Butter Sugar Flour Eggs; Whimsical Irresistible Desserts Book

Anyone who has so much as made a batch of cookies knows that this is where it all begins. Butter lends flavor and richness, sugar adds sweetness and melting textures, flour provides substance, and eggs bring it all together. Afterwards, the baker can allow flavor to take over: chocolate, citrus, fruit, nuts, cheese, and spices complete the dessert-making roster. Chapter by chapter, pastry chef extraordinaire Gale Gand and her husband, star chef Rick Tramonto — with writer Julia Moskin — explain each basic ingredient and each flavor's personality and follow up with some fabulous recipes. The unique result is a festive and fun cookbook that reads more like a dessert menu than a catalog of techniques. And what a menu! Here are over 175 fanciful, delicious treats, including signature desserts like Not-Your-Usual Lemon Meringue Pie and Root Beer-Vanilla Parfait, classics such as Brown Derby Grapefruit Cake and Brooklyn Blackout Cake, and soon-to-be favorites like Raspberry-Stuffed French Toast and Banana Strudel with Ginger-Molasses Ice Cream. There is a chapter on light-hearted holiday creations, including Halloween Boo!scotti and Pumpkin Pie to Be Thankful For, and a chapter full of drink recipes — perfect accompaniments to these desserts and great on their own. In Butter Sugar Flour Eggs, all the ingredients are present for creating the most scrumptious, mouthwatering delights you have ever tasted. Or baked!

Publishers Weekly

The recipes in this quirky, deceptively simple collection--the second from the culinary team of Gand, Tramonto and Moskin (American Brasserie)--move far beyond the basics. Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Warm Taffy Apples with Cinnamon Pastry Twists bring out the kid in the cook, while Cardamom-Coffee Custard and Gruy re with Pear Confit appeal to the most sophisticated palates. The recipes are organized into chapters devoted to particular ingredients; they are prefaced by over-the-top odes--for example, to the virtues of Sugar ("Apply just a little warmth, and she melts") and the vices of Chocolate ("No one is more intense, or knows more about giving pleasure"). On the other hand, the authors have taken care to include interesting background information on each of the ingredients, as well as helpful advice on selecting, using and storing them. This book will best suit the tastes of bakers whose love of sweet confections far outweighs a concern with calories. Indeed, the first recipe in the book is for "Purely Pound Cake" and calls for a pound each of butter, sugar, flour and eggs. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.