Chez Panisse Desserts [Paperback]

Lindsey R. Shere (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 1994

Lindsey Shere, pastry chef at Chez Panisse since 1971, shares recipes for basic pastries, cookies, cakes, and creams grouped around their dominant ingredient--from apples and berries to dried fruits, chocolate, wine, and spirits. The subtle, surprising results complement seasonal menus. Color photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For 13 years the pastry chef at Alice Waters's Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., Shere presents an outstanding collection of dessert recipes. In her preface, Waters (author of The Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook) notes that "a firm commitment to cooking with the highest quality local, seasonal, fresh ingredients underlies everything we do at Chez Panisse." This cookbook certainly bears that out: the recipes feature fresh fruits, herbs and nuts and are organized by season. Recipes that take advantage of fall's bounty include cinnamon apple ice cream, pear and fig tart, persimmon pudding. There are also chapters devoted to desserts that call for citrus fruits, tropical fruits, berries and summer fruits. And Shere does not forget chocolate lovers, who will be more than sated by such offerings as white chocolate mousse, black bottom pie and chocolate truffles. Not a cookbook for the beginner or the chef in a hurry, this is an elegant book for those with the time and patience to create elegant desserts. October 1
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st paperback ed edition (November 22, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679755713
• ISBN-13: 978-0679755715
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 1 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #382,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular Sherbet and Ice Cream: Technique and Recipes, August 6, 2001

By 

Bob Carpenter (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chez Panisse Desserts (Paperback)

With the taste of the wild plum sherbet (p. 174) still on my palate, I have to tell you that this is the only book you'll ever need to make the most spectacular sherbets and ice creams you've ever had. Lindsey Shere organizes her book around types of fruit, and the comparative analyses are alone worth the price. You quickly learn how apples, pears and quinces differ from berries and how they both differ from summer fruits such as nectarines and plums. This book has a lot of classic tart, cobbler and related recipes. I don't bake and use this book solely for fruit sherbets and ice creams! I can attest to the results of several fruit cobblers that my wife made from this book (she's used it for years), but I can't vouch for the recipes firsthand.

For the past two years, I've been following Shere's inspiring book religously in making sherbets and ice creams from whatever's fresh at the Union Square Greenmarket on a given Saturday. I've made wild plum sherbet, nectarine sherbet, apricot sherbet, apricot ice cream, peach ice cream, blueberry ice cream, raspberry sherbet, strawberry sherbet, strawberry ice cream and even coconut (though those weren't grown locally). Each one has been great, and I'm only using a fifty dollar Krups ice cream maker. The differing recipes and strong attention to technique provide a clinic on balancing acidity through lemon peel, sweetness through sugar, and texture through blending and straining.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most reliable and versatile cookbook I've ever owned!, November 21, 2000

By 

"[e-mail]" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chez Panisse Desserts (Paperback)

Seriously! In the 8+ years I've owned this book (in hardcover), I've looked to it almost exclusively for simple, but elegant dessert recipes. Whether for backyard barbeques, special occasions, or swanky dinner parties - the recipes have always produced perfect desserts that have dissappeared off plates and left everyone raving. As I delve deeper into the recipes, I'm constantly discovering new flavors and desserts to add to my repetoire.

The author takes the time to describe preparation concepts and technique with enough detail to make sure the cook succeeds, with plenty of suggestions for variations and embellishments. Sure, there are a lot of ice cream recipes - but they happen to yield some of the most exquisite ice creams and sherberts I've ever tasted (I now grow jasmine just for this purpose).

When I decide to make a dessert, this book is the first, and often the only, place I look.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most reliable pie crust recipe ever!!!, June 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Chez Panisse Desserts (Paperback)

I've made a lot of pies in my day, and the crust is always the hardest to do right. Even if you use nothing else in this book, the pie crust recipe is worth the price of admission all by itself. The lemon meringue pie, lemon tart, apple pie, vanilla ice cream, you name 'em, they're all infallibly good. You can't live without this book another day.