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Southern Cakes

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This review was prepared by Lori of Butter Me Up.
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When one loves to bake, who doesn’t appreciate a great book on cakes? When I found out I was going to be reviewing Nancie McDermott’s Southern Cakes: Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday CelebrationsI was thrilled to say the least. Being from Canada, I wasn’t too familiar with Southern cakes apart from the Lady Baltimore Cake and the Red Velvet Cake. When I think of the South I think of chess or sweet potato pies or bread pudding. Regardless of my limited exposure to Southern cakes in general, I was keen to learn more.

The book is beautifully laid out and the photography is luscious. As always, I wish there were more photographs because it’s the photo which will often sell me on the recipe. The only real criticism I must remark on is that the font is quite small. When you’re in your kitchen working away at a recipe, it’s beneficial to have the words easy to pick out when you glance at the page.

Diner Desserts

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This review was prepared by Lizanne Gosselin of of Bits 'n Bites.
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A while back, I jumped at the chance of reviewing a cookbook for Daring Kitchen after reading Ivonne’s offer preceding one of the challenges’ post. To my delight, I was given Diner Desserts, by Tish Boyle.

Published in 2000, Diner Desserts is an enjoyable baker's journey through one of America’s most cherished institution, the diner. A big fan of “triple-D”, I looked forward to trying true diner-style recipes. This soft cover book is packed with vintage photographs and diner lore. After flipping a few minutes through it, though, I was surprised to see no pictures of the recipes in the book, except for the cover photo of the chocolate cream pie. A little strange, I thought, for a cookbook.

Q&A with Deborah Madison, Author of Seasonal Fruit Desserts

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The Daring Kitchen had the honour of asking Deborah Madison, author of the recently released Seasonal Fruit Desserts: From Orchard, Farm, and Market, some key questions about her new book, and baking with fruit in general. Here are her answers:

The Daring Kitchen: After having written so many incredible cookbooks, what made you decide to write a cookbook with fruit as the main subject?

Deborah Madison: I started out in desserts, I have worked as pastry chef in the past, I love desserts and I especially love fruit desserts. And I have always included desserts in my books,

Salty Sweets: Delectable Desserts and Tempting Treats with a Sublime Kiss of Salt

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This review was prepared by Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice.
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I will never forget the the first time I tasted a piece of chocolate with some sea salt on it. Heaven! Ever since then I have been hooked on the idea of enjoying sweet, with a bit of salty to enhance the flavour.

Written by Christie Matheson, this delightful cookbook is a treasure of recipes that will take you through the joy of enjoying sweet and salty.

Spanning everything from cakes to cookies to ice cream, I cannot recommend this book more highly! The idea behind adding some salt to to sweets is that the salt helps to emphasize the flavour if the dessert and I couldn't agree more.

Confections of a Closet Master Baker: One Woman's Sweet Journey from Unhappy Hollywood Executive to Contented Country Baker

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This review was prepared by Charli of The Berry Bushel.

Confections of a (Closet) Master Baker is the memoir of Gesine Bullock-Prado, former Hollywood executive turned owner of a small town bakery. The memoir chronicles Bullock-Prado’s reasons for getting into the movie business, getting out of it, and moving on to her true passion, baking. Each chapter begins by taking you through her life as a baker and seamlessly transitions to her history. Overall, the book is a quick and easy read, filled with humor. From the first sentence, Bullock-Prado captures the reader, doing an especially wonderful job of connecting her story emotionally with the recipes she provides. (Be warned though, this can lead you to want to make every single recipe.)

The Sweet Life

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The following review was prepared by one of our dearest members: Ami. Her Daring Kitchen user name is LAMonkeygirl. Ami is a non-blogging member of The Daring Kitchen.

The restaurant cookbook offers home cooks the glamorous prospect of creating, in one’s own home, the very dishes served up in glossy, famous eateries. One could, conceivably, rush home from an expensive meal in a beautiful room and then, in the dingy, cramped space of your own kitchen, make the exact same dish just enjoyed, plated up on Ikea dishes instead of oversized French porcelain.

Truthfully, no one can pick up a restaurant cookbook and make precisely the same food served in the restaurant. It’s simply not possible. Not only do home cooks have consumer-grade appliances and cookware, but access to ingredients, time and sous-chefs is also sorely limited. The best a home cook can achieve is a reasonable facsimile, the flavors of a dish approaching but not duplicating something that comes from a professional kitchen.

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