Book Review: Ready for Dessert

A lil bird told me that all the bookshops in America was alarmed with panic. A long trail of readers queued up for someone larger than life, David Lebovitz was in town for book signing events and all the books were already sold out!! Some went back empty handed, some decided to just get a signature on napkin paper, whilst few eagerly ordered the book online, as everybody is heating up the oven, Ready for Dessert!

Don't be green with envy, as I must consider myself the lucky one-this book has been in my possession even before the official launching date in the UK on 9th September. An impromptu voyage across the other side of the world meant I could not make it to some of the glamorous invitations to see Monsieur Lebovitz in person, his cooking demo and tasting event invite by Divertimenti as well as a breakfast get-together at the new NOPI restaurant in London. With a heavy heart, I embarked on my journey but I did not forget the book. I took along Ready for Dessert all the thousands of miles to the Middle East followed by Southeast Asia, all the while getting some 'peeks' from Emirates cabin crews, fellow passengers as well as my mother! Now I am happy to report that David's recipes were successfully tried-and-tested and I hope this review will well compensate for my absence in the London events.

If you want to impress your dinner guests with a stunning and out-of-the-world dessert trays, I urge you to get a copy of this book. Armed with 173 recipes, endless witty anecdotes and stunning photographs, this hardback deserves a prominent place on your coffee table. The recipes are divided by the categories; 29 various cakes from celebratory to simple gateau, 29 arrays of pies, tarts and fruit desserts, a small section of 16 ideas on custards, souffles and puddings, a large chunk on frozen desserts with 30 recipes ranging from ice-cream, sorbets to frozen nougats, 30 cookies and sweets recipes and a dedicated chapter on basics, sauces and preserves. 

It was very difficult to choose just one recipe to try. So I chose to try out a few of them..and many, many more.

Cakes

You can tell that I was impressed with this book as I baked David's Racines Cake for my birthday  cake. I like the humour and the history of this cake recipe, as apparently David got the recipe from the graffiti on the wall of men's room at Racines restaurant in Paris! Well, half way through melting the chocolate, I realised that the recipe did not call for any flour. I must admit my heart raced a bit, but the cake was gorgeous and well impressed my dinner guests, though with such a risen cake, nobody believed that it was flourless.

Pies, Tarts and Fruit Desserts

I was spoilt for choice as it was very difficult to choose one bake from this section, all the recipes and photographs are very inviting. I had been eyeing the beautiful rustic picture of the Apple Frangipane Galette, but we had plenty of fresh plums so I used that instead. The frangipane brought back the memories of coffee and cake in Paris, so original and just divine. I love the fact that fruits of all seasons are featured in this section, from fresh ginger tart, marmalade tart and pavlova to summer pudding and pineapple, rhubarb and raspberry cobbler.

Frozen Desserts

Do I need to say more on this, after being bowled over by David's The Perfect Scoop? He is the ice-cream specialist , and I find myself falling in love all over again with the sorbets and ice-cream, thanks to the tropical weather. The ice-cream maker loyally reproduced yet another perfect vanilla ice-cream, and I added my own touch of chopped pistachio sprinkles. There are a lot of fancy recipes to try out next; Frozen Caramel Mousse and Kiwifruit,Pineapple,Coconut Alaska to name a few.

Cookies and Sweets

Croquants, tuiles, biscotti, amaretti, peanut butter cookies, gingersnaps..the list goes on, yet I decided to bake David's chocolate chip cookies, as he says ' I couldn't imagine chocolate chip cookies tasting any better'. As I am still a novice when it comes to food tasting, I asked my mom the baker to do the honours. She likes them so much that before long, I was packing jars of those cookies to give away to her friends who popped by to the house. 

Custards, Souffles, Puddings

This is one section that I haven't tried out yet, due to  my own fear of souffles. There are plenty of other recipes to choose from-Buttermilk Panna Cotta with blueberry compote, creme brulee and butterscotch flan amongst a few, but perhaps I shall conquer the souffles one of these days. For now, I am contented to lounge in reading through DL's life's experiences, stories behind each pudding and tips for success, something that you could hardly find in most cookbooks nowadays.

This book, enriched with chapters on ingredients, equipments and some basic recipes, is a must-have for beginners in the kitchen who aspire to achieve professional results yet, with minimal efforts. The photographs and styling is inviting, although I long to see more pictures especially for slightly complicated recipes, even for the sheer pleasure of knowing what do they look like. This is David Lebovitz's greatest hits, though I sincerely hope this is not the last book he ever writes, as I would like to see more of his creativity. After carrying this hardback almost everywhere I go with my journey, I realised that Ready for Dessert is a treasure to behold that has attracted David's legion of fans, and if the sales of the book soar exceptionally in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, don't blame me.

To get your own copy of Ready for Dessert, click here.

Note: My heartfelt thanks to Jacqui Small Publishing for the copy of Ready for Dessert, Catherine,  you are a star! Thumbs up to David for the fabulous recipes and brilliant write-up, hope this is not the last book from you!

Mama's Vanilla Genoise Cake..with strawberry surprise!

I like flamboyant cakes..with icing, fondant et al. I am currently dwelling on my love for Chantilly cream, as you can see from my last profiterole post, such decadent cream is enough excuse to make and bake, for as long as I can savour the Chantilly cream. Again and again.

We had no celebrations called for flamboyant cakes. Well, not at least until couple of weeks time (!), so maybe I should call this my 'rehearsal' cake, just to practice a bit of piping, a bit of decorating. Baking is sometimes just a reason to rejoice in itself. Or rejoicing in memories of childhood and those days of being my Mama's sous chef. I have seen her baked this genoise for as long as I can remember, famously for our tea time, and this recipe has also been made into my mother's ever varied, fanciful roulade creations. When I rejoiced in the pleasure of another successful Victoria sponge, she insists that nothing beats this recipe for a perfect sponge cake. I agree, this cake is as delicious on its own, and definitely a hit with surprised berries as the filling.

One time, I baked a mini version of this cake, and asked The Husband to come home for a 'surprise'. Although he was slightly disappointed that we were on a different planet for the 'surprise' that he had in mind, he stuffed the whole cake (albeit small version!) in less than 5 minutes!! Cream and all, with probably a forkful piece left for me, thanks a bunch. This time, I made a bigger version, with a teeny weeny portion for my lil sous-chef who insisted to be carried by Mommy to the local shop for my  double cream 'grocery shopping'.

The tip for a beautifully risen genoise lies in the freshness of the eggs; beat the eggs until pale and really fluffy in order to get a risen sponge. 

A few tips from my mom, The Baker,  that I have mastered over the years of genoise baking:

• Always use a metal bowl for whisking, and metal spoon for folding the flour and butter in the batter. This apparently helps 'trap the air bubbles' to create a sponge that does not turn flat!
• When you fold the flour, never mind if the mixture is not well mixed. Underfolding is better than overfolding.
• Make sure the melted butter is ever so slightly warm prior to folding it into the batter
• And, don't let the hassle of bain-marie put you off from the best sponge about to be created in your kitchen!

 So let's bake whilst summer is still fruitful with the berries...

Vanilla Genoise Cake with Strawberry Surprise

makes 2 x 8 inch sandwich pans

4 large eggs

160g sugar

160g plain flour-sifted

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 tbsp melted butter

Filling

300ml double cream

2 tbsp icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

(Whip all above ingredients on high speed until soft peaks are formed)

200g strawberries-hulled and halved

Method

Preheat oven at 170C.

Prepare the bain-marie (water bath) on the hob until water is hot ( not boiling), and turn off the heat.  add the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl and place the bowl over the hot water bath. Using a handheld mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until pale, ribbony and fluffy.  Add the vanilla essence and beat again for few more minutes.

Add in the flour and quickly fold over the flour using a metal spoon. Do not overdo the folding. Drizzle in the melted butter, fold over few more times. Divide the batter equally into 2 sandwich pans and bake for 20 minutes at 170C.

Once the cake is almost golden colour, remove from the oven and DO NOT insert the skewer as this might deflate the sponge. Cool the cakes from the tin immediately onto the wire rack.

 

Et voila! You just bake a beautiful genoise..

Now comes the exciting part. As genoise can be dry, the best way to moisten it is with fruits, syrup, or cream. Lots and lots of cream.

Spread the Chantilly cream on the cake and arrange the strawberries on top. Then sandwich the other cake on top.

Now get your piping bags into action, and let's create something magical. Roses, lace borders, add a bit of red tinge, or even some cocoa in the cream for a bit of chocolatey flavour..the choice is yours.

 Time to enjoy the cake!