Classic Home Desserts: A Treasury of Heirloom and Contemporary Recipes from Around the World
Richard Sax has it right: the most accomplished pastry-chef creations don't provide the direct pleasures of good-old homemade desserts. Sax'sClassic Home Desserts, first published in 1994, more than makes the point. A classic itself, the book offers more than 350 clear, accessible recipes for the world's home desserts--everything from cobblers and crisps to puddings, pies, and sauces to ice creams, simple  pastries, and cakes of all kinds--while providing tips for success, a truly useful glossary of baking equipment, plus 48 color photos depicting the confections in their simple glory. It's hard to imagine a cook--would-be, amateur, or professional--who wouldn't want this comprehensive collection.In chapters covering every conceivable homemade dessert type, which, besides those listed above, includes sweet pancakes and dumplings, cookies, creams, fools, jellies, tarts, and more, Sax offers a repertoire that's both old-fashioned, and, where desirable, innovative. (But discreetly so: he likes to add a little fresh ginger to his plum crisp, for example.) The recipe titles tell all: Southern-Style Peach and Raspberry Cobbler, Peanut Butter Pie with Fudge Topping, The World's Best Lemon Tart, Double Chocolate  Pudding, and Split-Level Lime Chiffon Pie are representative American offerings. Old World specialties include Sephardic Walnut Cake with Honey-Lemon Syrup, Ricotta Strudel from Trieste, and Custardy Prune Pudding or Far Breton, one of Brittany's best-loved sweets, among others. A full repertoire of cookies, from New Mexican Anise Christmas Cookies to 1950s Pecan Puffs, makes the book a great holiday baking resource. With information on techniques, historical and anecdotal notes, and reprints of old recipes, the book is a trove of good information as well as great dessert-making direction.--Arthur Boehm