Dulce: Desserts in the Latin-American Tradition [Hardcover]

Joseluis Flores (Author), Laura Zimmerman Maye (Author), Ben Fink (Photographer)

Book Description

Release date: May 4, 2010

The exciting new mode in desserts can be found in this cookbook featuring the flavors of the Latino world.

While savory Latin-American cuisine is well known, the sweeter side of this vibrant culinary culture has been overlooked. The countries of Central and South America combined Spanish techniques with native ingredients into an entirely distinct dessert tradition. This will be the first cookbook devoted to Latin-American sweets, uncovering a whole new world of exotic flavors. The desserts presented range from baked cakes to ice cream to chocolate, with step-by-step recipes for both traditional favorites, such as flans, churros with chocolate, and tres leches cake, as well as original creations from Chef Joseluis Flores’s restaurants.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joseluis Flores is the acclaimed Executive Pastry Chef for a restaurant group that includes Ola in Miami, Alma de Cuba in Philadelphia, Deseo in Scottsdale, and De La Costa in Chicago. Laura Zimmerman Maye is Director of Marketing for Fox & Obel, Chicago’s premier specialty food retailer, and most recently co-authored The Great Ceviche Book. Douglas Rodriguez, known as the godfather of Nuevo Latino cuisine, is the author of four cookbooks, the executive chef of four restaurants, and the recipient of the Rising Star Chef award from the James Beard Foundation.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 266 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli (May 4, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847833216
• ISBN-13: 978-0847833214
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 1.1 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #423,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #67 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > Latin American
  • #82 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Spanish

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but... July 25, 2010

By Gayla J. Pierce

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am trying really, really hard to like this cookbook, but unfortunately, some of the results I've gotten from the recipes isn't backing up that desire. The photography in the book is fabulous and really makes you want to make the recipes. The recipes when read seem to be easy, doable and tasty. The suggested platings and finishing touches are inventive and easy to do. But, so far, every recipe I've made has had issues. The recipes are pretty well written and the instructions clear, so there is no confusion about how to make them. Pineapple Upside Down Cake? Pineapples were fabulous, the cake portion, not so much. I will use the pineapple preparation in the future but with a different cake batter. Arroz con Leche? Flavor profile is right on and perfect but the final product was awfully tight. I ended up adding more milk to get it thinned down to the proper consistency. The caramel for flan was delicious. Yields are also not exactly what is reflected in the recipe (so far my yields have all been greater than stated)

I bought this cookbook specifically because I like latin flavors and there are very few cookbooks specifically about latin desserts. The flavor profiles in the recipes in Dulce accurately reflect those found in Mexico and other parts of Latin America (tho' they are mostly Mexican). Given the results I've gotten, I'm not sure this would be an appropriate cookbook for someone with little pastry or dessert experience, or for someone without some knowlege of what these desserts should taste like. But for someone with a little bit of skill with pastry or dessert, this cookbook would be a nice addition.

I will keep cooking from it because I like the flavors I'm getting from the recipes, but I will probably have to tweak the recipes to get them to work for me.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing September 19, 2010

By Sybarite

Format:Hardcover

Having lived in Latin America for many years and having enjoyed over there many great desserts I really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, I didn't.

I found two major flaws in this book:

First of all, the title of this book is misleading: This book is, as another reviewer mentioned, pretty much exclusively about Mexican desserts.

Second (and most importantly): Were these recipes ever tested by the author or by anyone actually involved with the publication of the book? It almost feels like they were made up as they were being typed. The arroz con leche recipe results in a block of concrete and I had to throw away the churro batter since it was simply too dense and tough to pipe. Issue after issue with each recipe. Sadly, not what I expected.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good if you're an experienced home cook and know how to trust your instincts. October 20, 2011

By Lori Stiles

Format:Hardcover

I received this book as a gift, and spent a couple of hours reading the recipes and drooling over the amazing photos. I have been waiting for an opportunity to try one out, and decided to make the Venezuelan chocolate brownies to bring to a recent dinner party. These brownies call for 10 eggs, 1.5lbs of chocolate and a pound of butter, all in a 9x13in pan. Decadent doesn't even begin to touch what they are. Because of the quantities of the ingredients, the melting and mixing process is a bit more arduous than with your typical brownie recipe. The book doesn't prepare you for this, but common sense would dictate that might take awhile to melt down all that butter and chocolate, so I didn't blame the book. Where I faulted it, however, was in the baking time. It instructed to bake the batter for 15 minutes. I knew this wasn't correct: in the end it took almost an hour, which was what I estimated after looking at the batter in the pan. Maybe this was a small typo, but it's made me go back and look over some of the other recipes I was also eager to try, and now I'm not so sure. Things seem a little off with this book. If you're going to buy it (and I do think it's a good one), remember to get in touch with your baker's instinct first, and lean on that if something doesn't seem quite right. Having said that, the brownies did turn out great and were a hit at the party. And I'm eyeing the tres leches cake for another party this weekend.