Archive for the ‘Desserts and Sweets’ Category
Monday, December 7th, 2009
Pros: Hilarious, incredibly useful, and soooooooooo delicious
Cons: NONE
Rating: 6 out of 5
Review book (published 2009) courtesy of Chronicle Books.
Actual quotes uttered during the testing of this cookbook by me, my husband, and friends:
“Is it legal for cakes to taste this good?”
“She’s a natural storyteller.”
“We don’t have to stop making cakes from this book just because you’re ready to review it, do we?”
(With pen in hand) “What’s the name of that cookbook?”
I’ve been reviewing books since roughly 1998. In that time, I’ve reviewed almost 200 cookbooks. I can say without a doubt—and I noticed this well before I started getting any review copies from them—that overall, Chronicle puts out the best cookbooks. Don’t get me wrong; cookbooks from other publishers can, individually, be equally as good. But for the most consistent high quality and production value, I look to Chronicle. I’ve only once, I think, been “meh” about one of their cookbooks, and I’ve never given really low marks to any of them. That’s a surprising track record.
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Tags: All Cakes Considered, All Things Considered, cake lady, cakes, Cookbooks, cooking, dessert, Melissa Gray, recipes
Posted in Baking, Desserts and Sweets | Permalink | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
Pros: Wow. Delightful, hard-working recipes that showcase the best of chocolate.
Cons: Sugar, calories, fat, calories…
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review copy courtesy of The Taunton Press.
Hi, my name is Heather, and I’m addicted to chocolate. I prefer dark to milk, although the new “deep milk” is good, and I’m picky about my whites (most brands taste chalky, but that’s why I stay stocked up on Green & Black’s). I love trying out new and wacky flavor combos like bacon-chocolate, or chocolate with almonds and sea salt (Vosges makes an awesome bar of the latter); or good old-fashioned pairings like chocolate and coconut. Above all, I like to cook with it. My husband and I always keep a few bars around to break up and whisk into a hot mixture of milk and half-and-half, maybe with a dash of liqueur, for hot chocolate, but it’s fun to go wild sometimes instead. And believe me, if you want to go wild with chocolate, this cookbook put together by the editors of Fine Cooking magazine, Absolutely Chocolate: Irresistible Excuses to Indulge
, is perfect.
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Tags: Chocolate, Cookbooks, cooking, desserts, Fine Cooking, recipes, sweets
Posted in Chocolate, Desserts and Sweets | Permalink | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Pros: Extremely useful for beginner or non-ambitious cupcake decorators!
Cons: Has a narrow purpose
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book (published 2009) courtesy of Chronicle Books.
Also posted on Epinions.com.
I love cake. I ADORE cupcakes, which are small, portable, easy-to-indulge-in tidbits of cake. They’re more fun if you decorate them a bit, make them a little snazzy, but it’s hard to find a good middle ground. There’s a ton of cake-making equipment out there, but maybe you just want a simple swirled icing, nothing too fancy, and you don’t want to spend much money to do it. There are books by the dozens teaching you how to make elaborate icing flowers, but maybe like me you just don’t have that kind of artistic talent—or hands that steady! (Let’s face it—anything fancy I try to make is going to eventually turn up on Cake Wrecks.) Or perhaps you do want to get into decorating on a larger scale, but you want to start small, keep things simple until you get the hang of the basics.
In any of these cases, Elinor Klivans’s Cupcake Kit: Recipes, Liners, and Decorating Tools for Making the Best Cupcakes!
just might be the answer to your prayers!
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Tags: cake decorating, Cookbooks, cooking, cupcakes, Elinor Klivans, food, recipes
Posted in Baking, Desserts and Sweets, Food Type-Focused | Permalink | 4 Comments »
Friday, July 17th, 2009
Pros: Delicious!! Versatility of card deck format
Cons: Small mistakes; clumsiness of card deck format
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Review book (published 2009) courtesy of Chronicle Books.
Also posted on Epinions.com.
I find card deck-format cookbooks to be both a positive and a negative. It’s great to be able to pluck a single card from the deck and stand it on the kitchen counter to work with—particularly when compared with a soft-bound book prone to closing. On the other hand, you have to consistently remember to put the cards back in their case, preferably in order, or the whole thing becomes chaos and you risk losing cards. Ultimately I expect this is one of those personal preference things that some cooks will love and others won’t.
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Tags: Cookbooks, dessert, ice cream, Lou Seibert Pappas, recipes
Posted in Desserts and Sweets, Food Type-Focused | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Thursday, March 5th, 2009
Pros: Handy easel design; simple recipes; delicious results
Cons: Although the book seems perfect for inexperienced cooks, it leaves some details out
Rating: 4 out of 5
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Tags: Cookbooks, desserts, Moosewood, recipes, restaurants, vegetarian
Posted in Desserts and Sweets | Permalink | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 19th, 2008
Pros: Delicious & so much healthier!
Cons: Occasional mild structural problems
Rating: 5 out of 5
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Tags: agave nectar, Ania Catalano, Cookbooks, cooking, diabetes, health, organic, recipes, whole foods
Posted in Baking, Desserts and Sweets, Healthy | Permalink | 10 Comments »
Monday, April 28th, 2008
Pros: Gorgeous photos; tempting recipes; wonderful flavors; sugar levels that could kill you!
Cons: Some flavors aren’t as expected; O the excess pounds!
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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Tags: Chronicle Books, Cookbooks, cooking, dessert, Jill O'Connor, recipes, sweets
Posted in Desserts and Sweets | Permalink | 13 Comments »
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
Pros: Gorgeous photos; tempting recipes; wonderful flavors
Cons: Structural problems; imbalanced flavors
Rating: 3 out of 5
(more…)
Tags: Chocolate, chocolate chips, Cookbooks, cooking, dessert, Elinor Klivans, sweets
Posted in Chocolate, Desserts and Sweets | Permalink | 6 Comments »
Monday, March 17th, 2008
Pros: Great balance between technique & recipes; wonderful recipes; gorgeous photos
Cons: None
Rating: 5 out of 5
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Tags: Betty Rosbottom, Beverages, Chronicle Books, coffee, Cookbooks, cooking, desserts, recipes, sweets
Posted in Beverages, Desserts and Sweets, Ingredient-Focused | Permalink | 5 Comments »
Thursday, February 21st, 2008
Pros: Delicious results; creative approaches; wonderful tips
Cons: Some recipes still seem to have rather high sugar content
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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Tags: Cookbooks, cooking, dessert, diabetes, diabetic, Healthy, Jackie Mills, low-fat, low-sugar, recipes, sweets
Posted in Desserts and Sweets, Healthy | Permalink | 7 Comments »
