Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts [Hardcover]

Alice Medrich (Author), Michael Lamotte (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1994

Featuring more than eighty recipes, the follow-up cookbook to Cocolat, from the author whose name is synonymous with chocolate desserts, offers such delights as Triple Mousse Cake, Chocolate Walnut Torte, and Chocolate Truffles--all with lower fat and fewer calories.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There are considerably fewer calories in Alice Medrich's latest book than in Cocolat, her first, award-winning cookbook. In Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts, Medrich presents recipes that cut fat without compromising texture or flavor--a chocolate lover's dream come true. With offerings like Black Bottom Bananas Napoleons (made with chocolate custard) or Double Chocolate Layer Cake (with less than a third of its calories from fat), Medrich proves that wonderfully indulgent treats don't have to add to your waistline. The book won the 1995 James Beard Cookbook Award.

From Library Journal

Medrich is the author of another beautiful cookbook, Cocolat: Extraordinary Chocolate Desserts (LJ 2/15/91), which showcased the indulgent desserts from her California pastry shops. Her low-fat book is not, as one might expect, at the opposite end of the spectrum; there are rich-tasting, elegant creations here too. Some readers will be disappointed to find that, despite the book's title, not all of the recipes are for chocolate desserts, but many are, and the nonchocolate recipes are just as enticing. It's impossible to cut the fat drastically in some desserts without ruining the taste, and Medrich, rather than compromise on flavor, chose 30 percent calories from fat as her limit-which some readers will find too high for their liking. Nevertheless, these are at least "lower-fat" desserts-and they are far more tempting than the recipes in most low-fat dessert books. Highly recommended.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books; First Edition edition (October 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044651666X
• ISBN-13: 978-0446516662
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 10.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #452,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good dessert book, more than just recipes November 17, 1999

By Sarah C. Jumel

Format:Hardcover

My brother lost my copy, and I am so aggravated! The recipes in this book were (except for one mistake in the lemon squares; leave the flour OUT of the lemon filling folks, and either halve the crust recipe or double the filling recipe. Do that and they are great) The beauty of these recipes is that they work so well without cream. One of the dirty secrets about restaurants is how much cream and butter they use; they do it because IT INCREASES SHELF LIFE. If a dessert is made of cream, it will keep for a good while. Alice M. is careful (bless her!) to note how long a dessert will last, frozen or refrigerated or in a cookie can. If you are going to make a dessert, you seldom keep it for the lengthy time most restaurants do. A mousse made with egg white is not only better for you, but you will notice (next time you eat a cream-filled mousse) the fuller chocolate flavor. Cream crowds the delicate chocolate taste right off your tongue. You may not be able to keep Alice's lemon curd more than a few days, but it is so good it won't last that long anyway. Now I'm going to go over to his house and turn it over and shake it until I find my copy again.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tried and true from an amateur cook November 16, 1999

By A. Ryan

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I can't call myself an expert in any area of the kitchen -- you know, just the Home Ec 101 type. This book was a revelation for me. I have actually made the Simple Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Glaze, Rice Pudding and Lemon-Marbled Cheesecake, all from scratch! It wasn't nearly as hard as I'd thought. And nobody guessed that any of it was low-fat. Although I rarely take the time to write reviews, this kind of unqualified success deserves recognition. If you have always been intimidated by "gourmet" recipes, and if you want to have your lowfat cake and eat it, too-- this book is a must!

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Godsend for the Health-Conscious Chocoholic March 15, 1997

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

For a person like me who loves fabulous, rich desserts but yet is trying to fight the battle of the bulge, Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts, by Alice Medrich, is truly a godsend.

When I was in college at Berkeley and weighing-in at a scant 118 pounds, Alice Medrich's Cocolat bakery on Shattuck Ave. was a frequent indulgence. I adored her sinfully delicious capuccino truffles and could down several in a sitting. After graduating from college and moving to San Diego, away from the land of Cocolat, I was ecstatic when Alice published her first book, Cocolat, as I found I could easily replicate her delicious and stunning creations at home on a weekend afternoon.

Unfortunately, time, age and a sedentary lifestyle no longer permitted me to indulge in the heavy cream and chocolate-laden desserts. Cocolat was permanently shelved and titles bearing the words "spa cuisine" became ever-frequent additions to my cookbook library. I tried and tried to find satisfaction in fruit sorbets and poached pears but failed miserably. There was just no substitution for the desserts I loved.

Two years ago, I was combing the cookbook shelves of my local bookstore and was both shocked and delighted to find that Alice Medrich had written a low-fat chocolate cookbook. Although I had high hopes that this could be the answer to my prayers, I could not bring myself to believe that her prized desserts could possibly be transformed into low-fat versions. I rushed home and cooked-up a batch of "Michael's Brownies" (a recipe Alice came up with as a birthday cake for a hospitalized child whose liver ailment prevented him from eating fat) and shared them with my husband, a devoted chocoholic and low-fat skeptic. Much to our amazement, they were the best brownies we had ever eaten.

All of the recipes in Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts have been consistently delicious and relatively easy to prepare. We recently brought the Chocolate Pound Cake to a party. One of our friends said it was "orgasmic," and all refused to believe it was low-fat. Our personal favorite is the Bittersweet Chocolate Truffle Mousse, which is heavenly rich and silky.

As a cookbook aficionado, Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts is the best cookbook I have ever owned. I am deeply indebted to Alice Medrich for her efforts in making wonderful desserts accessible to those of us who can no longer afford the higher-fat versions.