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August 15, 2006

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook: Outrageous Brownies

A completely over-the-top brownie recipe from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. They take a bit more work than regular brownies, but the results are excellent. One big problem, however: the batter burned around the edges of the pan.

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August 03, 2006

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook: Peach and Raspberry Crisp

A perfect recipe for this time of year, when the peaches are ripe and juicy. Get the sweetest peaches you can find, from the farmer's market if possible.

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August 02, 2006

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook: Croissant Bread Pudding

An over-the-top dessert from Ina Garten. If you like bread pudding this one may appeal to you; I found it rather boring, myself.

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July 27, 2006

Food Network Favorites: Caramelized Lemon-Lime Tart

My last test from the Wolfgang Puck chapter! I'll be testing 3 or 4 more recipes from the Food Network Kitchens chapter in Food Network Favorites , and then at long last I'll be moving onto a new book.

This tart is quite good, if a bit, well, tart. If you like lemon curd, this dessert will probably appeal to you.

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June 26, 2006

Food Network Favorites: Rum Buttered-Glazed Grilled Pineapple with Vanilla-Scented Mascarpone

Bobby Flay's second dessert contribution to Food Network Favorites. This is a very simple way to serve pineapple. Grilling it helps to bring out the flavor, and the rum and vanilla notes in the accompaniments give a nice tropical flair to the dish.

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Food Network Favorites: Fresh Fruit Batidos

From the Bobby Flay chapter in Food Network Favorites . "Batida" means "beaten" in Spanish, and since the fruit and ice cream are beaten together in a blender, it seems an appropriate name. Another way to think of this drink? Mango milkshake.

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June 20, 2006

Food Network Favorites: Is It Really Better Than Sex? Cake

Paula Deen does have a colorful way with titles. As for the answer to the question, I'll leave it to you to determine for yourself. This is a very rich, decadent cake with pineapple, coconut, and vanilla pudding. It's extremely simple to put together. I had one little quibble with the ingredients, but the final result is a very good dessert.

I've also given a recipe for the more common chocolate version of Better Than Sex Cake, so if the tropical variety doesn't do it for you, the chocolate and toffee one probably will.

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June 16, 2006

Food Network Favorites: Creamy Ricotta Tart with Pine Nuts

Another dessert from the Giada De Laurentiis chapter in Food Network Favorites . It's a very good tart; it's just not my favorite kind of dessert. The pine nut crust is topped with a lightly sweet custard, and more pine nuts are strewn across the top. You need to really like pine nuts for this one to appeal to you, because their flavor is very, very strong.

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June 13, 2006

Food Network Favorites: Chocolate Amaretti Cake

And on to the Giada De Laurentiis chapter in Food Network Favorites. I've already reviewed her book Everyday Italian and found it to be pretty good, although it could have used a tad more editing. Is there any reason to check out her recipes in this new book?

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June 07, 2006

Food Network Favorites: The Ultimate Cheesecake

Cheesecake fans tend to fall into two different camps: those who love a dense, firm cake (the traditional New York-style cheesecake), and those who prefer a lighter, fluffier-textured cake. This recipe falls into the latter category.

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June 01, 2006

Food Network Favorites: Chocolate Date Pudding Cake

Next up in Food Network Favorites : Tyler Florence, host of Food 911. This chocolate cake is a version of the popular molten chocolate cake. The end result is very good, but I have to say that for the host of show that addresses cooking problems, Florence's instructions are oddly bare-bones.

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May 24, 2006

Food Network Favorites: Quick Peaches & Golden Raisins Cobbler

Another very good recipe from the Rachael Ray chapter in Food Network Favorites . The cobbler is pleasantly spicy and easy to put together. I have just a couple of quibbles about ingredients.

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May 02, 2006

Food Network Favorites: Lemon-Ginger Frozen Yogurt

Another dessert from Alton Brown. This frozen yogurt requires a bit of advance planning, but it's worth it. The end result is pleasantly tangy and fresh-tasting.

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Food Network Favorites: Moo-Less Chocolate Pie

A rich, creamy, intensely chocolate-flavored dessert from the Alton Brown chapter, next up in Food Network Favorites . The surprise ingredient? Tofu.

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April 10, 2006

Food Network Favorites: Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pie

From the Food Network's own kitchens, this recipe from Food Network Favorites is decadent and delicious. The instructions, however, contain one very large oversight.

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February 24, 2006

Food Network Favorites: Blueberry-Pecan Crumble

From Dave Lieberman, the Food Network's newest boy wonder chef, comes this simple version of fruit crumble. It's a good one.

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February 10, 2006

Off the Shelf: Basic Fruit and Rice Custard

Since I had leftover rice, I thought I'd give this custard recipe a whirl. I ran into some problems with the oven temperature, which right off the bat seemed way too low. 250 degrees for 45 minutes to cook custard? Really?

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February 07, 2006

Off the Shelf: Easy Chocolate Cake

Errors and oversights in technique are becoming the bane of my existence with Off the Shelf . The ideas in this book are excellent, and if you're careful to fill in the blanks when it comes to the instructions, no problem. But oftentimes, Donna Hay leaves the fine details out of her recipes, and that is a problem.

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February 03, 2006

Martha Stewart Living: Roasted Pineapple Ice Cream

Lauren in Texas sent me this recipe from Martha Stewart's online edition of her magazine. From New Orleans chef Hubert Sandot, it's a delicious Caribbean-inspired combination of sweet pineapple and dark rum.

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January 31, 2006

Off the Shelf: Milk Puddings with Rosewater Syrup

Here's the first recipe from Off the Shelf that I haven't been terribly thrilled with. There nothing wrong with this simple dessert of milk, gelatin, vanilla, and syrup. It's just a little bland, and almost seems like nursery food.

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January 23, 2006

Chez Panisse Desserts: Cinnamon Apple Ice Cream

"Tastes like apple pie!"

That's what everyone at my house thought about this tasty ice cream from Chez Panisse Desserts . It's a nice dessert all by itself, and would also make an excellent partner to an apple pie or tart.

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January 20, 2006

Sara's Secrets: Pecan Pie Squares

Wow, where to begin? This one's a disaster from start to finish. The concept is intriguing: take pecan pie components and turn them into bar cookies, using graham crackers as an ersatz crust. But the execution fails utterly. What I ended up with was a pan of sticky pecan pie filling, pecan halves that were too big to cut through neatly, and a crust layer that was so thin, it melted into nothingness. Not a successful recipe.

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January 19, 2006

Sara's Secrets: Basic Yellow Cake

Sara Moulton says of this cake, "What an exciting idea to be able to whip up a cake from scratch on a weeknight in only ten minutes." I guess so...I'm not really a "cake for cake's sake" person. I don't get the point of whipping up a plain cake for dessert. That's not terribly exciting to me.

If, however, you really like cake and want a quick recipe, this one's fairly good. The texture is rather coarse and the flavor is blandly vanilla, but if you follow Moulton's recommendations for toppings (berries and/or chocolate) this is a serviceable dessert.

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January 16, 2006

Chez Panisse Desserts: Coffee Ice Cream

Chez Panisse Desserts has over 60 ice cream recipes. If you like ice cream and find yourself wishing you could make flavors other than boring old cookie dough, I recommend that you get an ice cream maker and start experimenting with your own flavors. This book has some excellent ideas.

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January 06, 2006

Sara's Secrets: Quick Grape Crumble

I can never resist a fruit crisp or crumble recipe. This one, however, suffers from a case of "How many grapes?" The proportions are way off — so much so that I find it hard to believe that anyone actually prepared this recipe before it found its way into the finished book.

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December 09, 2005

The Big Book of Breakfast: Walnut Sour Cream Coffee Cake

At last! A really excellent recipe from The Big Book of Breakfast . This moist, delicious coffee cake can be made the day ahead. At serving time, sprinkle it with powdered sugar and enjoy.

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December 02, 2005

Chez Panisse Desserts: Fruit Compote in Darjeeling Tea and Sauternes

My first attempt from Chez Panisse Desserts . I'm not quite sure about the reasoning behind some of the instructions, but the end result is a tasty combination of dried fruits and syrup that would taste great with cookies or pound cake.

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November 28, 2005

Everyday Italian: Chocolate Zabaglione

As Giada De Laurentiis notes in her introduction to this recipe, traditional zabaglione doesn't include chocolate. But its addition turns the light, frothy custard into something truly delectable. Served with fresh berries, this makes a sophisticated dessert.

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November 22, 2005

Everyday Italian: Almond Cake

A somewhat dense, coarse-textured, intensely almond-flavored cake. It's tasty just as it is, and would also pair well with fresh berries.

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November 09, 2005

From My Kitchen: Cherry-Cardamom Crisp

Taking inspiration from Jacques Pépin, I developed this tasty combination of Morello cherries, orange zest, and a crunchy cookie topping.

I'm a big fan of fruit crumbles and crisps. They're easy to put together and taste fantastic. Try this one in the fall, when fresh cherries are a distant memory.

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Fast Food My Way: Pear-Ginger Crisp

A variation of the Pear Brown Betty. I prefer the crunchy cookie topping over the softer, pudding-style Betty.

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Fast Food My Way: Pear Brown Betty

From Jacques Pépin's Fast Food My Way , a clever idea for using up slightly stale baked goods: mix them with canned pears and turn them into dessert!

If you like bread puddings, you'll probably like this, even though it doesn't have a dairy component. You can make it with nearly any type of bread, cake, croissants, Danish, muffins, or scones. All you need to have on hand is a big can of pears.

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November 08, 2005

Fast Food My Way: Caramelized Apple-Granola Timbales

It sounds fancy, but it's actually a rather simple dessert or breakfast: individual custard cups are filled with a combination of apples and granola, then topped with a round of buttered-and-sugared bread. After they're cooked, the cups are unmolded, giving you a pretty molded dessert reminiscent of apple charlotte.

That's the theory, anyway. I had a bit of trouble in the execution.

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November 07, 2005

Fast Food My Way: Mock Tiramisù

Just when Jacques Pépin and I were getting along so well, Mock Tiramisù had to come along and shake my faith.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that I'm not a huge fan of tiramisù to begin with. It always strikes me as a bit gloppy and boozy, and I can usually pass it up. This recipe in Fast Food My Way does nothing to change that opinion.

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November 04, 2005

Fast Food My Way: Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie Cake

This is an intensely rich flourless chocolate cake. It's easy to put together, and tastes like the chewiest, densest brownies ever. I made a couple of adjustments to the technique, but the cake itself is a winner, one that I'll definitely come back to again.

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November 02, 2005

Fast Food My Way: Hasty Pudding with Apricot Sauce

"Fancy cream of wheat" was the consensus opinion at my house. Pépin says that it's a common dessert in French households, but to my American sensibility, this semolina pudding seems more suited to breakfast. Whichever way you decide to serve it, it's quite tasty and extremely simple to prepare.

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Fast Food My Way: Shortbread-Raspberry Gratins

A variation of the Chocolate-Raspberry Gratins, using shortbread cookies for the crumble topping. I actually preferred this one to the chocolate version.

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Fast Food My Way: Chocolate-Raspberry Gratins

Jacques Pépin has some fantastic ideas for quick, delicious desserts in Fast Food My Way. He doesn't shy away from using store-bought ingredients; in this case, cookies, which form the crumble topping for a speedy fruit dessert that tastes fantastic.

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October 21, 2005

Jamie's Dinners: Sweet Vanilla Risotto with Poached Fruit and Chocolate

In other words, posh rice pudding. This is a lovely dessert, and if you like rice pudding you'll enjoy this risotto-style twist on an old favorite.

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October 19, 2005

Jamie's Dinners: Stewed Fruit Crumble

If you like fruit cobblers or brown betty, you'll love this recipe. I did, however, start to run into trouble with Jamie Oliver's loosey-goosey style here.

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October 13, 2005

Live, Love, Eat!: Baked Apple Pouches with Cinnamon and Raisins

A tasty apple dessert with a pretty presentation. If you like apple dumplings or turnovers, you'll like this one.

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October 12, 2005

Better Than Pie: Pumpkin Cheesecake

Even though I love pumpkin in nearly every incarnation, I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin pie. I'd rather have pretty much any other pumpkin dessert. This cheesecake has graced my Thanksgiving table for the last couple of years. It's delicious, and so much more satisfying than plain ol' pie.

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October 10, 2005

From My Kitchen: Pumpkin Crème Brûlée

Have you been afraid to try to make crème brûlée at home because it seems too complicated or difficult? The enormous popularity of a simple custard dessert has been one of the restaurant industry's favorite shortcuts over the last 10 years. Crème brûlée couldn't be simpler to make, as long as you invest in a couple of relatively inexpensive pieces of equipment. Essentially, it's pudding with sugar on top. No need to pay $7.00 for it at a trendy bistro when you can make it at home.

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October 05, 2005

30-Minute Meals 2: Warm Cherry, Orange, and Cranberry Compote with Vanilla Ice Cream

This is about as elaborate as Rachael Ray's desserts get. It's easy to throw together and makes a nice fall or winter dessert.

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30-Minute Meals 2: Fresh Oranges with Lime Sorbet

An example of the type of desserts that Rachael Ray goes for: a little fresh fruit, some store-bought sorbet, and voila! You're good to go.

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August 22, 2005

30-Minute Get Real Meals: Nutty ‘Creamsicle’ Pie

I thought I’d give dessert a chance; after all, even though several of the recipes I’ve tested thus far from 30-Minute Get Real Meals have been problematic, the desserts might not be. Er, yeah. This pie recipe is seriously flawed.

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August 20, 2005

Chocolate Pudding Pie with Pecan Crust

Here’s a filling that can stand up to a pecan crust. It’s quick and easy to assemble. Allow at least 3 hours of chilling time.

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