This is the smallest book I have written but it might be my favorite. Chocolate is near and dear to my heart and there is so much to share about this delectable, healthy food – you have heard about antioxidants in dark chocolate, haven’t you? Looking at fancy truffles in a chocolate shop you wouldn’t believe how easy they are to make. This book explains everything you need to know, from choosing chocolate, to properly melting and tempering chocolate to making the most perfectly balanced ganache centers. Some recipes you will find: Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles (as well as Milk and White), Chestnut Milk Chocolate Truffles, Caramel Bittersweet Truffles with Fleur de Sel, Matcha White Chocolate Truffles, Hazelnut Praline Milk Chocolate Truffles, Milk and Honey Truffles, Bittersweet Truffles with Black Currant Påte de Fruit (50 in total) and for the daring, be sure to try the Chile Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Truffles – the tiny bit of heat from ancho chile and cinnamon is fabulous!
This is the fourth in my Field Guide series and while the easy-to-use format is largely the same, you also get some basic recipes in the beginning of the book. With these basic cupcakes flavors (white, yellow, chocolate, brownie, pound cake etc.) and basic frostings (fudge, cream cheese, classic confectioner’s sugar as well as Italian meringue and more) you will then be able to make any cupcake in the book. Like all the Field Guides there is a picture of every cupcake and they are arranged by holiday/event beginning with New Year’s Eve an continuing through Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Memorial and Labor Day, Fourth of July, Halloween, all the fall and winter holidays and even Bake Sales and Bridal Showers. Many of the recipes are appropriate – and fun! - to make with children.
The third in a series, is A Baker’s Field Guide to Holiday Candy and Confections (Harvard Common Press, 2005). Like all of the Field Guides it features an easy-to-use format – it’s just like a field guide! There is a full-color photo of every candy, Field Notes, which describe the candy, Lifespan, which gives you storage length information, Habitat, which tells you where the candy originally hails from and what have you. You’ll find everything from The Easiest Fudge in the World, to candy canes, hollow chocolate Easter eggs, Fruit and Nut Stuffed Dates, candy Dreidels, truffles of all sorts, Indian Barfi, several marzipan sweets and a few lollipops as well. Over 70 candies are presented chronologically through the holidays and there are even suggestions for weddings – and even National Licorice Day, which happens to be April 12th! Many of the candies are great for making with kids and will give you fun project ideas for days off from school.
This is my latest wedding cake book and I have streamlined the process for all you baking enthusiasts. Here you will find the Essential White, Yellow and Chocolate Cakes as well as Essential Moistening Syrup and Essential Buttercream. All of the cakes in the book spin off of these basics. For instance, the Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake begins with the white cake, but has kirsch soaked cherries and bittersweet chocolate shavings added to the batter. The syrup is enhanced with additional kirsch. The buttercream filling is filled with chopped chocolate covered cherries! You will find everything from a light-hearted cupcake tower covered with coconut and sugared pansies, a Valentine's Day cake jam-packed with red roses, chocolate truffles and chocolate dipped strawberries to a square chocolate caramel cake covered with bittersweet chocolate tiles. Think of me as your wedding cake fairy and I will guide you through the process of making the most delicious, spectacular celebratory cake you have every imagined!
A collection of 75 mouth-watering recipes in the same user-friendly format and fun design as the successful A Baker's Field Guide to Christmas Cookies. America's favorite cookie gets star treatment. Every cookie is photographed in full color, with a description.
A Baker’s Field Guide to Christmas Cookies is a complete compilation of international Christmas cookie favorites all in an easy-to-use format. Just like a field guide, there are photos of every cookie, such as Classic Rolled Sugar Cookies, Pecan Butter Balls, Cinnamon Ornaments, Meringue Mushrooms, Sugar Pretzels, Moravian Ginger Cookies, Dutch Windmill Cookies, Cherry Almond Florentines, Vanilla Crescents, Sugarplums and even Aunt Naomi’s Sacred Dog Biscuits (for your pup!) – over 75 in all! Then, there is the cookie’s Lifespan, Field Notes, Type and Description. The book is full-color, hardcover and at a suggested retail price of $14.95 it makes a perfect stocking stuffer.
This huge Dummies book combines eight cuisines in one book: Mexican, Italian, French, Greek and Middle Eastern, Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Thai. I wrote the Japanese section and other authors, such as Jack Bishop, Martin Yan and Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken contributed. You can find it all in this one volume: Fresh Salsa, Chipotle Glazed Chicken, Penne a la Carbonara, Tiramisu, Hollandaise Sauce, Bouillabaisse, Falafel, Tzatziki, Basic Curry Powder, Grilled Tandoori Chicken, All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce, Hot and Sour Soup, Miso Soup, Sushi and Sashimi, Pad Thai and Red Curry Beef.
Christmas Cooking for Dummies is for anyone who loves Christmas! You will find over 100 recipes from baked fresh ham, roast turkey and the best mashed sweet potatoes to all kinds of appetizers, side dishes, breakfast ideas, soups, salads, cookies, cakes, pies, breads and even a champagne drink with orange juice and passion fruit that works as well at a Christmas breakfast as it does with hors d'oeuvres. Then there are food gifts like a Clementine-Cranberry Marmalade and homemade s'mores complete with made-from-scratch Marshmallows. There is also a chapter on food-based decorations like Candy Garlands and a Cookie Wreath Centerpiece that are perfect for making with children as well as an ice wreath studded with cranberries to hang on the door.
And speaking of kids, Christmas is a family holiday and I have written the book with that in mind. Look in the introduction of all of the Christmas Cooking for Dummies recipes for mentions of kid-friendliness. Many of the recipes are meant to be made with children alongside - if you don't have any kids...borrow some!
This book provides instructions for the bride who wants to make her own cake, the avid home baker who wants to bake a wedding cake for a friend or relative, or the bridal couple who needs a sourcebook of ideas for their caterer. Similarly, bakers and caterers will use the book as a sourcebook for customers. Thirty original cakes, (with a full-page color photograph of each) are featured, every one with a different cake, filling and decoration. The Wedding Cake Book was nominated for an IACP Julia Child Cookbook Award in 1998. Try the Tahitian Vanilla Bean Pound Cake with Orchids and Fruit, the Marzipan Chocolate Cake with Apricot Filling and Cognac, the Poppyseed Cake with Orange Marmalade Filling and Grand Marnier Buttercream with a basketweave design, or the White Cake with Lemon Curd, Blackberry Curd, and Pressed Flowers. The book is also an excellent resource for celebratory cakes in general as every cake can be made in just one tier. Use it for great recipes for that next birthday, anniversary or graduation.
Out of Print - Limited Availability - Available Used
Bake It to the Limit is about desserts that taste great, with specific, easy to follow directions. Most recipes have a "Bake It to the Limit" variation that shows the reader how to elevate the dessert into an elegant showstopper - so you get two desserts for every one. Make the Double-Layer Truffle Brownies in a 13 x 9 pan and cut into squares, or cut with a round cookie cutter, top with a chocolate covered espresso bean and place in a fluted cup for an elegant petit four. Make the fragrant and moist Marzipan Pound Cake with Cognac Apricots in a round pan and dust with confectioner's sugar, or top it with a life-size and life-like marzipan rose. The Green Tea ice cream is delectable as is, but spectacular when paired with the Jasmine Tea Sorbet for an interesting combo that hits the spot after a spicy meal. The Espresso White Chocolate Chunk Cookies will satisfy any sweet tooth, but when sandwiched around espresso ice cream and dipped in bittersweet chocolate, you get an adult ice cream sandwich to die for. Baked to the limit or not, the desserts all taste great and never sacrifice looks for taste.