Customer Reviews

Gale Gand's Just a Bite: 125 Luscious Little Desserts

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sometimes the prices of cookbooks are enough to make a person question if its worth it. You think will I use it enough? Gale Gand has put together a wonderful cookbook featuring little desserts that pack a big punch. They are wonderfully organized into catergories such as: cheese bites, fruit bites, chocolate bites, candy bites and so forth. It makes it incredibly easy to find a recipe, just based on what you're craving! Not only is this cookbook good for the home baker and professional alike, you can whip up something to serve after a dinner for four or ten.

It's true, there are not pictures for each recipe, and while this usually bothers me, Gale Gand puts everything into simple to understand language that pictures aren't necessary, or missed. In addition, you can turn on the television at any time to her show "sweet dreams" on the food network and see her make any of her desserts from any of her three cookbooks. This book is wonderful, I look forward to making every last thing in it.

I felt the presentation of this book was great and there are a lot of unique recipies. I did try to make the blueberry shortbread and had a problem with it. The consistancy was just not there. After reading someone's else's review here on Amazon, I see I was not the only one who had a problem and perhaps there was something left out of the recipie?
I also tried the cake on the front cover which everyone did love, but I have to say that it made way more cake batter than the pan size and even though I didn't use it all it overflowed all over the oven. I would say that this cookbook may be for someone with a little more experience than a beginner who is not used to anticipating or judging when things don't look quite right! The choc. cake and topping was a big hit though regardless of the big mess in my stove!!

This cookbook is a great resource for people planning parties. Most of the recipes are miniature desserts that are very easy to make and fun to eat. The best part is that they are very impressive looking. I especially love the Pansy Petal Lollipops and the Chocolate Mint Tiddlywinks. You can make 3 or 4 different desserts for a party. Gale Gand writes clear intructions and also gives suggestions for desserts that taste great together. The results are delicious! Check out her other cookbooks for more great desserts.

I have to say the ideas in this book are so ADORABLE and fun, several made me laugh out loud and hope I have girl children one day. I made one recipe (Lemon Cream Daisies) w/no problems & to great acclaim. But today I tried Lemon Angel Food Cakes w/Lemon Confit, & found a possible typo - ? - or just a mistake: The cake batter recipe is supposed to make 24 mini-muffins. For me it made 24 mini, plus 24 regular muffins! (I can only guess they're supposed to be all regular size?) At least they do taste good. Anyway, add this to the caution from another person who noted wrong amount of butter in the blueberry shortbread recipe... Questionable editing, I guess, but I still think the author is a sugar genius.

i love the pictures. love the trio suggestions. her instructions are detailed and clear. i love that the baking supplies necessary are noted in the margin of the recipe so one doesn't need to go searching in the middle of a recipe. most of my desserts came out superb.
however, i also found a mistake - the twinkle twinkies don't quite puff up enough to fill a 9x13 pan. they were flat so i used a 9x9 pan instead. anyway, it was a great idea and tasted fine but the ingredient list needs to be rechecked.

This book is fun to read and really makes you want to bake. However, when I made a recipe this weekend, I did find an error. The blueberry shortbread recipe calls for one stick of butter but needs two. I made the recipe using one stick and the dough didn't come together at all. Something was obviously wrong. So I checked a similar recipe that Gale Gand contributed to Baking with Julia and it called for twice the amount of butter. I added another stick and the cookies turned out great.

All in all, though, this cookbook is worth getting just for all the great ideas. But if you make the blueberry shortbread, double the butter.

i love the pictures. love the trio suggestions. her instructions are detailed and clear. i love that the baking supplies necessary are noted in the margin of the recipe so one doesn't need to go searching in the middle of a recipe. most of my desserts came out superb.
however, i also found a mistake - the twinkle twinkies don't quite puff up enough to fill a 9x13 pan. they were flat so i used a 9x9 pan instead. anyway, it was a great idea and tasted fine but the ingredient list needs to be rechecked.

Here is a wealth of info on reducing serving portions for dessert, but with the added suggestion on each recipe of three combos served as a tasting menu.

How about Bread Puddings with Orange Marmalade, Mint-Chocolate Chip Meringues and Roasted Strawberries with Cherry Balsalmic Sauce? Or Cherry Charlottes, Cinnamon Peanut Brittle and Tiny Lemon Angel Cakes with Lemon Confit.

My favorte trios: Raisin-Anise Biscotti, Canneles, and Taffy Lady Apples; Red, White and Blueberry Salad, Myrna's Toasted Cocunut-Chocolate Bars and Petit Popovers with Peach Butter.

Gale knows her subject matter, intense with excitement and skill about it and also is passionate about passing this love of dessert making and creativity on to the rest of us.

Finally, got to try "Chocolate Raspberry Pot Pies" "Parfaits of Tangerine Sorbet and Sour-Cream Ice Cream" and "Blackberry Brown-Butter Financiers."

Go crazy, this is just a motherload of great dessert offerings you'll not find in anyother place.

First and foremost, I highly recommend this book. I just ordered a copy of it for my mother. The recipes may take a lot of time, but they aren't tricky. The results are delightful. I've only made half a dozen things but all have turned out very well.

I agree with other reviewers that there are puzzling discrepancies. One recipe called for "9 ounces of pecan halves (about 3/4 cup)." By the time I had weighed 9 oz of pecan halves, I had about 7/4 cups. So trust yourself, some, when things don't seem "right".

But don't let that stop you from using this cookbook! Fantastic stuff.

This is a good book but in my oponion, photos make the difference between a good cookbook and a great cookbook. Yes, Ms. Gand is a grand pastry chef but when I look for a cookbook, I want to see pictures, lots and lots of accompanying pictures. There is a mid-section with a selection of photo's of certain desserts but it doesn't mean much if out of many recipes, only a few are selected for a visual tour. I want to see what I am preparing to create; the recipe titles sound good but how is it supposed to turn out? I own over 500 books and I truly feel that photo's make the sale; if I was a professional baker, then I suppose I wouldn't be needing them. But I am a home baker, and that's basically who these type of books are for.