Purdy's is the most careful and thoughtful collection of light sweets that's appeared in recent memory. Those intent on discovering how ingredients react and the chemistry of fats will be sated by her explanations; those searching for great taste and less fattiness will find both in her 200 recipes. Fruits, egg whites, nonfat milk, and decreased quantities of sugar and butter make the difference; in fact, 10 varieties of cheesecake alone, from elegant apple to brown sugar with spiced blueberry sauce, are indicative of her baking imagination. Each dessert includes notes about yield, advance preparation needed, special equipment, temperature and time, and nutritional analysis, as well as a comparison to the traditional recipe.
Barbara Jacobs
About the Author
Susan G. Purdy is most recently the author of
Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too, a Julia Child Cookbook Award winner. She studied at the Cordon Bleu and L'Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne in Paris and with master pastry chef Albert Kumin. She teaches pastry making at cooking schools throughout New England, and her articles on low-fat desserts appear regularly in
Eating Well magazine. She lives in northwestern Connecticut.