Gale Gand's Just a Bite: 125 Luscious Little Desserts - Hardcover

Gand, Gale; Moskin, Julia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0609608258 ISBN 13: 9780609608258

Publisher: Clarkson Potter, 2001

Synopsis

Sweets. As kids, we could never get enough, and anything sugary, gooey, and good was gratefully devoured. As adults, we give a polite “no thank you” when a dessert tray passes by, or take but a sliver of cake if offered, showing restraint that would make any ten-year-old incredulous. Well, that’s not fair. Why should kids get all the fun? Now, adults can have the best of both worlds.

Gale Gand’s Just a Bite is equal parts kitchen-table, kid-giggling joy and uptown, grown-up chic. Award-winning pastry chef Gale Gand has collected the recipes from her Food Network show Sweet Dreams and renowned restaurant Tru into a book that is as charming and accessible as the author herself. These recipes aren’t just for the expert baker or pastry connoisseur but also for the everyday cook looking to lighten up the end of a meal, or even replace the ubiquitous brownie with, say, Banana Brûlée Spoonfuls. With easy-to-follow instructions, a handful of ingredients, and a craving for fun, you’ll be whipping up Devil’s Peaks with Double-Chocolate Drizzle and popping them in your mouth before, as a kid, you could have licked the frosting beater clean.

Gale has also assembled a mini-menu of sorts for her delectables. Called the Tasting Trio, three of the treats are served together for maximum, sweet tooth bliss. Combinations like Bomb Poppers, Marshmallow Moons, and Butterfly Cupcakes; or Orange-Vanilla “Fried Eggs” on Cinnamon Toast, Meringue Cigarettes, and Mini Granita Watermelons. Or try your own assortments, putting together yummys like Stained-Glass Cookies and Fig Nortons with Peanut Butter Cookie—Grape Jelly Ice Cream Sandwiches and Mini Root Beer Floats. The possibilities are endless and the flavors . . . wow, with flavors like this, who needs to be a kid again?

About this title

Review

Once upon a time there were petit fours--delicious morsels to be enjoyed as, or after, dessert. Today, there are minidesserts like Marshmallow Moons and Banana Brûlée Spoonfuls, at least according to Gale Gand's Just a Bite. Gale Gand and Julia Moskin's 125 accessible recipes provide a captivating variety of cookie, cake, and candy nibbles. Gand, whose recipes come from her Food Network show, Sweet Dreams, and Chicago restaurant Tru, knows her stuff well enough to have serious fun; readers will be delighted by her bites, which can be served at or away from the table.

The recipes range from reborn childhood classics, such as Caramel-Orange Rice Crisps, and animal crackers made with five-spice powder to traditional grown-up favorites such as Orange Tuiles and the extraordinary, custardy cake Cannelés. Present also are inventive extravaganzas, including Chocolate-Almond Fondue with Cake Cubes and Bite-Size Cheesecakes on Lemon-Pepper-Cornmeal Crusts. Candy lovers will be particularly excited by Gand's Chocolate-Caramel Cigarillos and Peppermint Stick-White Chocolate Bark, which take candy in a sophisticated yet approachable direction. (You can leave the candy thermometer in the drawer.) With a succinctly useful section on basics, and color photos, the book is both innovative and tempting. --Arthur Boehm

From the Back Cover

“Gale’s mastery as both an artist and a chef is evident on every page of this gorgeous, whimsical book. Anyone can make an oversized confection; it takes a superior talent to craft such tiny masterpieces.”
-- Mario Batali

Edition details

• Publisher: Clarkson Potter
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0609608258
• ISBN 13: 9780609608258
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304