Incredibly decadent desserts : over 100 divine treats with 300 calories or less

603 Pages·2016·30.55 MB·English

by  Wise

INTRODUCTION
1 THE BASICS
2 THE CAKE WALK
3 UPPER CRUST
4 SMALL BITES
5 OLD SCHOOL
6 FROZEN AND CHILLED
7 LABORS OF LOVE
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
METRIC EQUIVALENTS
I often spend a majority of my day thinking about dessert. Luckily, it’s my
job, which is particularly wonderful because I have been a sugar-lover for
as long as I can remember. Desserts were always part of our family’s meal
when I was growing up. Even if my grandmother, aunt, or mom hadn’t made
an apple pie, berry cobbler, or a creamy baked custard, we would have a scoop
of vanilla ice cream out of the freezer. These were simple desserts, but because
family members took the time to make and serve them, I always felt loved and
indulged. That’s what’s magical about dessert. The simple act of sharing
something sweet that’s been made with care brings such tremendous joy.
A LOVE AFFAIR WITH DESSERT
Some of my earliest memories are of being with my grandmother in the kitchen stirring
batters, dipping out flour, and snatching M&Ms while she poured them into cookie dough.
All of the women in my family are wonderful cooks and particularly talented bakers. I
loved watching my grandmother’s hands—they were arthritic but strong—and the care she
took with whatever she was creating inspired me to become a good baker. She had a deft
touch guided by intuition that made her desserts memorable. To this day, no one can
recreate her crustless baked custard pie. She would transform the strawberries bought
from roadside stands near our home in Garden Grove, California, into strawberry
shortcake made with sweetened drop biscuits. She could make her signature jumbo raisin
cookies without a recipe well into her 60s. My aunt was in charge of the coconut cake I
usually requested for my birthday—she finished the three-layer cake with super-thick
Italian meringue icing and tons of toasted coconut. (I’ve recreated a lighter version that’s
just as much of a showstopper on page 226.) These are the kinds of desserts that have
stayed with me my whole life. These desserts, made with such love, are the ones I still
crave.
I’ve always enjoyed tinkering in the kitchen, but this passion didn’t become my career
until later in life. My first job was in banking, and then I moved into the heartfelt world of
nonprofit organizations. I was an executive, and although I enjoyed the work, it became
incredibly stressful. Amid all of that, there was always my love of baking. So after 25 years
in the business world and thanks to an amazing, supportive husband, I decided to change
careers and focus on my true love: DESSERT. My husband, Barry, and I packed up a U-
Haul and moved from Visalia, California, to Hyde Park, New York, where I attended the
Culinary Institute of America and received a degree in baking and pastry arts. Culinary
school was
two of the most challenging and yet rewarding years of my life. My ultimate goal was to
work in a test kitchen, and that’s where I ended up in 2008 when I came to Cooking Light.
I started as an intern, where I did the grocery shopping and prep work for recipe
testers, and organized and cleaned out the pantries. I did have a few recipes to test each
week, but not the same number as the full-time testers. One of the highlights of my time
as an intern was when I developed an ice cream topping that ran in the magazine—I was
over the moon in love with my new career. Now, I am one of those full-time recipe
developers and testers. It’s my job to come up with the irresistible desserts in the
magazine, and it’s these and additional new recipes that I’ve collected here in Incredibly
Decadent Desserts. I’ve reevaluated and retested many original recipes, too, reading online
reader comments and adjusting the recipes to reflect those helpful suggestions.