Book picks similar to
Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich


cookbooks
cooking
cook-books
non-fiction

The New Sugar & Spice: A Recipe for Bolder Baking


Samantha Seneviratne - 2015
    Each chapter centers on a different spice--some familiar, like vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger; others less expected (especially in sweet preparations), such as peppercorns, chiles, and cardamom. With fascinating histories, origin stories, and innovative uses for each spice, this book will inspire readers to rediscover and re-stock their spice drawers, and raise their desserts up to a whole new level of flavor.

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook


Deb Perelman - 2012
    It’s as simple as that. She isn’t a chef or a restaurant owner—she’s never even waitressed. Cooking in her tiny Manhattan kitchen was, at least at first, for special occasions—and, too often, an unnecessarily daunting venture. Deb found herself overwhelmed by the number of recipes available to her. Have you ever searched for the perfect birthday cake on Google? You’ll get more than three million results. How do you choose? Where do you start? What if you pick a recipe that’s downright bad?So Deb founded her award-winning blog, smittenkitchen.com, on the premise that cooking should be a pleasure, and that the results of your labor can—and should be—delicious...every time. Deb is a firm believer that there are no bad cooks, just bad recipes. She has dedicated herself to finding the best of the best and adapting them for the everyday cook—the ones with little time to spare, little money to burn on unpronounceable ingredients, and little help in the kitchen. And now, with the same warmth, candor, and can-do spirit her blog is known for, Deb presents her first cookbook—more than 100 new recipes, plus a few favorites from her site, all gorgeously illustrated with hundreds of Deb’s beautiful color photographs.The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook is all about approachable, uncompromised home cooking: stepped-up comfort foods, stewy dishes for windy winter afternoons, an apple cake that will answer all questions: “What should my new signature dessert be?” “What is always welcome at a potluck?” “What did Deb consume almost single-handedly a week after having a baby?” These are the recipes you bookmark and use so often they become your own; recipes you slip to a friend who wants to impress her new in-laws; and recipes with simple ingredients that yield amazing results in a minimum amount of time. Deb tells you how to host a brunch and still sleep in—plus what to make for it!—and the essential items you need for your own kitchen. From salads and slaws that make perfect side dishes (or a full meal) to savory tarts and pizzas; from Mushroom Bourguignon to Pancetta, White Bean and Swiss Chard Pot Pies; from Buttered Popcorn Cookies to Chocolate Hazelnut Layer Cake, Deb knows just the thing for a Tuesday night, or your most special occasion.

5-Minute Mug Cakes: Over 100 Yummy Cakes from Funfetti to Peanut Butter


Jennifer Lee - 2014
    It features over 100 delectable recipes for cakes, brownies, cookies, and more that all can all be made in only five minutes! Jennifer Lee guides you through your cake favorites like funfetti, peanut butter, and dark chocolate! Trying to eat better? Make it skinny with tons of featured recipes that are less than 300 calories. Only have a few ingredients lying around? Try a recipe in the chapter dedicated to mug cakes containing four ingredients or less! Every recipe is simple, fast, and fool-proof. Mix your ingredients right into your favorite mug for next to no clean up. 5-Minute Mug Cakes is exactly what you need to have a warm, homemade dessert in no time!

The Confetti Cakes Cookbook: Spectacular Cookies, Cakes, and Cupcakes from New York City's Famed Bakery


Elisa Strauss - 2007
    The cake, created by Elisa Strauss of Confetti Cakes in New York City, was a sensation. Not only did everyone at the party want to know how it was made, they wanted to know how to create something as dazzling themselves. This unique book contains projects for every skill level: from gorgeous, sugar-dusted heart cookies to delightful billiard-ball cupcakes, to sculpted cakes in the shape of wine bottles and Chinese takeout boxes, to the extravagantly beautiful, threetiered embroidery cake showcased on Sex and the City. With delicious recipes, stunning creations for every occasion, suggestions for time-saving shortcuts, and hot tips for fabulous results, all illustrated with gorgeous photographs and easy-to follow diagrams, The Confetti Cakes Cookbook is a must-have for the outrageously chic baker in all of us.

The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook: Old Fashioned Recipes From New York's Sweetest Bakery


Jennifer Appel - 1999
    This unassuming shop, where the smells of home-style baking weaken even the strongest will, has attracted a clientele that ranges from kids on their way home from school to celebrity glitterati. Cupcakes swirled with pastel frosting crowd the counter, and cakestands display Lemon Vanilla Bundt Cake, Apple Walnut Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Icing, and Coconut Layer Cake, swathed in fluffy white frosting and covered in drifts of coconut. As Time Out New York says: "The secret to Magnolia's success is simple: Nobody knows how to bake like this anymore." Magnolia's owners Jennifer Appel and Allysa Torey know how, and in The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook they share their most mouth-watering recipes, from sweet breakfast treats like Dried-Cherry Crumb Buns to classic Iced Molasses Cookies, from decadently rich Caramel Pecan Brownies and Raspberry Marzipan Cheesecake to refreshing Lemon Icebox Pie. Their easy-to-follow recipes and invaluable baking hints mean that even the inexperienced baker will be able to frost the perfect layer cake, turn out the flakiest pie crust, and whip up the creamiest cheesecake. Illustrated with eight pages of glorious color photographs, The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook will inspire you to turn on the oven and create sweet memories for your family and friends.

Modern Art Desserts: Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Confections, and Frozen Treats Based on Iconic Works of Art


Caitlin Freeman - 2013
    Featuring an image of the original artwork alongside a museum curator’s perspective on the original piece and detailed, easy-to-follow directions (with step-by-step assembly guides adapted for home bakers), Modern Art Desserts will inspire a kitchen gallery of stunning treats.

Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant


Carolyn B. Mitchell - 1990
    From the highlands and grasslands of Africa to the lush forests of Eastern Europe, from the sun-drenched hills of Provence to the mountains of South America, the inventive cooks have drawn inspiration for these delicious adaptations of traditional recipes.Including a section on cross-cultural menu planning as well as an extensive guide to ingredients, techniques, and equipment, Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant offers a taste for every palate.Moosewood Restaurant is run by a group of eighteen people who rotate through the jobs necessary to make a restaurant work. They plan menus, set long-term goals, and wash pots.Moosewood Restaurant contributes 1% of its profits from the sale of this book to the Eritrean Relief Fund, which provides food and humanitarian assistance to the Eritrean people.Moosewood Restaurant supports 1% For Peace, an organization working to persuade the government to redirect 1% of the Defense Department budget towards programs that create and maintain peace in positive ways.

Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner


Peter P. Greweling - 2007
    This comprehensive book combines artisan confectionery techniques with accessible explanations of the theory and science as well as formulas for use in production. Fundamental information for the confectioner includes ingredient function and use, chocolate processing, and artisan production techniques. The book contains 140 formulas and variations for beautiful confections, including dairy-based centers, crystalline and noncrystalline sugar confectionery, jellies, and nut center and aerated confections.

Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts


Maida Heatter - 1980
    . . Her style is friendly and funny, thorough and exacting. Maida tells you what size egg to use and she does so to guarantee success." --Foodies.com, which named Maida its "First Culinary Patriot"Chocoholics unite! Maida's back and bringing the world's best chocolate recipes with her. Maida, of course, is Maida Heatter, sorceress supreme of all things chocolate. Now cocoa aficionados, food fiends, and master chefs everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief as Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts, the classic New York Times best-seller, returns after ten years out of print.Maida is justifiably famous for her respected series of cookbooks, ranging from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts to Maida Heatter's Brand-New Book of Great Cookies. But it was always her Book of Great Chocolate Desserts that inspired the highest praise, admiration, and following from home and restaurant dessert cooks around the world. Chocolate creators know they can turn to Maida for tantalizing confections, cookies, cakes, pies, puddings, and sauces that transcend the ordinary and make for memorable dining experiences.

How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food


Mark Bittman - 1998
    Just as important, How to Cook Everything takes a relaxed, straightforward approach to cooking, so you can enjoy yourself in the kitchen and still achieve outstanding results.

50 Easy Party Cakes


Debbie Brown - 1999
    Debbie Brown combines her exceptional flair for color and design with her unique fondant modeling skills to simplify her eye-catching cake designs, some of which you may have never dreamed you could achieve.This cake cookbook is filled with cakes which will appeal to children of all ages. Instantly lovable animal cakes include a Friendly Frog, Sporty Spider and Noah's Ark, while the Fairy Toadstool, Dotty Dragon and Alien Spaceship are among a number of fantasy ideas. Sports fans will enjoy the Soccer Player and Formula 1 Car. Keep older children entertained with the Glitter Bag and Make-up, meanwhile younger children will adore the Playful Kitten on a Ball of Wool and the Cute Yellow Chick.Ideal for beginners and experienced cake makers alike, each easy-to-follow cake recipe is clearly illustrated with step-by-step photographs and a full-page color picture to guarantee success every time.Cake recipes include:Formula 1 CarPlayful KittenFarm TractorLittle Bo PeepSkull & CrossbonesDream CastleAlien SpaceshipCute Chick

The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes: Amazing Cookies, Cakes, Muffins, Pies, Brownies and Breads


Kris Holechek Peters - 2009
    Bake up all your favorites, without the animal products, with 100 fantastic vegan baking recipes from bestselling cookbook author Kris Holechek Peters.Packed with cruelty-free cookies, cakes and pastries rich in flavor, The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes provides everything novice bakers and seasoned chefs need to go vegan with an indulgent flair, including: •Easy-to-make recipes •Classic baking tips and tricks •Creamy frostings, icings and toppings •Simple substitutions for eggs and dairy The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes features mouthwatering takes on traditional treats as well as the author’s own delectable creations: •Boston Cream Pie •The Ultimate Brownies •Mixed Berry Pie •French Toast Muffins •Baked Chocolate-Glazed Donuts •Pain Au Chocolat •Baklava Bread •Strawberry Lemonade Cheese Pie •Sweet Cream Apple Streudel •Black Forest Cake •Herbed Pizza Dough •Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

The Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts


Sherry Yard - 2003
    At the same time, it advances a radically new understanding of these recipes, one that will give the baker greater flexibility and confidence in the kitchen. Instead of grouping desserts into traditional categories (pies, cakes, cookies), Sherry Yard arranges them around crucial master recipes. Starting with these recipes -- simple, basic guidelines for making caramel, chocolate sauce, lemon curd, pound cake, and brioche, to name just a few -- Yard shows the cook how to create dozens of variations. Knowing how ingredients interact opens the door to a multitude of baking possibilities. For example, cream puff dough forms the foundation for éclairs, profiteroles, and the caramel-coated tower the French call croquembouche, but understanding how and why it behaves the way it does allows the cook to create deep-fried beignets, mascarpone-filled cannolis, or simmering-hot dumplings. This authoritative, friendly bake-shop bible contains fascinating mini-lessons on food science, illuminating bits of baking history, and time-saving tips. Newcomers to the world of baking will feel at ease with such simple, homey desserts as Banana Bread and Mississippi Mud Pie, and elaborate show-stoppers like Chocolate Brioche Sandwich with Espresso Gelato and Blackberry-Lime-Filled Doughnuts with Blackberry Sorbet and Berries will transform amateur bakers into expert pastry chefs.

Surprise-Inside Cakes: Amazing Cakes for Every Occasion--with a Little Something Extra Inside


Amanda Rettke - 2013
    Whether it's a striking all-white cake with a secret rainbow heart baked inside, a birthday cake complete with a surprise balloon in the middle, or the gorgeous rose cake that took the blogging world by storm, Amanda's creations are downright revolutionary—and tons of fun! In Surprise-Inside Cakes, she gives us fresh new ways to enjoy life's greatest occasions, with themes and cakes including:Celebrating Family—Stripe Birthday Cake, Paw Print Cake, Rainbow Cake Celebrating You—Leopard Cake, Herringbone Cake, Cowboy Boot Cake Celebrating Love—Kiss Cake, Ring Cake, Sunset Cake Celebrating Holidays—Jack-o'-lantern Cake, Rudolph Cake, Holiday Candle Cake Celebrating Life—Football Cake, Cherry Cake, Smiley Face CakeFeaturing a few classic favorite cakes from her blog and more than forty brand-new cakes—along with her easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step photo tutorials—Surprise-Inside Cakes shows you how to replicate these incredible designs in your own kitchen.To make these dazzling cakes, you can start with one of Amanda's delicious, foolproof recipes for cakes and frostings, or use a boxed cake mix or favorite family recipe. With tips on how to bake a level cake, tricks using household items such as rulers, biscuit cutters, and cookie cutters to carve and shape cakes, and Amanda's simple yet stunning frosting and decorating ideas, you'll not only be re-creating these amazing cakes for occasions large and small, you'll soon be using her techniques to create your own surprises!And your friends and family will be thrilled and delighted when a beautiful cake opens to reveal a special gift inside.

The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution


Alice Waters - 2007
    Her simple but inventive dishes focus on a passion for flavor and a reverence for locally produced, seasonal foods.With an essential repertoire of timeless, approachable recipes chosen to enhance and showcase great ingredients, The Art of Simple Food is an indispensable resource for home cooks. Here you will find Alice’s philosophy on everything from stocking your kitchen, to mastering fundamentals and preparing delicious, seasonal inspired meals all year long. Always true to her philosophy that a perfect meal is one that’s balanced in texture, color, and flavor, Waters helps us embrace the seasons’ bounty and make the best choices when selecting ingredients. Fill your market basket with pristine produce, healthful grains, and responsibly raised meat, poultry, and seafood, then embark on a voyage of culinary rediscovery that reminds us that the most gratifying dish is often the least complex.