The Dessert Bible - Hardcover

Kimball, Christopher

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316496987 ISBN 13: 9780316496988

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2000

Synopsis

Master chef & Cook's Illustrated founder & editor Chris Kimball presents the best & easiest way to make more than 300 of America's favorite desserts. The Dessert Bible is the definitive dessert cookbook for the American home cook. Chris Kimball reviews equipment from mixers to rolling pins & discusses which are the best ingredients regarding types of flour, sugar, baking chocolate, & more. He explains basic techniques like beating & folding in egg whites, working with pie dough & folding flour into batters. The recipes include layer cakes, pies, tarts, cookies, brownies, puddings, mousses, ice cream, sorbets, fruit desserts, sauces & frostings. In addition, Kimball offers a section on favorite restaurant desserts from around the country that can be made at home.

About this title

Review:

The best part of The Dessert Bible is not the recipes--although they are wonderful--it's that Kimball, the founder and editor of Cook's Illustrated, shares his discovery process. You feel as though you are standing right next to him in his kitchen while he puzzles out the best lemon bar recipe. How do you make a bar that's zippy but not too sweet? How far should a Fallen Chocolate Cake fall? Can you substitute nondairy creamer in Crème Anglaise? (A resounding no!) Step by step, Kimball walks you through his experimentations, sharing both the triumphs and the failures. Cornstarch may beautifully thicken your lemon curd but it'll taste metallic. Each recipe is fronted by several paragraphs or pages of Kimball's baking process. He tells you which ingredients he tried and what happened. After each recipe are variations and a section called "What Can Go Wrong?" that points out common mistakes and misconceptions. The Dessert Bible covers cookies; brownies and bars; cakes, frostings, and glazes; brioche and fritters; pies, tarts, and fruit desserts; soufflés, puddings, and custards; frozen desserts; and restaurant desserts to make at home. In addition, several chapters offer tips and techniques on baking, baking sheets and pans, utensils, and kitchen appliances. "If The Dessert Bible provides you with a solid knowledge of dessert making," says Kimball, "you will gain the confidence to think for yourself in the kitchen, balancing a healthy mistrust of recipes (even mine) with enough common sense to rely on your own experience." --Dana Van Nest

About the Author:

Chris Kimball founded Cook's Magazine in 1980; it has grown to a paid circulation of 1,000,000. He hosts America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country, which are the top-rated cooking shows on public television, reaching 2 million viewers per week in over 94% of American households. Kimball is a regular contributor to both the Today Show and the CBS Early Show. He has been written up in most major newspapers, many national magazines, including The New Yorker and Time, and regularly contributes to NPR's Morning Edition, including doing a regular Thanksgiving segment. He will also host a public radio show on cooking starting in the fall of 2010.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0316496987
• ISBN 13: 9780316496988
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416