Yossy Arefi

Having baked four of these cakes, I feel well-enough equipped to review this cookbook. Reviews for the ones I made are below. These cakes are super simple, almost entirely one-bowl for easy cleanup, and not too sweet (which I prefer). I appreciate Arefi including both Imperial and weight measurements—these are the recipes with which I broke in my kitchen scale and they all worked up beautifully. That she also includes dish substitutions, topping suggestions, and a glazes/whips section at show more the back tips this firmly into "must-buy" territory!

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Milk Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cake p. 155

I'm glad I opted for the coffee here instead of the hot water—you can't taste it at all, but it deepens the chocolate flavors and keeps the milk chocolate and Nutella from tasting sickly sweet. This is a lovely cake, tender and with a nice crunch from the hazelnut topping (which gets toasty as it bakes). Enjoy it with a cold glass of milk.

Lemony Olive Oil Cake p. 44

I added 2 tbsp of fresh chopped rosemary to this, as well as 1 tsp of lemon extract to boost the lemon-ness, and it made for such a delicious flavor profile. The zesty tanginess of the lemon is balanced out by the herby, floral rosemary, and it's a wonderfully moist and light cake. I made it again a week later and ate the whole thing in three days. Everyone who has tried this has raved about it; it's a new go-to!

Minty Chocolate Malt Cake p. 141

I made this for my boyfriend, who loves mint chocolate chip ice cream. The cake is spongy with a perfect crumb, and both cake and glaze are beautifully dark from the dutched cocoa. The mint is surprisingly subtle, but it provides a nice cooling aftertaste—I couldn't detect the malted milk powder, but the flavors here are mellow and not super sweet which I actually like. It's like a grownup Thin Mint.

Browned Butter, Pecan, and White Chocolate Cake p. 133

I've never really understood all the hype around browned butter—maybe my palate isn't developed enough—but it's a good choice for this sweet cake studded with toasty pecans. I wish it was a little more complex in terms of flavor; it's very sweet, with brown sugar, white chocolate, and turbinado sugar all bringing a similar warm sweetness. I feel the need for something tart, herbal, or even salty to contrast with all that soft, almost sickly sweetness (one of the versions suggests the addition of rosemary, which of course I'm on board with). Still, it's got a delightful texture, and this is a great bake for those with more of a sweet tooth than me. show less

If you could pick the fruit and food right from the page, you would, and that’s the glory of “Sweeter off the Vine: Fruit Desserts for Every Season” by Yossy Arefi. Written in a relaxed, personable style, this lovely book features homey color photos that showcase fruit-based desserts which make the most of the sweet harvest throughout the year. These amazing recipes are influenced by the author’s childhood in the berry-bountiful Pacific Northwest and her own Iranian heritage. Many show more years spent as a baker in a New York restaurant have added their own spin to Ms. Arefi’s kitchen creativity. As you follow the change of recipes along with the change of seasons, you will find yourself looking forward to each new day’s worth of delicious delights. Here’s a sampler of the fruitful harvest of dessert dishes: “Fresh Mint Ice Cream with Cacao Nibs”; “The Simplest Strawberry Tart”; “Cherry and Rhubarb Slab Pie”; “Apricot and Berry Galette with Saffron Sugar”; “Blueberry Skillet Cobbler with Whole Wheat Biscuits”; “Black Fruit Tart”; “Plum Pie with Hazelnut Crumb”; “Soft Chocolate and Fig Cake”; “Concord Grape and Plum Butter”; “Persimmon Sorbet with Ginger and Vanilla”; “Campfire Crisp”; “Pear Pie with Crème Fraiche Caramel”; “Butternut Squash Tea Cake”; “Winter Luxury Pumpkin Pie”; and “Cranberry Bread Pudding”. Yossy Arefi is a Brooklyn-based food photographer, cookbook author, amateur gardener and former professional baker. She is the creator of the blog: Apt 2B Baking Co.

Book Copy Gratis Ten Speed Press via Blogging for Books show less

I am in love with Sweeter Off the Vine by Yossy Arefi. Arefi grew up in Seattleand moved to New York, but she has the Pacific Northwest orientation toward fresh, seasonal vegetables. As a transplant myself, I will never forget the revelation of eating a fresh peach, picked ripe right off the tree. I thought peaches were relatively flavorless, tough fruits until that moment. There was no turning back.

Arefi organizes Sweeter Off the Vine by season and by fruit. If you wished, you could cook show more your way around the calendar with this cookbook and now would be a good time to start since it begins in spring. Her Persian heritage ensures that the flavor profiles of her recipes are balanced with contrasting flavor elements and infused with aromatic herbs. These are not Persian desserts, though. These are traditional fruit deserts elevated with Persian-influenced flavor combinations.

These are not treacle-sweet recipes. She also uses a lot of alternate grains like buckwheat, spelt and my favorite, rye. My aunt made these amazing Swedish Rye Cookies and I am so glad to see someone else using rye in desserts because really, rye belongs everywhere, not just with ham and cheese.

Another thing I love about this cookbook is that she uses the same basic elements in many of her recipes and has a section of the back with all of these essentials like pie crusts and tart shells. In addition to the basics, she adds instruction for making homemade vanilla extract, cranberry juice and preserved lemons. She has a recipe for vanilla sugar as well. I make vanilla sugar all the time, I love it for my morning tea. It is also a great gift.

The rest of the review is on my blog at

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2016/03/17/sweeter-off-the-vine-by-y... show less

The molasses bars (on the cover) and ginger cherry oaties are marvelous. The sugar cookies can be taken to the next level if you add a bit of orange zest to the sugar before rolling. The "favorite" chocolate chip cookies aren't as good as Tollhouse, the Flour recipe, or the Good to the Grain whole wheat chocolate chip cookies.

Overall, I think the cakes and bars are excellent; the cookies aren't always a home run, but if you don't have a mixer to cream cold butter and sugar, or the show more time/patience to chill the dough, they work well enough. The chocolate cookies were very good, though! show less