Customer Reviews

New Orleans Classic Desserts: Recipes from Favorite Restaurants

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

 

 

Update 8/24/2008:
The author was kind enough to send me the 2008 revised printing. The following recipes have been modified (that I know of)
-Mckenzie's Turtle Cookies
-Doberge Cake (cake recipe)still no salt, so add your own

The sweet potato pie and strawberry shortcake recipes have not changed. I asked the author about the lack of eggs in the pie filling. Here's the response. "No eggs - the consistency is like a regular pie - we have made it several times and it is delicious and holds up"

I am sticking with my own recipes for the pie filling, crust and strawberry shortcake.

Orignial Review 12/17/2007:
I received this book as a gift and I was so excited. Then, as others have pointed out, I discovered the recipe errors. I called the publisher and the only error they knew of was for the McKenzie's Turtle cookies on pg 60. The correction is 2 Tbs of water instead of 2 tsp.

I know the Doberge Cake on pg 21 is wrong; sugar and salt are missing. The sweet potato pie has no eggs in the filling and too much water in the crust. The publisher is supposed to call me back with these corrections. I will modify my review once I get them.

This book has almost 40 recipes not including the accompaniements, sauces and garnishes. Errors aside (yes I know these are a HUGE deal for a cookbook), the photography is beautiful -- each recipe has a color picture. The sidebars with each recipe are walk down memory lane. Even with the errors, I will treasure this book. It is a must for any New Orleans transplant or resident with a sweet tooth! Even those who enjoy a good dessert will appreciate this book.

Leah Chase's sweet potato pie recipe on page 33 was a disaster. A little research on the internet revealed the recipe had been previously published in a Julia Child cookbook which included 2 eggs and nutmeg. The crust should have begun with 1/4 cup water, not 1/2. The Doberge Cake recipe on page 21 does not list the amounts of sugar and salt to be used. Also, the recipe for the turtle cookies was disappointing and awry. Too many major mistakes for such a small cookbook, and these are only the ones that I (a non-professional) have found.

New Orleans is one of my favorite cities and the restaurants are remarkable. This book brought back so many good times in good places that I almost cried. The stories that accompany the recipes bring me back every time. I've made most of the desserts in the book and each have been outstanding recreations of the desserts I've enjoyed in the restaurants. Best of all was Cafe Brulot Pudding Cake, and then perhaps the Bread Pudding, or maybe it was the Bananas Foster. The photographs send me straight to the kitchen in a frenzy.

I received this cookbook as a gift from my cousin who lives in New Orleans. After admiring it for weeks I decided to make the Strawberry Shortcake on page 30. Fortunately I did not add all the half and half at once. The recipe calls for two pints, but it should be two cups. With all these errors I would hope the publisher would issue some corrections and recall the book and replace the ones that contain the defective recipes. Besides the obvious frustration over the errors, these can be very costly mistakes when you have to throw out the entire recipe. With that said I cannot give the book a high number of stars because I am hesitant to trust any of the recipes.

Unfortunately, the McKenzie's Turtle Cookies are lacking a few key ingredients. McKenzie's Turtle Cookies were a fond memory of my childhood which I was hoping to share with my children. As written, the recipe yields a mess of flour. With a little research: Baking soda, Salt, Brown sugar, more butter, and less flour fix the recipe right up. After this disaster, I will have to confirm the rest of the recipes before I set foot in the kitchen. My mother hated cookbooks that were not kitchen tested before publication. My mother and I now have something in common. The pictures are lovely though. - From a former New Orleanian

This will be a real collector's treasure! One that everyone who ever visited or wanted to visit New Orleans (as well as locals) will want to own. It is truly authentic and offers the very best of the best of New Orleans' most famous dessert recipes. The writing in this book absolutely sparkles and reads like a best seller novel that fairly captures the reader with sprinkles of history, tales, and local nuances along with being thoroughly seasoned with humor. You can tell the writer must be deeply involved in New Orleans' tastes and culture. The photography alone is worth the price of the book - the reader can almost taste the pages they are so luscious and sensuous. But the real gift is that the recipes are truly DOABLE!!! even by a novice! You will want at least 2 of these - one for you and one for a gift that will be relished by anyone who can read!

The pictures are beautiful, and upon first glance, it looks like a really wonderful cookbook. I went to make the Doberge cake, and as others have stated, the recipe does not include sugar or salt in the ingredients, but obviously it calls for them in the recipe. That such a glaring error could be made, makes me very suspicious of the other recipes. Also, I really hate the layout of the ingredients--they aren't listed in the order you use them in and they just seem like a random jumble before you get to the recipe. Also, I just don't like the way she writes. I like recipes that give an intro and any background material or even have side notes, but make the instructions for the recipe actual instructions, not dialog. It reads more like a blog entry, and for me just not up to snuff for a cookbook. Whoever the editor was for this book, shame, shame, shame on you!

There's New Orleans...and then there's ... NEW ORLEANS. New Orleans is the not-yet-back-up-and-running St. Charles streetcar. NEW ORLEANS is the RTA Desire bus line. New Orleans is the French Quarter. NEW ORLEANS is the undiscovered beauty of Fauborg Marigny.

There are also two "New Orleans'" in the culinary world. New Orleans is anything with "Bam's" name on it (Falls River, MA's own Emeril Lagasse). NEW ORLEANS is the fabulous new restaurant in the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Melange, that has dishes from the city's most famous restaurants on its menu. And New Orleans is knowing where to find the best main courses in the city, but NEW ORLEANS is knowing where to find the best desserts. Well, it has been until now.

FINALLY, someone has written the ultimate New Orleans dessert cookbook. Yes, if you are adventurous enough in some cases, you too can try this at home. (Warning, though, beignets are harder to make CORRECTLY than they seem!!) New Orleans Classic Desserts by Kit Wohl is more like an art book than a cookbook. Shop for it with your knife and fork. Just as the old divining rods found water, your utensils will find this book. The photography is amazing. The dishes literally jump off the page and onto your plate.

But this book is more than recipes and photos (although they are filling enough for any appetite). Ms. Wohl has a way of writing that weaves its way through each recipe...giving some history of the great restaurants from whence they hail as well of some of the fascinating personalities behind the names. Speaking of names, just before I read this book, I read Linda Ellerbee's tome "Take Big Bites" which takes you around the world through the eyes of her stomach. (Notice a trend in my choice of reading material??) I thought I noticed a familiar thread when I saw that both authors (Ellerby and Wohl) credit each other in their books. These two foodies are friends!!! And lo and behold, an Ellerbee recipe finds its way onto the pages of N.O.C.D.

Look at this book in the store. Flip through the pages (take a napkin with you). Salivate over it in the store and then buy it. Take it home and fatten yourself up on these great New Orleans desserts (the few I've tried are actually very non-chef friendly!). You won't regret it for a minute. As they say down in New Orleans...Lessez Les Bon Temps Roulez!!!

I was excited to try this recipe on page 60 and was disappointed to find that there is definitely something wrong w the recipe. Could the reviewer who said the publisher issued a correction tell me where to get it? I would really like to make these and yet the recipes on line are so different that I'm not sure where to go w/ it...

What a remarkable collection of local favorites and the kind of desserts visitors to New Orleans never forget. Whenever I get a hankering to return to New Orleans, I open my copy and drool over the spectacular photographs. The bread pudding recipes are right on, love the Cafe Brulot Pudding Cake and can't get enough of the Pecan Pie. I've given it as gifts for almost every occasion and it never fails to receive applause. That New Orleans chefs would offer their recipes to the world is just another indication of their warmth and generosity.

The behind-the-scenes side stories and history behind the city and the desserts make me long to return. It is as much a book to read with relish and delight as it is a cookbook.