Archive for the ‘Magazines & Cookbooks’ Category
I’ve always felt that you can’t go wrong with an Alice Medrich cookbook because her recipes are consistently good and always seem to offer a good variety to choose from when you’re in the mood to do a little baking but don’t know exactly what you want to bake. These same things are true about her newest book, Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts, only these recipes are intended to be even simpler (and thus, more tempting) to put together.
The book is based on the concept that there are many times when you need a dessert for a certain occasion, or are looking for something sweet to eat yourself, but you just don’t have the time, ingredients or counter space to go through a complicated recipe. There are new recipes, older Medrich recipes that have been streamlined to save time and plenty of suggestions for dressing up simple things to add a little more flavor and flair. There is a range of recipes to accommodate varying time commitment levels – skill levels – which makes the book versatile. For instance, you’ll find a few indulgent souffle that are much easier to make than most but still requires a little bit of prep, alongside decedent ice cream sundae sauces that can be made and stored weeks in advance. The recipes include puddings, pies, tarts, cakes and cookies, as well as ice cream- and fruit-based desserts.
The best thing about this cookbook is that you can count on the fact that the recipes are excellent. This is because they are all intended to be delicious desserts that are also easy – rather than recipes that are easy to throw together and tastes like you didn’t put any thought into it (which many easy/quick cookbooks are guilty of). Medrich’s recipes are always very detailed and easy to follow along with, and the tips that she provides in the introduction of the book can help you stock your quick dessert kitchen or streamline your current kitchen to the essentials. There are beautiful photos, but the titles and the descriptions of the recipes alone – along with the promise that they can all be ready to eat soon – is enough to keep you coming back for more.
Whoopie pies are dessert sandwiches made with soft, cake-like cookies and a sweet, creamy filling. They are classic American desserts and, like cupcakes, they always seem to capture some fun along with their flavor. The most basic whoopie pie is made with a chocolate cake and a vanilla cream filling, but, as whoopie pies have become more and more popular, bakers have started to put more interesting flavor combinations into them. The Whoopie Pie Book: 60 Irresistible Recipes for Cake Sandwiches Classic and New offers readers a wide variety of cakes and flavored fillings to choose from, all packaged in an easy to reference cookbook.
The book is broken up into chapters by type, after an introductory section that covers ingredients and whoopie pie-making techniques. The first chapter, “Simple and Sweet,” focuses on basic whoopie pies with familiar, classic flavors and basic presentations. The “Iced and Glazed” chapter dresses up whoopie pies, adding more layers of flavor to each one. “Topped and Drizzled” elevates whoopie pies from handheld lunchbox treats to true desserts, with fresh fruit, plating sauces and more elaborate garnishes. “Frozen and Chilled” is dedicated to frozen whoopie pies and ice cream sandwiches, all of which are perfect for summer and are just as appealing as the more classic pies. The last chapter throws in a couple of recipes that are not whoopie pies for a little variety, but they are still just as appealing, such as s’mores and peanut butter sandwich cookies. You can easily mix and match the cake and filling recipes for different flavor combinations, but the pairings that the book comes up with sound too goo not to try at least once.
The recipes are easy to follow along with and very well written. There are just enough photos to keep you inspired and tempt you into trying recipe after recipe. The best thing about the book is the variety of recipes that it offers: it’s not just one slight variation on a whoopie pie after another. For instance, many of the recipes seem a little more “gourmet” than those you’ll find in other books that tackle these treats. They’re not necessarily more difficult to make, but some of the pies use flavors – rosewater, chestnut, espresso – that you probably aren’t going to find in any other book. More experienced bakers will definitely appreciate these inclusions because they’re inspiring and it’s fun to work with flavors and ingredients you might not otherwise use. This also keeps the recipes from seeming boring and will keep all bakers coming back to the book again and again the next time they’re planning to do some baking.
Tarts are a very versatile type of baked good. They can not only be used with both sweet and savory fillings, but their pastry-to-filling ratio and the fact that they’re usually served open-faced means that they showcase those fillings in a way that other pastries don’t. Tart Love: Sassy, Savory, and Sweet is a cookbook for anyone who loves to bake and eat tarts. Like taking a master class on tart baking, the book covers everything you need to know about how to make perfect tart crusts and how to put them to good use in a variety of recipes.
A lot of space in the introduction of the book is spent on basic tart dough recipes and the techniques that you need to use to get the best possible results. She also recommends a very specific type of flour, White Lily, for her basic tart recipes. It’s a very soft flour that is a Southern US specialty, so if it isn’t available in your market, you can work with a blend of cake and all purpose flour for similar results. The author goes into a lot of detail when discussing techniques, so you’ll be able to apply those skills when working with different recipes for tart dough and other pastry doughs, too (even if you’re not using the author’s favorite brand). You will want to have some good quality tart pans with removable bottoms for most of these recipes, and having both large and individual sized pans will give you the most options when choosing recipes.
The recipes are divided up into sweet and savory tarts (and pies), then further divided into seasonal recipes that feature fruits and vegetables when they are at their peaks. There are more savory tarts in this book than sweet tarts, which is a nice change of pace from other pastry books. Overall, there is a great variety of recipes and everyone is sure to find something that suits their tastes. There are also plenty of beautiful photos of the dishes included in the book to inspire you to pick out a recipe, dust off your tart pan and start baking right away.
Cutie Pies for Kids is a cookbook that is all about mini pies and tarts, and is written for mini chefs (a.k.a. kids). The book is packed with fun recipes and each is accompanied by a colorful full-page photo that makes the desserts look delicious.
It starts off with a solid introduction to the techniques that a young chef might need to get started, such as rolling pie crust and shaping graham cracker crusts, then gets into the recipes. The recipes cover a wide range of fillings, from pecan pie to ice cream pie, and offer recipes that include very simple creations and slightly more complex ones. They are all clearly written and easy to follow along with. Younger kids might need some help putting together the crusts and baking them (for the crusts that need prebaking), but older kids and those with some baking experience will be able to easily hand these from start to finish without assistance.
The best part about this book is that, although it is certainly kid-friendly, it will easily appeal to pie-loving adult bakers whether you’re baking with kids or not. The recipes and photos are inspiring, and it is easy to add a few tweaks here and there to make them seem a little more sophisticated. For instance, you could use a buttery homemade pie crust in place of a store bought crust. Or, you could use the books’ crumb crust recipe and create your own fillings. Frankly, most of the recipes will appeal as written, but it’s nice to know that you can get a lot out of this cookbook no matter your age or baking skill.
Fans of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking will probably want to add Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented to their cookbook library. The book is the second from Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, the owners of Baked, a popular bakery located in Brooklyn, NY, and includes 75 new recipes with their takes on classic American desserts.
The recipes cover a wide range of recipes, which are divided into several chapters: Breakfast, Tarts & Pies, Cookies & Bars, Cakes, and Confections & Pastry. There is something for everyone, whether you’re looking for something nostalgic, modern or classic. Grasshopper Bars, a chocolate mint bar cookie, are a combination of fudgy brownies and a very retro grasshopper cocktail. Nutella Scones, sure to be a hit with fans of the creamy chocolate hazelnut spread, don’t have that retro flair but still pack a lot of flavor. Black and White Cookies are a must-have for many cookie lovers and this version holds true to the classic flavors, while updating the cookie with a little extra richness. Many of these recipes involve multiple components (towering layer cakes, multi-flavor cookies, etc.) but those components all add up to create bakery quality baked goods. The introduction to the book offers a crash course in the ingredients and equipment you’ll want to have in your kitchen to make these recipes a success, and the lighthearted approach that the authors take when writing this introduction makes all of the infomation very accessible. It also carries throughout the book, making the recipes an enjoyable read.
This book will definitely make you want to bake, so your only decision is choosing which recipe to start with. The primary downside to this book is that there aren’t as many photos as readers might like and that is bound to be a little disappointing because the photos that are included are fantastic shots of beautiful desserts – but that just serves to make you want more in this case. Use the photos that are there as inspiration to create, or recreate, these Brooklyn favorites in your own kitchen.
