The All-American Dessert Book

The All-American Dessert Book (2005) Nancy Baggett

I love to bake. So when I come across interesting dessert cookbooks I tend to pick them up. I ordered this one on a whim, just because I was looking for something new.

The first thing I noticed about this book is that is has gorgeous pictures. Gorgeous–but real pictures. The desserts look absolutely delicious, but they also look like something that could possible come out of my kitchen. Things are not perfect–there are spills, the dishes are well used, things are lumpy, there are crumbs. Essentially, not only do the desserts look delicious, but they look like something I might be capable of making. Although I have several recipes I want to try, I’ve only tried one so far.

I wanted something chocolate-y, so I made the chocolate pudding. I was never a big fan of chocolate pudding, but I decided that maybe it was because it was just the instant stuff, so maybe if I made real chocolate pudding, it might be just the chocolate dish I was looking for.

It was! Yum! Although I have to admit that without the whipped cream I found it too rich. But with whipped cream (and fresh strawberries–yum yum yum!)

The recipe was straight-forward and easy to follow, and called for ingredients I had on hand. (Well, I didn’t have whole milk on hand, but that was easy enough to pick up. Of course I keep bittersweet chocolate and Madagascar bourbon vanilla on hand. So take that into consideration.) I didn’t run into any problems with the recipe, and the result was as good as I was expecting. I’ll have to try more recipes, but the style was such that this is a book I will probably reach for again when I’m looking for something sweet.
Rating: 9/10

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