Customer Reviews

DamGoodSweet: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth, New Orleans Style

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

A Southern masterpiece exists in David Guas and Raquel Pelzel's DamGoodSweet: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth, New Orleans Style. Through the pages of this informative cookbook you will be swept away to discover the true essence of delicious New Orleans cuisine.

The fifty recipes that make up DamGoodSweet: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth, New Orleans Style are derived from historic recipes of times past. Each one serves as a tribute to the true New Orleans culture.

Some of my favorite recipes that bring New Orleans to my own kitchen included:

Buttermilk Beignets
King Cake
Red Velvet Cake
Pralines

Just the mention of the above listed recipes puts a smile on my face as I remember the last time I visited New Orleans. Each recipe brings back fond memories of a city that I can't wait to revisit.

What is so unique about this book is the author intertwines the recipes with famous New Orleans landmarks. With the Buttermilk Beignet recipes a history lesson of the French Market and Cafe Du Monde is presented. This historic detail gives a greater appreciation of the recipe and its origin.

DamGoodSweet: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth, New Orleans Style is a cookbook that you absolutely will fall in love with. Each recipe captures the magical beauty and radiance of New Orleans. This book will become a priceless addition to your cookbook collection. You will find yourself consulting it when you want to make an extra special dessert.

Some of my favorite food memories relate to a pre-Katrina visit to New Orleans. Beignets at the Cafe du Monde, pralines at Aunt Sally's, hurricanes(the drink) just about everywhere, what's not to love?

This book is part memoir, part cookbook and part tribute to the legends who have fallen to the ravages of time, natural disaster and the economy. The author, a renowned pastry chef was a rambunctious child living in New Orleans. In an effort to deter him from a path of juvenile delinquency, his family sent him off to stay with his Aunt Boo. While in exile he learned to love cooking and after a few missteps found a profession as a pastry chef. Now living in DC, he is a consultant. The book contains appetizing color photographs of the food and black and whites of the New Orleans of the past. The author has a fresh, engaging style devoid of sappy sentimentality but full of sincerity.

The real test of any cookbook are the recipes. As the arctic chill hit New York, I made the double chocolate bread pudding, substituting challah for the brioche. The bread soaked up most of the custard and the bourbon caramel sauce was a delight. It was an elegant riff on an old favorite. February is a big birthday month for me and this year it was my turn to bring the cake. Red Velvet cakes are always impressive although the cake itself can be a bit bland. This one set a new standard. Rich and moist, you can taste the chocolate and it is visually stunning. Finally, I tried the pralines. They were creamy and delicious and surprisingly easy to make. The recipes are not particularly difficult although some are labor intensive. Most of the ingredients required are available at the local supermarket or natural foods store. The author is generous with his tips and resources.

This is a great little book that captures the taste and spirit of New Orleans. Fun to read and attractive to look at, I highly recommend it. Just make sure you've renewed your gym membership--this is not cooking light.

Update: Tried the coconut cream pie. The crust and custard were delicious but skip his whipped cream topping..it was slopppy and bloppy. Either use a stabalized whipped cream (one with a little gelatin or a commercial toppping and put on just before serving. ) Also had bad luck halving the red velvet cake recipe. Wanted a single layer. Came out tough which is usually attributable to over mixing but I am sure I did not do. The frosting recipe halved well and was luscious. Next time I will just make the full recipe.

What's not to love about the taste of New Orleans? Cooks from all over the world think of the best and most exciting classic desserts when they hear the name of this famous city and its region. That is just what a home cook finds in the Dam Good Sweet (Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth, New Orleans Style) cookbook. Recipes include: Bananas Foster; Crepes du Vieux Carre; Pecan Pie; Black and Blue Crumble; Lemon Icebox Pie; Red Velvet Cake; Pralines; Turtles; and Peanut Brittle. There are 50 delicious recipes; family and travel stories; and numerous color photographs in this unique volume. The book is gorgeous; the recipes are outstanding. I can't wait to try my hand at making the Pralines! This will also make a wonderful gift.

The constant reference to trademarked products. It seemed that every page I turned had a registered trademark sign in his anecdotes or stories. I felt that these references detracted from the cookbook and recipes in general. He could have generically referred to the items instead of name-dropping (Harley, M&M, etc). It made me question whether he was getting paid to endorse the products! Also, there are several typos in the recipes, such as the one for Red Velvet Cake, which states 3 1/4 cups flour in the ingredients. But then the recipe only tells you to sift the remaining 2 1/4 cups flour with dry ingredients after flouring the pans. So we were supposed to flour two 9" pans with 1 cup of flour? Yes, common sense says this can't possibly be right, but if I were a beginning baker, I would have a cake that tasted like a brick if I thought the typo was actually the 2 1/4 cups (and ended up using the 3 1/4 called for in the ingredients). Just ask my friend who tried the recipe without asking me which amount was correct.

Having said that, I absolutely love this cookbook. Desserts straight from New Orleans that are easy to make and quite possibly the best I have ever tasted (the Red Velvet Cake, when made correctly, is hands down THE BEST Red Velvet recipe ever). The Buttermilk Beignet recipe was also great, though they do need to be eaten immediately after frying; we found that they didn't keep well at all. What really stood out to me was the stories about landmark New Orleans locations and foods. After many recipes he includes information on Louisiana Pecans, Strawberries, Cane Syrup, Cafe du Monde, Leidenheimer Bread, etc. These tributes to the staples of the New Orleans community are well written and interesting, giving a glimpse of what has shaped the recipes in the book.

To date, I have made the Red Velvet Cake, Buttermilk Beignets, Turtles (homemade caramel included- I didn't even have a thermometer and they still turned out fantastic!), Heavenly Hash (a chocolate confection with Pecans and Marshmallows), Banana Bread, Pecan Pie, Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake, Hammond-Independence Blueberry Jam, and Ponchatoula Strawberry Jam. Everything I have made was well received by my family, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to friends!

The recipes and commentary contained in this well thought-out cookbook provide a delicious journey through the sweet side of the New Orleans palate. It's a cookbook that is beautiful, interesting, and meant to be used. In heavy rotation in my house for over almost two years now, there have been no disappointments. Some of the recipes are items already contained in the repertoire of any New Orleans cook, but try them, and they just might be better than what you've got. The praline recipe is nearly perfect, for example, having now usurped the one passed down through generations of my family, and the "Proper Southern Biscuits" are the new go-to for Sunday brunch in my house. As a bonus, somehow the authors have managed to present all of the sweet things that natives will recognize and remember, minus the pretentiousness that seems to taint other cookbooks dripping with New Orleans and/or southern references. Highly recommended.

Beautiful pictures and great recipes - I want to make everything in this and the recipes are simple enough to do that.

Very good cookbook. Gives some history and recipe. Will be making some in future. Makes me want to go to New Oleans.

Thus far, I've made Nana's Banana Bread, which was excellent. On to the chocolate chip cookie-cake!

This is a treasure trove.....not your run-of-the-mill dessert recipes. Can't wait to try all of them.....

The title caught my attention and I took a chance. No disappointment here. Great recipes and easy to follow with a bit of history thrown in and by the time I finished reading this I was ready to return to New Orleans and hit the restaurants mentioned. Another good selection and I'm glad the title attracted my attention. Cherie S. Cook