Seasonal Fruit Desserts: From Orchard, Farm, and Market

Starred Review. Madison ( Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone ) reinvigorates the possibilities of dessert by putting fruit center stage in this mouth-watering collection of recipes: apple crisp with cinnamon cream; berry and peach cobbler; nectarine and plum upside-down cake; and cherry tart with crushed amaretti. But it also ventures off the beaten path. The wild rice pudding with maple syrup and wine-soaked cherries is a marvelous twist on traditional dessert puddings, as is the sweet potato–coconut pudding. The various sauces and creams (sabayon, frangipane, raspberry coulis with muscat wine) are easy to make. Some of the most elegant recipes in the book are simple plates; they combine fruits with nuts and sauces (for example, figs with mascarpone and pine nuts); or pair fruits with cheeses (Teleme with dried fruit compote). Lovely sidebars and inserts offer a wonderful amount of information on fruit, fruit varieties, and cooking and baking with fruit to further enhance this book. Madison has a lovely writing style—clear, entertaining, and knowledgeable—and with her commentary it's as if she's in your kitchen discussing every recipe.  (Jan.)   Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
      
         
       
       “This is a lovely ode to fruit desserts. Deborah Madison gives us inspired, elegant combinations of flavors—fruits with cheese, in tarts and cakes, and with lovely, captivating ideas for using herbs, spices, and flowers to enhance their flavors. It’s a gem from a subtle, artful writer about a life enlivened by food and shared meals.” —Lindsey Shere, author of  Chez Panisse Desserts   “I’m definitely a ‘fruit for dessert’ person and I’ve just gone crazy with this new book. The recipes are simple and beautifully explained in Deborah’s patient, knowledgeable voice. This is a book for both those just learning to cook as well as cooks with lots of experience.” —John Ash, James Beard Award-winning author and IACP Cooking School Teacher of the Year   “Here is the perfect dessert book for the savory cook; a collection of recipes valuing improvisation over precision and taste over intricate constructions. In  Seasonal Fruit Desserts , Deborah Madison offers recipes that shout about the beauty and romance of a sweet apricot or crisp tart apple, while also connecting us to the stories of growers and the evolution of regional fruit varieties.” —Peter Hoffman, chef/owner of Savoy and Back Forty in New York City   “Deborah Madison is all about trust . . . the places she takes us beyond the recipe are what make her work so vital. Here, she is in all her glory telling us how to sort through the confounding variety of fruits for the best flavors and how to understand what we’re buying from the ground up. And she makes no bones about what she believes—taste and sustainability above all, local if at all possible, and in season always. Bravo!” —Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of  The Splendid Table®  from American Public Media   “From recipes for fresh fruits and berries accented with spices and syrups, to warm baked cobblers and preserves—along with her expert tips for sourcing the best of the market— Seasonal Fruit Desserts  is a terrific collection of seasonally inspired recipes that I’ll be reaching for year round.” —David Lebovitz, author of  The Sweet Life in Paris  and  Ready for Dessert   “Finally, fruit gets equal time in the masterful mind and hands of Deborah Madison! Her delicious celebration of biodiversity is filled with fresh new tastes of heirloom treasures.” —Poppy Tooker, Emeritus Chair, Slow Food USA Ark of Taste and author of  Crescent City Farmers Market Cookbook   “Deborah Madison’s enthusiasm and authority has seduced a loyal readership and she has done it again with this book—the only book fruit desserts a passionate cook will ever need.” —Peggy Knickerbocker, author of  Simple Soirées