuts (like using real dulce de leche in the Dulce de Leche cream puffs). There are plenty of great photos to accompany the recipes and that alone is enough to inspire the desire to make some miniature desserts
One caution to this book is that you’ll need to pick up some special equipment to make some of the recipes. Namely, you’ll need some smaller baking dishes for some of the recipes because most people don’t keep things like a set of 1-oz ramekins around just for dessert. Still, you can’t beat the cute presentation that these dishes offer, and nothing is too unusual or expensive that you can’t pick it up at your local restaurant supply store. And all your work will be worth it when you have people oohing and aahing over your beautiful petite sweets.
When the Pillsbury Bake-Off started, the recipe contest was all about from-scratch baking. I’ve got old cookbooks from the contest that feature all kinds of yeast breads, cakes and cookies, as well as main dishes. These days, the contest is much bigger – with a huge million dollar prize – but more of the recipes feature ready made ingredients instead of just the flour that was the original must-have ingredient. Don’t get me wrong – there is nothing wrong with a sponsored event asking you to use sponsored ingredients in your entries and it is great to have an element of convenience to make baking/cooking as accessible as possible. But for me, there will always be an edge for from-scratch baking.
Fortunately, there are still contests that give an edge to totally from scratch baking for those of us who love it. In this case, it’s Gold Medal Flour’s Scratch Bakers’ Club Baking Contest. This baking contest requires that you use at least one cup of any type of Gold Medal Flour (All-Purpose, Whole Wheat, Better for Bread, Self-Rising, Organic, Wondra) and that baking is the primary method of preparation.
The grand prize winner will get $1,000 plus a gift basket worth up to $150, and 9 runners-up will receive gift baskets of baking goodies worth up to $150 each! The contest runs from May 4, 2010–May 31, 2010 and all of the entries will be judged on creativity, taste, ease of preparation, appearance and overall appeal. I have to say that I think all of you (my readers!) will have no problems coming up with entries that meet this criteria!
With a big tub of quark in my fridge, I wanted to do something special with it. Quark is low in fat and high in protein, and it is a very versatile baking ingredient because it is stable in the oven (although it is good when eaten plain, too). I decided to turn mine into a pie, a variation on cheesecake.
This pie has two layers of quark cheesecake sandwiching a sweet filling made with cherries. I used jarred cherries, but frozen and defrosted cherries will work very well, too. Compared to a regular cheesecake, this pie is very easy to make. It takes minutes to mix it up and doesn’t have a long baking time. There is no need for a water bath or any of the other precautions that you might take with a cheesecake to get the pie to turn out well. Plus, quark is low in fat so you can feel pretty good having seconds when the pie is ready to eat.
Flavor-wise, the pie tastes like a cherry pie cheesecake, with a rich consistency and a very creamy texture. It’s not as heavy as a cheesecake because quark has that slight tang to it, much like plain yogurt or sour cream, that gives it a slightly fresher taste. It also makes it a great background for the fruit filling, allowing the great flavor of the cherries to stand out. The pie is good at room temperature, but I preferred it when it had been chilled before serving.
Quark is a bit of an unusual ingredient in the US, and while you might be able to find it at some specialty stores in your area (especially if they have a lot of gourmet/European baking ingredients), you also might not be able to find it. If you can’t, fromage frais would work pretty well as a substitute, although it may be slightly thicker than quark typically is. If you live in Europe, you probably won’t have a problem finding quark. Otherwise, keep an eye out because this low fat cheese is great for baking and will probably catch on even more in the US over the coming months.
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Are your homemade cookies often mistaken for bakery cookies, either because they are so delicious or you get them to come out perfectly shaped and baked every time? If you’re sick of people doubting the authenticity of your homemade creations – or doubting your ability as a baker because they don’t know about your food blogger alter-ego – there is a simple product out there that can help: the Homemade Cookie Stamper. This brilliant stamp from SuckUK isn’t for ink pads, it’s for food. Use it to stamp the words “Home Made” onto a batch of cookies or other baked goods. It works especially well in peanut butter cookies, butter cookies, shortbread and other doughs that don’t spread too much because you’ll get the neatest imprint that way, but you can use it with just about anything that is soft enough to take the imprint.
Mother’s Day is just around the corner and what could be a better gift for mom than a copy of The Baking Bites Cookbook? The book is packed with great recipes and plenty of full color photos that make each recipe look oh-so-delicious. The only thing better than getting a copy for Mother’s Day would be baking something from the book ahead of time and giving your mom a fresh batch of cookies, scones or a cake to go along with the cookbook to give her a preview of what’s inside! The recipes are easy to make and use ingredients that you probably already have in the kitchen. You – or your mom, of course – can whip them up yourself or bring the kids in to give you a hand in the kitchen (or do they work for you if you’re the one being celebrated on Mother’s Day!).
As a special treat, each cookbook ordered between now and Mother’s Day, May 9th, is going to come with a handmade, limited edition Mother’s Day card created by local artist Robert Sharp, with a design that was inspired by one of my cupcake photos! The card doesn’t have to be earmarked for your mom, but a sweet cupcake card is a great finishing touch for a gift as sweet as The Baking Bites Cookbook.
The book is available directly from me via PayPal, with free US shipping (it’s just a few dollars more for priority or international), and there is a discount for orders of two or more. The book can also be found on Amazon.com.
