Salty Sweets: Delectable Desserts and Tempting Treats With a Sublime Kiss of Salt

185 Pages·2009·10.03 MB·English

by  Christie Matheson

Table of Contents
Title Page
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Photos
Acknowledgments
PRELUDE TO A KISS (OF SALT)
SALT PRIMER (EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW
ABOUT SALT BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK)
LITTLE TREATS
Salted Caramels
Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles
Nana Rodda's Peanut Butter Fudge
Perfectly Imperfect Pecan Pralines
Almond Brittle
Salty-Sweet S'Mores
Black-and-White Almond Bark
Sweet and Salty Pecans
Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Crostini
Old-Fashioned Kettle Corn
Dark Chocolate-Covered Pretzels
Chocolate-Coconut Mini Candy Bars
Decadent Hot Cocoa
Sweet Cornbread with Honey Butter
Cocoa Nib and Dried Cherry Granola
COOKIES AND BARS
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Nantucket Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookies
Lemon Sugar Cookies with Zesty Lime Salt
Lavender Fleur De Sel Shortbread
Snickerdoodles
Butterscotch Brownies
Toffee Cookies with Dark Chocolate Glaze
Raspberry Squares
Pecan Squares
White Chocolate-Apricot Squares
Citrus Bars
CAKES AND CUPCAKES
Very Vanilla Cake
Dark Chocolate Fleur De Sel Cupcakes with Snappy Butterscotch Icing
Mini Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream Frosting
Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
Almond-Orange Torte
Kickass Carrot Cake with Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting
Cranberry Coffee Cake
Lemon Cake with Lemon-Brown Sugar Glaze
PUDDINGS AND MORE
Caramel-Butterscotch Pudding
Coconut Rice Pudding
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding
Milk Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mousse
Maple Crème Brûlée
FRUITS
Berry Berry Shortcakes
Cornmeal Peach Crisp
Brown Sugar Apple Crisp
Individual Blueberry-Nectarine Crumbles
Cherry Johnnycake Cobbler
Walnut-Crusted Lemon Tart
Fig and Ricotta Pizza
Roasted Summer Fruits
Oatmeal-Crusted Banana Tart
Honey-Tangerine Caramel Truffle Tartlets
ICE CREAMS AND SORBETS
Nantucket Sea Salt Ice Cream
Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Cream
Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Almond Ice Cream
Butterscotch Ice Cream
Coconut Sorbet
Watermelon Sorbet
SAUCES AND OTHER GOOD STUFF
Salted Milk Chocolate Sauce
Nana's Peanut Butter Sauce
Snappy Butterscotch Sauce
Caramel-Fudge Sauce
Blackberry-Caramel Sauce
Strawberry–Brown Sugar Sauce
Cinnamon-Sugar Sauce
Drunken Sauce
Graham Cracker Crunch
Brown Sugar Whipped Cream
Measurement Equivalents
Index
The Harvard Common Press
535 Albany Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02118
www.harvardcommonpress.com
Copyright © 2009 by Christie Matheson
Photographs copyright © 2009 by Joyce Oudkerk Pool
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any
information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printed in China
Printed on acid-free paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Matheson, Christie.
Salty sweets : delectable desserts and tempting treats with a sublime kiss of salt /
Christie Matheson.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-55832-415-2
1. Desserts. I. Title.
TX773.M294 2009
641.8'6--dc22
2008055567
Paper-over-board edition: ISBN 978-1-55832-556-2
Special bulk-order discounts are available on this and other Harvard Common
Press books. Companies and
organizations may purchase books for premiums or resale, or may arrange a
custom edition, by contacting the
Marketing Director at the address above.
Book design by Elizabeth Van Itallie
Photography by Joyce Oudkerk Pool
Food styling by Jen Straus
Props by Tabletop Prop
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my mom, Pat Matheson, who always encouraged me to
play in the kitchen

Acknowledgments
Thanks to my agent, Stacey Glick, who is endlessly supportive and thoughtful—
and who shares my specific fondness for peanut buttery salty sweets. I'm lucky
to know you. Thanks to The Harvard Common Press for understanding the vital
importance of a book about salty sweets. Working with the team at HCP—
Valerie Cimino, Jane Dornbusch, Virginia Downes, Janice Geary, Pat Jalbert-
Levine, Vicki Rowland, Howard Stelzer, and Betsy Young—is truly a pleasure.
Thank you all for taking such good care of me! Thanks to Joyce Oudkerk Pool
for the pretty pictures, and to Jen Straus for lovely, unfussy food styling. Thanks
to the pastry chefs who inspire me with their creativity and imagination,
especially Joanne Chang, Gale Gand, and Elisa Strauss. Thanks to everyone who
taste-tested recipes—it's not always easy to give honest feedback, and I
appreciate it greatly. (Quick shout-out to first-time guinea pig Sydney James,
who took a bite of an ice cream test, made a face, and told me she didn't like it at
all.) Thanks to my brother, Seth Matheson, for sharing ideas about food and
dreaming up wacky combinations. Most of all, thanks to Will Adams, who is
willing to try anything I make and who makes every day so sweet.

In gratitude to organizations working to end hunger locally and around the
world, I am donating a portion of the proceeds from Salty Sweets to the Greater
Boston Food Bank (gbfb.org), the San Francisco Food Bank (sffoodbank.org),
and the United Nations World Food Programme (wfp.org)