Gale Gand's Short and Sweet: Quick Desserts with Eight Ingredients or Less [Hardcover]

Gale Gand (Author), Julia Moskin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 13, 2004

From Gale Gand, award-winning executive pastry chef and host of Food Network's Sweet Dreams, more than 75 tempting desserts that are long on flavor . . . even when you're short on time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Informing readers that "simple doesn't mean boring," Gand, the pastry chef at the Chicago restaurant Tru and host of the Food Network series Sweet Dreams, whips up a selection of moderately easy but impressive recipes. Mixing classics like Cherry Clafouti and Real Hot Fudge Sundaes with innovations like Crisp Banana and Pineapple Fritters and Cool Raspberry-Lime Terrine, Gand's book encompasses a wide variety of sweets. All the recipes require eight ingredients or less, but Gand manages to break from the usual suspects. In addition to unsalted butter, vanilla, all-purpose flour and sugar, her recipes call for Japanese panko bread crumbs, polenta, Pecorino Romano cheese, chai spices and Marcona almonds. Most recipes are quick, and Gand divides them into chapters according to how much active time readers can expect to spend in the kitchen (most recipes fall into the 30-minute category; others take either 15 or 45 minutes, not including baking or freezing time). Gand encourages baking shortcuts (e.g., use frozen puff pastry for the Banana Maple Tarte Tatin or a refrigerated pie crust when making the Pear and Apple Streusel Pie), and gives tips on cooking with kids, too. Throughout, she stresses that keeping ingredients-and tools-to a minimum will allow chefs to turn out sumptuous desserts no matter how hectic a day they've had.
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From the Inside Flap

From Gale Gand, award-winning executive pastry chef and host of Food Network's Sweet Dreams, more than 75 tempting desserts that are long on flavor . . . even when you're short on time.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter (January 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400047331
• ISBN-13: 978-1400047338
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #926,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for Baking with Kids. Neat Variations on Classics, April 15, 2004

By 

B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gale Gand's Short and Sweet: Quick Desserts with Eight Ingredients or Less (Hardcover)

This book, `Gale Gand's Short + Sweet' is the fourth work of which Gale Gand has been a co-author or principle author. Gale has demonstrated several of these recipes, especially the recipes for kids, on Gale's Food Network show, `Sweet Dreams'.

The book focuses on recipes that can be done quickly with eight or fewer ingredients. With a few caveats, the book succeeds in providing interesting, workable recipes for people with few pastry skills which can be done in a relatively short time, with no expensive ingredients and no unusual ingredients.

The recipes are divided among four chapters covering recipes which can be completed with 15 minutes, 30 minutes or 45 minutes active time, plus a chapter on `kid doable' recipes. The book gives relatively quick recipes for some old standards such as hot fudge sundaes, Clafouti, scones, Panna Cotta, chocolate chip cookies, shortbread, cheesecake, Tarte Tatin, turnovers, semifreddo, Tiramisu, apple tarts, crème brulee, buttermilk biscuits (c/o Shirley Corriher), cinnamon-raisin bread, and my all time favorite snickerdoodles.
While all these names are familiar, Gale gives a new twist to almost all of them, leaving only the venerable Shirley Corriher biscuit tradition and the snickerdoodle recipe untouched. Thus, she is following the same tradition as David Lebovitz by producing creative variations on the standards. Ms. Gand does a little better in my mind than Lebovitz in `Ripe for Desserts' in that she has concentrated on recipes that can be done easily and cheaply. Unlike Lebovitz first book, `Room for Dessert', Ms. Gand does not give long discussions on technique or ingredients. Her effort is redeemed by her recipes' simplicity.

There is a really important caveat to the claim that the recipes can be done in 15, 30, or 45 minutes. This caveat is that this does not include baking times, which can be up to 30 minutes. It also does not include refrigerate time to relax or condition intermediate preparations. This time is not inconsequential when it comes to planning kitchen time. On the other side of the coin, the recipes are quite good in giving points in the preparation where intermediate steps can be refrigerated or frozen before finishing. This may not be a big thing most of the time, but when it helps, it really helps.

There are some things I found which may only annoy a frustrated teacher. These are errors in fact or errors in grammar. The most glaring error in fact I found was the statement that balsamic vinegar is made from red grapes. Since this is such an obviously easy mistake to make, it signals a lack of care by the publisher's copy editor. The same can be said of the few very obvious grammatical errors.

I generally have little interest in photographs of savory dishes, but desserts are a different story. Desserts are as much about eye candy as they are food for the sweet tooth. On average, the pictures in this book are good to very good, with a few stinkers here and there. It is beyond me why the publishers could not see their way clear to include a photograph of every recipe. Desserts, especially when done for kids or for parties, can often be chosen on the basis of a picture.

I am delighted to see Gale Gand come up with some new episodes for her Food Network show `Sweet Dreams'. I am not a big dessert maker, but Gale, along with some other Food Network hosts comprises my favorite comfort food for the mind. This may seem somewhat insubstantial, but the rapport between Gale and her son, Gio, adds a warmth to her printed and TV presentations which may be missing or slightly phony with other hosts. I would seriously add this consideration to your evaluating this book for purchase.

This book is recommended for anyone who likes to create with desserts. It is highly recommended for anyone who likes to bake and create desserts for and with kids.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eclectic collection, December 4, 2006

By 

Smita Rao (NY, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gale Gand's Short and Sweet: Quick Desserts with Eight Ingredients or Less (Hardcover)

Gale Gand presents an eclectic collection of dessert recipes. You may not find your favorite but you will certanly find something that will pique your interest. Organizing recipes by time was a good idea. My favorite recipe from this book was the passion fruit mousse - innovative and yet infallible!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elegant but Simple, January 3, 2007

By 

Martha S. Matloff MD "cookdoc" (Geneva, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gale Gand's Short and Sweet: Quick Desserts with Eight Ingredients or Less (Hardcover)

Great ideas for desserts that are made from things already on your shelf and that don't take too much time to make.