Desserts For Dummies
Author: Bill Yosses
Does the thought of baking a cake conjure up a nightmare vision of a 15-ft layer cake, scrolled and fluted with decorations fit for a king? If the word “dessert” just throws you into a cold sweat, the inside scoop on desserts is: they’re actually simple to make. And with the right help...well, just a piece of cake.
In the end, desserts are no harder to make than entrées. And with Desserts For Dummies, you’ll cut even a Wedding Cake recipe down to size, flip Crepes Suzette with aplomb, and throw together a batch of Chocolate Truffles your local chocolatier will envy. And with this handy, down-to-earth guide from a leading pastry chef and a former New York Times restaurant critic, you’ll discover the proper way to read a dessert recipe, organize your ingredients, and also how to:
- Think like a sweet chef—including basic tips on measuring, weighing, presenting, gauging cooking time, and pairing desse rts with meals
- Stock a pantry, and use leftovers creatively (such as caramel and meringue)
- Set up a kitchen—including tips on counter height and ovens
- Select the right cooking tools and how to use them
Before you know it, you’ll start creating desserts that you’ve only dreamed of, like:
- Pies and tarts—including Mom’s Apple Pie, Banana Cream Pie, Raspberry Tart, and Linzertorte
- Puff pastry, cream puffs, and éclairs—Classic Puff Pastry, Profiteroles, Napoleons, and Eclairs
- Crepes and blinis—including Crepes Suzette and Chocolate Blinis with Diced Bananas
- Custards and puddings—including Zabaglione, VanillaPastry Cream, Traditional Bread Pudding, and Rice Pudding
- Homemade cakes—including Whipped Cream Layer Cake, Classic Chocolate Mousse Layer Cake, and Yellow Chiffon Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Table of Contents:
PART I: GETTING STARTED.Chapter .: On Your Mark, Get Set...Whisk!
Chapter 2. Kitchen Setup and Equipment.
PART II: FLOUR POWER: PIE DOUGHS, TARTS, AND PUFF PASTRIES.
Chapter 3: Pies and Tarts.
Chapter 4. All Puffed Up: Puff Pastry, Cream Puffs, and Eclairs.
Chapter 5. Crepes and Blinis.
PART III: EGGING YOU ON.
Chapter 6. The Astonishing Egg.
Chapter 7. Custards and Puddings.
Chapter 8. Things That Go Crunch in the Night: Meringues.
PART IV: A REAL CAKE WALK.
Chapter 9. The World's Easiest Homemade Cakes.
Chapter 10. Ladyfingers and the Real Tiramisu.
Chapter 1.: Attack of the Killer Cakes.
PART V: GOOD COLD THINGS.
Chapter 12. Granites, Sorbets, and Ice Creams.
Chapter 13: Parfaits and .Frozen Souffles.
PART VI: SPECIAL DESSERTS FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS.
Chapter 14. You Invited How Many?! Desserts for a Mob -- and Then Some.
Chapter 15. Why Not Make Your Own Wedding Cake?
Chapter 16. Holiday Desserts.
Chapter 1.: Sweets without Sinning: Great Reduced-Fat Desserts.
PART VII: THE PART OF TENS.
Chapter 18. Ten Ways to Make Your Dessert Creations Look Great.
Chapter 19. Ten Desserts You Can Make in 30 Minutes or Less.
Chapter 20. Ten Things You May Want to Know about Chocolate.
PART VIII: APPENDIXES.
Appendix A: Glossary of Common Dessert and Baking Terms.
Appendix B: Common Substitutions, Abbreviations, and Equivalents.
Appendix C: Mail-Order Sources for Equipment and Ingredients.
Stencils.
Index.
Book Registration Information.
Interesting textbook: Professional C 2008 or SPSS For Dummies
Pickled, Potted, and Canned: How the Art and Science of Food Preserving Changed the World
Author: Sue Shephard
We may not give much thought to the boxes in our freezers or the cans on our shelves, but behind the story of food preservation is the history of civilization itself. The ability to preserve food was the key that liberated humans from the anxious life of the hunter-gatherer, forced to follow migrating herds or to forage for seasonal berries and leaves. The development of portable, preserved food enabled the great explorers to travel into the unknown and gradually map the planet, facilitated the conquest of new territories by great armies and navies, and created routes for the expansion of trade and the exchange of knowledge and culture that opened up our world. It allowed us to expand our daily menu from the limited repetitious range of our ancestors to the multicultural, international choices we enjoy today. In Pickled, Potted, and Canned, Sue Shephard weaves together the stories of the inventors and key developments of food preservation in a lively and richly detailed narrative that spans centuries and continents, a fascinating blend of social history, popular science, and man's ongoing curiosity and inventiveness. It is a tale filled with extraordinary characters, old legends, and new revelations. It describes how Attila the Hun and his men "gallop cured" their meat, how cooks became chemists and chemists became cooks, how men made or lost fortunes, and how some even lost their lives -- like seventeenth-century statesman and philosopher Francis Bacon, whose death was caused by an experiment with a frozen chicken, or the worker in an early canning factory, killed "most ridiculously and ignobly" by an exploding tin of turkey.
From the primitive techniques of drying and salting to the latest methods that have allowed us to feed men in space, Picked, Potted, and Canned gives us insight into the histories, cultures, and ingenuity of people inventing new ways to "cheat the seasons."
Library Journal
Written in a lively style by a creator of several British television food programs, this book recounts the development of food preserving from the time of the ancients to the era of the space program, from East to West and all points in between. The 16 chapters individually treat each technology, e.g., drying, salting, pickling in vinegar, smoking, fermenting, canning, refrigerating and freezing, and dehydration. Well-documented facts come alive with anecdotal support and the sense that the author truly cares about the ingenious way that humanity has preserved itself by preserving its food. Ultimately, one indeed understands that humankind's wanderings would have been impossible without the science of food preserving and its ability to improve flavor. While there are no recipes, the bibliography supplies a superb reading list for picklers, potters, and canners. Culinary history continues to be popular reading, which is just one reason to purchase this fine book. Highly recommended for public, academic, and special libraries. Wendy Miller, Lexington P.L., KY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
School Library Journal
Adult/High School-This fact-filled chronicle of the development of food preservation delves into the historical context as well as the various procedures used for such ancient methods as salting, drying, smoking, and fermenting. Modern techniques like freezing and dehydration are also discussed. The development of each process is followed from its earliest time. Most innovations were born out of the necessity to keep an abundant harvest of food preserved during the winter or for long voyages. In turn new techniques empowered humans to undertake impossibly long journeys to map out trade routes, conquer distant lands, discover new continents, and eventually explore outer space. One especially interesting chapter tells of a late-18th-century race between the English and French to find a better way to preserve food and retain its flavor, nutrients, and palatability. The hero of this adventure about the process of canning was a French cook with an understanding of chemistry and a flair for business. His story is exciting and action-filled enough to be a book unto itself. This work is an excellent source for information about a small but important slice of history.-Penny Stevens, Andover College, Portland, ME Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
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