Special Occasions or Sweet Stuff

Special Occasions: The Best of Martha Stewart Living

Author: Martha Stewart

Hundreds of the best ideas for 12 holidays throughout the year—from New Year's to Halloween—collected from the pages of Martha Stewart Living. Each menu is lavishly illustrated and explained with step-by-step instructions. Sidebars cover such topics as lighting an outdoor party, dyeing Easter eggs, and the perfect cakes to make every occasion memorable. Full-color photographs.

New interesting book: How to Cook Everything or Minutemeals 3 Ways To Dinner

Sweet Stuff: Karen Barker's American Desserts

Author: Karen Barker

Like many people, I believe that one should always save room for dessert, says Karen Barker. Inspired by this sumptuous collection of more than 160 easy-to-follow dessert recipes, you may decide to skip dinner altogether and head straight for the sweet stuff.

Drawing on years of professional experience as well as memories of cooking and baking from her New York childhood, Barker gives us the benefit of cooking alongside an experienced mentor. Starting with the fundamentals, she offers advice on selecting key ingredients, suggestions for essential kitchen equipment, and even tips on ways to fit dessert-making into the busiest of schedules.

Her recipes begin with pastry doughs, sauces, and special toppings that serve as building blocks for other desserts and provide a foundation for home cooks eager to improve their skills. Chapters on pies, fruit desserts, custards, cakes, ice creams, cookies, and breakfast-like desserts feature familiar favorites with a twist, such as key lime coconut pie with rum cream, deep-dish brown sugar plum cobbler, dark chocolate Peppermint Pattie cake, and cornmeal vanilla bean shortbreads. Sweet Stuff offers something irresistable for everyone.

Publishers Weekly

An award-winning pastry chef, Barker-coauthor (with her husband) of Not Afraid of Flavor, a cookbook from their restaurant, Magnolia Grill, in Durham, N.C.-presents a diverse and balanced selection of her favorite American desserts. She enthusiastically introduces home cooks to the basics of pies, fruit desserts, custards, ice cream, cookies, cakes, waffles and other breakfastlike desserts with clear, unintimidating directions and copious suggestions for variations. Every recipe includes a personal introduction, succinct directions, elaborate baker's notes with additional hints and advice, and serving suggestions that sometimes refer to other recipes in the book. By altering just a few ingredients or adding an unusual spice, Barker creates out-of-the-ordinary twists on classics, such as Apple Rhubarb Cardamom Crumb Pie, Buttermilk Vanilla Bean Custard Pie and Coffee Anise Creme Caramel, as well as more obscure tastes like Blackberry Slump with Sweet Potato Dumplings or Peanut Butter Cheesecake. Full-page photographs illustrate the dishes in mouth-watering detail. Although the book will satisfy any sweet tooth, lovers of fruit desserts will especially appreciate the abundance of recipes for pies, cobblers, crumbles, crunches, crisps, buckles, grunts, slumps and betties, as well as Barker's tutorial on how to tell the difference between them. (Apr. 19) Forecast: Although Barker's restaurant is in North Carolina and her book is being published by a university press, Sweet Stuff could have national appeal. Barker has received coverage in major magazines like More, Bon Appetit and Fine Cooking, and the publisher plans a 20,000-copy first printing and a national media campaign. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

KLIATT

Karen Barker has assembled an amazing array of delectable desserts. She introduces home cooks to the basics of pies, fruit desserts, custards, ice cream, cookies, cakes, waffles and other treats. All directions are clearly written and contain many suggestions for variations. Every recipe has a personal introduction, detailed directions, serving suggestions and notes along with additional hints and advice. Numerous illustrations enhance the recipes. Barker creates out-of-the-ordinary twists on classic recipes such as Apple Rhubarb Cardamom Crumb Cake, Buttermilk Vanilla Bean Custard Pie, Peanut Butter Cheesecake, Milk Chocolate Pound Cake, Lemon Pecan Tart, and Key Lime Souffle Pudding. The recipes aren't overly complex and should not be intimidating. Special sections include baker basics, equivalent pan sizes, and metric and imperial conversions. The section entitled Before Getting Started includes valuable information about ingredients, equipment, and various kitchen tools, which will ensure success with the great recipes. Karen Barker and her husband own and operate the widely celebrated Magnolia Grill in Durham, North Carolina. She won the Outstanding Pastry Chef award from the James Beard Foundation in 2003. Age Range: Ages 12 to adult. REVIEWER: Shirley Reis (Vol. 42, No. 1)

Library Journal

"Sweets make people happy," Barker says, and this new collection of her delicious desserts is sure to bring joy to any home baker. Previously, Barker's treats were featured in her and chef-husband Ben's Not Afraid of Flavor, a collection of fare from their restaurant, the renowned Magnolia Grill in Durham, NC. This set, however, does not strictly feature restaurant desserts-some of the recipes are on the Magnolia Grill menu, but others are long-time family favorites or her own versions of all-American classics. She likes to "layer flavors and textures," and among the delectable results are Cherry Vanilla Turnovers, Dark Chocolate Peppermint Pattie Cake, and Key Lime Souffl Pudding. Most recipes include invaluable "Baker's Notes," along with serving suggestions for dressing them up. With color photographs throughout, this is for all baking collections. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.