Customer Reviews

Unforgettable Desserts

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I have cut out quite a few of Dede Wilson's recipes in Bon Appetit magazines so I had hopes for this book. She did not disappoint (except for the lack of photos for each dessert).

Dede provides clear & detailed instructions for "More than 140 Memorable Dessert Recipes for All Year Round." She offers tips throughout the book to help the reader achieve the best results.

The recipes range in difficulty. While a beginning baker should be able to make many of these delights, others seem rather challenging and involve quite a few steps. For instance, the Chocolate-Glazed Marzipan Cake with Cognac-Soaked Apricots involves baking two cakes, coating them in syrup, spreading the apricot spread, applying a marzipan circle, frosting with buttercream, topping it ganache, and then making apricot roses to use as decoration with marzipan roses, leaves and tendrils. This is an example of one of the recipes which really should have been accompanied by a photograph (but was not).

The first chapter, the Basics, includes "building block" recipes which are used throughout the book such as:
* Butter piecrust
* Sugar tart crust
* Blitz pastry crust
* Dark and moist chocolate cake
* Dark chocolate ganache
* Italian meringue buttercream (and vanilla variation)
* Pastry cream (and liqueur variation)
* Lemon cream
* Whipped cream
* Marzipan

The next chapter covers Ingredients, Equipment, and Techniques. Many of the ingredients are likely to be found in the average cook's home kitchen but I have to admit I am missing several (such as cacoa nibs, rose water, and gianduja as well as edible gold luster powder and 22-karat gold leaf). The author unfortunately does not always suggest a source from which to purchase specialty ingredients but there are three pages of resources at the back of the book. The necessary equipment is also likely to be in most home kitchens with a few exceptions (such as a blade-style coffee grinder used to grind poppy seeds as well as a pastry bag and certain tips).

The third chapter, entitled Breakfast, Brunch, and Snack Cakes, includes recipes for:
* Lemon-ginger scones
* Brown sugar-buttermilk snack cake
* Butter and cream sugar crunch cake
* Marble streusel pound cake with pecans, lemon, and orange
* Almond mounds of joy cake
* Poppy seed-honey-apricot pastries
* Passion fruit-citrus pound cake with tropical fruit
* Gianduja banana baby cakes with hazelnut streusel
* Browned butter-almond brunch cake with blueberry sauce
* Fresh red currant scones with currant cream
* French crullers with rose-amaretto glaze

The next chapter, Cookies and Bars, includes recipes for:
* Dark brown sugar-chocolate chunk bars with chocolate-molasses glaze
* Matcha tea leaf shortbreads
* Extreme milk chocolate brownies
* Cacao nib and caramelized almond biscotti
* Florentine bars with candied orange and cherries
* Classic shortbread
* Cranberry gingerbread cookies
* Mallowmores
* Giant meringue pillows with almonds
* Giant ginger chews
* Pistachio macaroons
* Almond macaroons with raspberry-rose filling
* Nutella linzer cookies
* Butterscotch-pecan brownies with boozy raisins
* Almond-apricot brownies with tart cherry ganache
* Pistachio butterballs
* Chocolate chunkochino cookies

The fifth chapter, Fruit Desserts, includes the following recipes:
* Ginger shortcakes with caramelized nectarines and sour cream
* Spiced plum pavlovas
* Mango, banana, and pineapple chocolate crisp
* Summer berry vacherin with crème fraiche
* Mango fool with blackberry-lime crush
* Thousand leaves with blackberry pastry cream
* Strawberry biscuit shortcakes
* Banana-walnut baklava with honey-cinnamon syrup
* Honey-glazed banana fritters with sesame seeds
* Red wine-poached cherries with chocolate-flecked shortcakes
* Six-fruit gazpacho with crystallized mint

The next chapter, Cakes, includes recipes for:
* Chocolate-glazed marzipan cake with cognac-soaked apricots
* Toasted coconut cake with lime cream and mount gay rum
* Rum raisin-chocolate roulade with whipped chocolate ganache
* Fruits and flowers flan
* Ricotta cheesecake with Clementine-cranberry marmalade
* Clementine-chocolate-almond torte
* Chocolate ganache cake with Armagnac-soaked prunes
* 24-karat manjari lemon truffle heart
* Walnut praline torte with espresso buttercream
* Pomegranate-chocolate mousse cake
* Chocolate mango cloud cake
* Cassata with chocolate, cherries, oranges, and almonds
* Chocolate mousse meringue cake with blueberries and cream
* Voluptuous chocolate-covered strawberry ganache cake
* Angelic chocolate-espresso mousse cake with chocolate-dipped strawberries
* Black cocoa blackout cake
* Crème fraiche cheesecake with rhubarb compote

The seventh chapter, Pies and Tarts, includes the following recipes:
* Latticed brown butter-vanilla bean pear pie
* Cheesecake tart with...tropical topping, classic strawberry topping or lemon-blueberry topping
* Berries pie
* Red and purple plum tart with marzipan crumble
* Cranberry-apricot linzer torte
* Pecan-coconut tart with chocolate crust
* Espresso black-bottomed pie in a chocolate chip cookie crust
* Lemon meringue tart
* Bittersweet chocolate-caramel tart with espresso cream and chocolate tangle
* Deep-dish sour cream-apple pie with lemon-cardamom streusel
* Caramelized banana cream tart in pecan crust
* Apple, pear, and quince pie with cheddar crust
* Fresh coconut custard cream pie
* Amaretto-almond crunch pumpkin pie
* Pear frangipane tart with red wine sauce
* Blueberry crème fraiche tart with poppy seed crust
* Double-decker "key" lime pie (two ways)
* White peach and raspberry "blossom" tartlets with pistachio and essensia
* Melon ribbon tartlets
* Glazed strawberry tart with champagne sabayon

The next chapter, Custards, Gelees, Mousses, and Puddings, includes recipes for:
* Peekaboo hazelnut-espresso crème brulee
* Creamy Arborio rice pudding with lemon cream, raspberry sorbet and chocolate
* Spiced pear-white chocolate tiramisu trifle
* Giant cream puff
* Champagne-cassis mousse with raspberries
* Warm chocolate velvet
* Pomegranate panna cotta with pomegranate-chocolate sauce
* Mocha-cointreau zebra éclairs
* Concord grape gelee panna cotta parfait
* Bajan crème brulee

The ninth chapter, Frozen Desserts and Sauces, includes recipes for:
* Browned butter-oatmeal cookie sandwiches with pan-roasted blueberry ice cream
* Frozen milk chocolate-peanut butter pie
* Peach melba profiteroles
* Frozen peanut butter-honey cheesecake with warm chocolate-honey sauce
* Raspberry-peach parfait cake with peach schnapps compote
* Espresso-stracciatella semifreddo with Kahlua-caramel sauce
* Frozen caramel soufflé with bittersweet chocolate whisky sauce
* Frozen apricot parfait with amaretto-poached apricots
* Frozen chocolate-mint parfait with crystallized mint
* Poached nectarines with rose granite' and frozen sabayon
* Boozy raisin-pecan butterscotch sauce

The final chapter, Candies, Confections, Truffles, and Tidbits, includes the following recipes:
* Chocolate raspberry bliss bites
* Hot chocolate truffle bombs
* Chocolate-covered caramelized macadamias
* Matcha chocolate-covered almonds
* Fleur de sel caramels
* Mango pate de fruit
* Ganache squares with blueberry pate de fruit
* Marcona almond-cacao nib praline bark

You may have noticed from the recipe titles that quite a few of these desserts require alcohol. I counted 30 recipes which call for alcohol (wine for poaching cherries, nectarines or pears; Grand Marnier for sauce; Kahlua for chocolate mousse; etc.).

I would have liked to have seen many more photos, especially for less common desserts. I know what a brownie is supposed to look like, but not more exotic treats such as Angelic Chocolate-Espresso Mousse Cake with Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries (with an angel meringue crust). It would be helpful to see what the finished cake should look like. I counted only 28 photos for more than 100 desserts.

I'm a pastry chef meaning I'm always looking for ideas. I've been noticed to sit in the book store staring at the dessert books, writing in my notebook the recipes. When I find a book that has several recipes that I would like to try out, I usually purchase the book, but not until I get home onto Amazon. I liked a few of these recipes. I only had 2 cons.
1) I am a huge picture person for my cookbooks
2) I wish they were in weights not cups, the new thing is to buy a scale and be more accurate.

This is a really beautiful book, and I am a sucker for beautiful food pictures. Some things I wish I knew before buying:
- it has a lot of recipes combining fruit and chocolate

The techniques in here are great, and I am eager to try them out. I did try the chocolate cake recipe out and was excited because it contained no eggs. The batter was fabulous, so you can imagine my surprise when the cake was awful!(Even the kids wouldn't eat it) It looked beautiful with the chocolate ganache glaze.(also from the book, which was really good) It was dry and just ...blah.

I don't have the courage to try another thing in the book right now. I am thinking of donating of to the library after I try a few of the techniques.

Dede Wilson does an excellent job of writing, and stressing types of chocolate you need to use. She makes recipes very clear, and easy to follow. I'd love to go to a class she is teaching. I would definitely buy her books again, I just wish I could've looked through this one first!

The title says it all, the desserts int his book are definitely unforgettable. You may have to take an extra run on the treadmill after eating some of these, but they are worth it. These desserts can make any meal more delightful. Perfect for holiday entertaining. i would also recommend this book as a gift for anyone who like to cook - or eat.

This is a must have for your recipe "library"....
Wonderful recipes! Fool proof!

This book has a predictable variety of easy-to-bake cakes, that are smothered in chocolate and decorated with fruit to mask the bland nature of the dessert. The cakes are quickly thrown together, the pictures demonstrate under-baked chiffon cakes and overbeaten egg whites.

If you really are looking for unforgettable desserts that will make your guests eat the plate try this book by Bugat & Healy

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Cake-Modern-French-Decorating/dp/0688141994/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3