Barbara Fairchild

Bon Apetit Desserts is a big, huge, beautiful book packed with recipes for every type of dessert you could ever want to make. More than 600 recipes are included, most from the archives of the magazines, but a few new ones as well. With that many recipes all in one place you will find every kind of cake, pie, pudding, tart, cookie, candy and cheesecake. Here are a few of the ones I tried out:

Chocolate -Peanut Butter Cake with Cream Cheese and Butterfinger Frosting
Wow! This is an over-the-top show more indulgent, special occasion cake. I made the cake 1 day ahead, then filled and frosted it the next day. It was everything I wanted, rich, pretty, and absolutely delicious.

Cranberry-Lime Tart

This pretty tart is the perfect ending to a Thanksgiving dinner. The cranberry and lime give it a nice, light flavor and the white chocolate cream sweetens it up a bit. It does require some planning ahead, so be sure to read the recipe carefully.

Lime Snowball Cookies

These are one of my all-time favorite cookies. They look just like regular snowball cookies, so the hit of lime comes as a surprise. You can make them with any kind of citrus. They always end up on my cookie trays because they are so unique and easy to make.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Crumble Squares

These were another big Thanksgiving dinner hit. They are four layers but really pretty quick and easy to put together. I loved everything about these bars, the crispy pecan crust, the sweet pumpkin filling, and the tangy topping. I will make these over and over!

I love this cookbook! Unlike many compilations that have mostly standard recipes with a few interesting ones thrown in, this book is packed with creative, unusual desserts and lots of beautiful photos. I have some many marked to try - Fig and Rum Squares, Chocolate Stout Cake, Pear-Cardamom Pie with Almond Crust, and Mexican Chocolate Cherry Rounds. show less

I love this cookbook! Now that my fussy eater has gone off to college, I'm trying all sorts of new recipes. This book includes many that serve two, perfect for my husband and me. There are also several that serve four which are easy to reduce or great for leftovers for lunch. I have been trying two or three each week and have yet to find one we don't like.
I highly recommend the Chicken and White Bean Chili served with cornbread. Although it serves six and although my husband professes to show more hate beans, we had a guest over for dinner and the three of us scraped the pot clean. show less

Quite varied and exhaustive. If you don't know what kind of dessert you'd like to make, this has it all (almost). Simple cakes, layered cakes, cookies, bars, cheesecakes, fruit desserts.. Etc. I've made a couple of recipes and they turned out great. I based my KILLER recipe for Millionaire's Shortbread on theirs. I think most of the recipes were previously published in their magazines, but I don't collect them anyway, plus this is more organized.

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Fairchild, Barbara (text) & Con Poulos (photogs.). Bon Appétit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful. Andrews McMeel. 2010. 689p. photogs. index. ISBN 9780740793523. $40. COOKING
Bon Appétit magazine has been a tried-and-true classic for over 50 years and still manages to stay relevant today. Fairchild, editor in chief since 2000, has gathered over 600 recipes from the magazine's archives show more into one gargantuan volume. Fans of the magazine as well as all levels of bakers are going to love the variety and depth of coverage. Recipes from the traditional (cakes, pies, and cookies) to the original (ice creams, flans, and soufflés) insure that there's something here for everyone. Especially useful are the extras like how to stock your pantry, techniques, conversion charts and equivalents, and two indexes: the traditional alphabetical index and one organized by difficulty rating.
Verdict This all-inclusive volume is practical, pretty to look at, and well constructed with thick, durable paper that should be suitable for a busy circulating collection.—Jane Hebert, Orange Cty. Lib. Syst., Orlando, FL show less