Short & Sweet [Hardcover]

Melanie Barnard (Author), Ann Stratton (Photographer)

Book Description

Series: . | Publication Date: June 8, 1999

Irresistibly simple and elegant desserts that can be made fewer than seven ingredients Some of the best desserts are also the simplest and the fastest. And with Short & Sweet, there's no reason for anyone to sacrifice dessert just because she's short on time. Delicious recipes include cool poached pears in wine syrup with shavings of chocolate, broiled peaches with a crunchy, buttery topping, a mound of ice cream melting under rivulets of warm caramel sauce, a feathery light blueberry cornbread. Melanie Barnard, a coauthor of "30-Minute Main Courses," the second most popular feature in Bon Appétit magazine, explains how to prepare quick desserts from scratch or cleverly take advantage of the many high-quality convenience products on the market. Whether it's a homey dessert like Brownie Thins or Peanut Butter Mousse or Hot Fudge Pudding Cake or an inventive creation like Raspberry White Chocolate Soufflé or an Apricot and Balsamic Cherry Sundae, all use seven ingredients or fewer ingredients and take less than half an hour to make.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Melanie Barnard is the smartest cookie on the block. If cookbooks were rated based on innovative techniques and ideas, Short & Sweet might rank number 1. With Barnard's guidance, in 30 minutes or less and using seven ingredients or fewer, you can enjoy cupcake-size cream cheese cakes, virtually fool-proof soufflés, even an espresso-flavored Baked Alaska.

For everyday options, Barnard offers Roasted Strawberries, gloriously glazed with butter and sugar, among other fresh fruit recipes. Her Easiest-Ever Dessert Sorbet requires only the genius of freezing a can of apricots, then pureeing them, along with their syrup, in the food processor. Bittersweet Chocolate Drops are a cookie treat to make using Barnard's "melt-add-stir" technique, which produces cookie dough almost instantly. You need one pot, one baking pan, and no bowl. While Barnard believes in timesaving ingredients, from precut fresh fruit to frozen puff pastry, she also proves you can make good-as-grandma's Double Chocolate Pudding, from scratch, in a few minutes.

Short & Sweet's 150 recipes include something for everyone, from elegant, sophisticated Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse (which calls for marshmallow fluff) and a custardy Cherry Clafoutis any French chef would enjoy, to Classic Quick Fudge made with condensed milk. (This shortcut guarantees silky results, while it eliminates cooking the sugar to just the correct point and beating the fudge to make it creamy.) Thanks to this book, even the most novice cook or time-pressed hostess can serve up the same scrumptious, creative homemade desserts shown in Short and Sweet's eight mouthwatering color photos every day. --Dana Jacobi

Review

"Melanie Barnard is the smartest cookie on the block. If cookbooks were rated based on innovative techniques and ideas, SHORT & SWEET might rank number 1. With Barnard's guidance, in 30 minutes or less and using seven ingredients or fewer, you can enjoy cupcake-size cream cheese cakes, virtually fool-proof soufflés, even an espresso-flavored Baked Alaska...." Amazon.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (June 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395901456
• ISBN-13: 978-0395901458
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 9.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,143,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great recipes for quick but impressive desserts, November 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Short & Sweet (Hardcover)

Easy to follow, delicious recipes for family and friends. Recommend it highly to seasoned cooks or beginners.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delicious, fast & easy....love it!, October 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Short & Sweet (Hardcover)

I was given this book as a gift. I particularly loved some of the cookie recipes --theytaste great and are so easy (and I have cookbooks in the thousands!) - great pudding cake and many of the fruit desserts are really wonderful. I've given two of these books to friends. Great for our busy life style --and even I (retired) need this quick!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone who loves dessert should buy this book!, June 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Short & Sweet (Hardcover)

If you love serving and eating wonderful desserts but don't have the time to toil over making something very time-consuming, this book is for you. Every one of the recipes can be made in 30 minutes or less, and lots of them look and taste as though you've spent hours in the kitchen. I made the almost-flourless chocolate cake pictured on the cover for a fancy dinner party recently, and every person at the table asked for the recipe. It was elegant-looking and downright decadently divine! I highly recommend this book.