This review was prepared by Jill of Jillicious Discoveries.
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There is nothing better than a dessert with fresh fruit that has been picked in its prime and is paired with quality ingredients that enhance the fruits flavor. As I excitedly looked through the newly released book, Seasonal Fruit Desserts: From Orchard, Farm, and Market by Deborah Madison, I immediately tagged several of the recipes to test.

The author points out that she considers herself to be a cook rather than a pastry chef. She also states that her book “offers a range of desserts based on delicious varieties of fruits and those foods that flatter them, such as nuts, sugars and jams, eggs and cheeses.” While it is true that there is a variety of dessert recipes offered in this book, I question if they are truly the best formulas to pair with a delicious piece of fruit.

I tested six different recipes for a total of five different desserts. Coming from a pastry chef background and years of growing and cooking with our own fruit, I had high expectations of these recipes, especially since the photos of these desserts were so compelling.

The first dessert recipe I tested was the Cream Tart with Blackberries, paired with the Silky Tart Dough recipe, as instructed by the author. She described the dough as “one of her favorites.” I followed her directions exactly, expecting it would be wonderful. I was so wrong. The Silky Tart Dough was anything but silky; rather it was too overwhelming for the topping and it was very tough and not tender at all. I thought the cream topping with blackberries was quite delicious and creamy, and if I were to make this again, I would use my own flaky pastry dough recipe in place of the not-so-silky-dough.

I decided to test A Yeasted Pear Upside-Down Cake for my second recipe. I followed the author’s directions and the final product looked nothing like the picture; the pears didn’t turn a nice golden brown color or have a nice caramel sauce around them. Instead, they were overly soft, tasteless and the yeasted cake was horrible. It was bland and left a bad taste in my mouth and I’ve never been more disappointed in a recipe. After a second opinion from my Mom, who had the same horrifying tasting experience, into the garbage it went—wasting what used to be four delicious pears and other quality ingredients.

After having high hopes for the first two recipes, I decided to leave the fruit behind for a time and go with the Hazelnut-Chocolate Chunk Cookies for my third recipe test. I used locally grown hazelnuts and I splurged and purchased the hazelnut oil that was required in this recipe. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome—the cookies were delicious. I did increase amount of salt, as I found that many of her recipes didn’t have enough salt to enhance the other flavors and I would definitely make these cookies again.

The fourth recipe I tested was the Pastry for Pies or Galettes. I wanted to see if this recipe would stand up to my own pastry dough recipe, so I followed the author’s directions exactly and then used my own homegrown apple filling, so I could really compare and contrast the results. Out of the three types of dough recipes that I tested, this one was the best of the three, but overall, I wouldn’t use it again. It was flaky, and somewhat tender, but just average.

The final recipe I tested was the Tart Dough recipe that was used with Lindsey’s Austere Berry Tart, the raspberry tart pictured on the cover of the book. Again, the tart dough wasn’t as flaky and was just average. The filling of this raspberry tart was comprised of only fresh raspberries with heated red currant jelly brushed on the top. I added a thin layer of sweetened cream cheese with a hint of lemon. The tart was beautiful and the addition of the cream cheese layer really enhanced the flavor of the raspberries. Again, I would replace the dough with my tried and true flaky pastry dough recipe.

Seasonal Fruit Desserts provides helpful and interesting information about fruit and the author shares her experiences of tasting different fruits in her travels. The photography is inviting and mouth-watering and is the book’s best feature. But if you are looking for a cookbook that contains delicious dessert recipes; ones that will produce quality desserts, this is not the book for you.