You Made That Dessert?: Create Fabulous Treats, Even If You Can Barely Boil Water [Paperback]

Beth Lipton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2009

100+ simple-yet-sophisticated desserts for the undomestic diva

 

This book shows the savvy, modern woman how to make fabulous, beautiful desserts for any occasion without running all over town for exotic ingredients; without a kitchen full of expensive tools; and, most importantly, without feeling overwhelmed.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Washington Post

 

Are you traumatized by special occasions that require a sweet ending? Do you always offer to bring a salad to potlucks? If so, Beth Lipton's "You Made That Dessert?" could be your salvation.

 

She has excellent taste (and by that, of course, I mean she shares my taste). Nothing is too fussy, but much to her credit she doesn't succumb to pre-fab shortcuts. This is a book for anyone truly interested in gaining some baking skills and understanding what's going on without getting a degree in chemistry.

 

She covers a little bit of everything with chapters on cookies and bars, cakes, custards and puddings, pies and fruit desserts, candies, and sauces and frostings. She even includes a final chapter entitled "Emergency Desserts (Don't Panic!)." This is basically cheese and chocolate; a good reminder of what you can do in a pinch.

 

As I flipped through, I found I was marking more recipes to try than I passed over. I settled on three:  Geraldine's Chocolate-Date Cake. Its wonderful blend of flavors -- coffee, dates and chocolate -- enticed me. The dates act both as a sweetener and a moistener for the cake. Warm Gingerbread Pudding Cake seemed right for the season, as we had that cool rain rolling in last week. It's one of those "impossible" cakes with liquid poured over the batter before it goes into the oven. This magically turns into a gooey bottom layer. Let me tell you how good this smells when it bakes and how perfect it is with a dollop of whipped cream. Bliss. Great Big Coconut Cake. This bundt was not as successful. It looked promising with the layers of flavor provided by coconut milk and flaked coconut. But the amount of leavener killed it for me. The cake rose to a perfect height, but tasted more like a biscuit. Not a bad thing, in truth...just not what I wanted.

I plan to try several other recipes in the book, including Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pie, Molten Dark Chocolate Cakes, Silky Chocolate Nutella Mousse and Mocha Cream Pie.

 

Nowadays, I don't add many new cookbooks to my shelves because there are just so darn many competing for attention -- themed, specialty, holiday, allergy, you name it. Even with precious little space, this is one I'll make room for.

--Leigh Lambert, Washington Post

 

 

 

St. Petersburg Times

By Ellen Folkman, Times Correspondent

TITLE: You Made That Dessert? by Beth Lipton

Generally speaking: Plenty of doable recipes to wow family and friends. You'll find familiar recipes, such as pineapple upside-down cake, but new ones to try, too, such as tiramisu cake. You'll be inspired to whip up something sweet.

For: The average home cook with some experience. Some recipes have long instructions that may be intimidating but there are no difficult techniques.

Recipes: Pecan pie bars, dark chocolate pudding, currant cranberry spice cake, almond raspberry cake, brownie ice cream torte, chai pots de creme, nectarine-blueberry crisp, warm gingerbread pudding cake

 

"You Made That Dessert? has the honest simplicity of Joy of Cooking, but with baking pointers from your mom. Every step of the way you are getting tender reassurances that you are on the right track. This is a great book for beginners and anyone who already bakes. I have my oven preheated  and I am ready to bake!" -- Karen Tack, co-author of Hello, Cupcake!

 

From the Back Cover

It’s inevitable. There comes a point in life when it finally sinks in—store-bought cakes and cookies for special occasions just aren’t going to cut it anymore. But while you may be savvy in a zillion other respects, you have neither the kitchen skills nor the time to create the desserts you see on TV. Let You Made That Dessert? come to the rescue!

 

Beth Lipton shows you how to make fabulous, beautiful desserts for any occasion  without a kitchen full of expensive tools and, most importantly, without feeling overwhelmed. Accompanied by full-color photos, the book’s more than 100 recipes—from Molten Dark Chocolate Cakes and Toblerone Brownies to Pumpkin Mousse and Cherry Clafouti—are easy and quick to make, but don’t sacrifice quality. 

 

Advance praise for You Made That Dessert?

“You Made That Dessert? has the honest simplicity of Joy of Cooking, but with

baking pointers from your mom. Every step of the way you are getting tender

 reassurances that you are on the right track. This is a great book for beginners

and anyone who already bakes. I have my oven preheated and I am ready to bake!”
—Karen Tack, author of Hello, Cupcake!

 

 

Cookies and Bars
Cakes
Custards and Puddings
Pies and Fruit Desserts
Candies
Sauces and Frostings
Emergency Desserts 
(Don’t Panic!)
The Tools
The Ingredients
The Lingo
The How-Tos

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Globe Pequot (September 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762750081
• ISBN-13: 978-0762750085
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,231,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly remarkable range of memorable treats, November 15, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Made That Dessert?: Create Fabulous Treats, Even If You Can Barely Boil Water (Paperback)

Whether it's the finishing touch to a great dinner, or a palate-pleasing treat for a celebratory occasion, there's nothing quite like a terrific home-made dessert. But not all of us are culinary experts or skilled dessert makers from scratch. That's why "You Made That Dessert?: Create Fabulous Treats, Even If You Can Barely Boil Water", a 216-page beautifully illustrated compendium of more than one hundred 'kitchen cook friendly' recipes compiled by Beth Lipton (a trained pastry chef and the food editor for 'All You' magazine) is such a welcome and highly recommended addition to personal and family cookbook collections. With recipes ranging from Mom's Mexican Wedding Cookies; Sour Cream Coffee Cake; and Buttermilk Pie; to Honeyed Fudge; Ginger-Bourbon Peach Sauce; and Double Chocolate Croissant Bread Budding, "You Made That Dessert?: Create Fabulous Treats, Even If You Can Barely Boil Water" will enable even the most novice of kitchen cooks to consistently turn out truly remarkable range of memorable treats that will satisfy both the eye and the appetite.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Have First Dessert Cookbook, October 10, 2009

By 

Lynn Craig "Cookie Baker" (Seattle, WA USE) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Made That Dessert?: Create Fabulous Treats, Even If You Can Barely Boil Water (Paperback)

I love this book. It's laid out so that even the most novice of bakers can have success in the kitchen, yet the recipes are far from beginner fare. Beautiful baked goods like Banana Snack Cake with Caramel Frosting, Double Apple Streusel Coffee Cake, and Black and White Trifle are all clearly explained and taste wonderful. Best of all, the recipes use real ingredients like butter and eggs instead of boxed cake mixes or boxed pudding mixes. I'm giving this at every bridal shower now!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dessert at its best!, September 23, 2009

By 

Sarah Burningham "teen author" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Made That Dessert?: Create Fabulous Treats, Even If You Can Barely Boil Water (Paperback)

This is a book I've been waiting for. Because although yes, I know the author (and she is as brilliant in the kitchen as you would guess), I am one of those people who can barely boil water. Lucky for me, I'm married to a guy who knows his way around a cutting board, but I've been wanting to expand my list of recipes from 1 (chili) to many (with things like zucchini bread and tres leches cake) and with YOU MADE THAT DESSERT? I can do it without being totally overwhelmed and facing dessert disasters. I'm a busy girl and the recipes in this book are clear, easy and don't require ingredients that I've never heard of and can't pronounce. But they are real - none of that fake box stuff - and taste like heaven. With this book sitting on my counter, I feel like I can actually bake, and do it well. Oh, and don't miss the Chocolate Date Cake. It's worth it's weight in gold.