May 14, 2012 / HL

Book Club | Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts

I’m excited to share with you a new cookbook that was just released, Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts: Quicker Smarter Recipes by Alice Medrich. This is my first cookbook review and hopefully there will be more to come. Alice Medrich is an award-winning cookbook author who is known for introducing chocolate truffles to the US and her famed bakeries, Cocolat, in the Berkeley, CA area.

I love to cook. Dub-C and I often cook dinner throughout the week. It’s something that we really like to spend time doing, so obviously, I jumped at the chance to look through this new dessert cookbook. One of the most popular posts on this blog was my Girl Scout Cookie recipe for Thin Mint Cake Pops, so I know that my readers like a good dessert too!

First off, this is a gorgeous looking book. The design of the book is quite sophisticated. As you can see, there are some lovely photos for the recipes throughout the book that really showcase these beautiful desserts. There’s a good variety of recipes here, from pecan pralines to apple crisp to salted caramel banana bread pudding. This is a real advantage since most other dessert cookbooks are centered on one item (like cakes, or pies, etc).

Dub-C’s first question to me was, “Are there any ice cream recipes in there?” Haha, yes there are.

Another thing I love about this book is that the first chapter start with the basics: what ingredients you should have in your pantry, seven great devices to have and using magic ingredients. Any amateur baker should feel comfortable easing into this cookbook. Don’t be intimidated!

Throughout the book, there are these great tips to expand your skills, like “8 Ideas for a Bar of Chocolate” and “Easy Ice Cream and Sherbets Without an Ice Cream Machine”, etc. It makes recipes a lot more fun to know how you can spice things up. There really are endless ideas in this book, all compactly fitted to less than 300 pages.

I can’t wait to test some of these recipes! I already have my eye out on the Easy Blueberry Tart once it is blueberry season here in the PNW starting in June or the Spiced Peach Crisp for peach season in August.

And the fun news? Alice Medrick is doing a book tour and will be appearing at the Book Larder (4252 Fremont Ave N) right here in Seattle on Tuesday, May 15th at 6:30pm. Join Alice for a talk, a tasting (yum!) and signing. So if you are in the Seattle area, don’t miss out on this event! Not in Seattle? Check our Alice’s Facebook page to see if she’s coming to a location near you!