Decadent Fruit Desserts

Bruchez, creator of the Seaside Baker blog, offers home cooks a creative collection of fruit-focused desserts. The first chapter, “Simply Dressed,” features fruit that needs little more than some baking (cider-baked apples), poaching (Merlot-poached pears), and sugaring (sugared cranberries). Subsequent chapters cover cakes, pies, bars, cookies, and frozen desserts. Standouts include a stunning blackberry vacherin, a French pastry comprising crushed meringues, ice cream, berries, and whipped cream; a watermelon-mint granita that includes lime juice (when choosing a ripe melon, “look for dull-colored skin”); and apricot oatmeal bars, ready for travel or picnicking. Bruchez ends with a chapter entitled “Retro-Modern Delights,” which features a blueberry mousse designed to be served in individual glasses; a pomegranate panna cotta, which the author first encountered in Italy; and caramel-passion fruit pot de crème. Highlighted “Baker’s Notes” appear throughout and include information on such topics as baking with buttermilk (which “adds moisture and flavor to baked goods”), equipment tips (a broiler can be used instead of a kitchen torch to caramelize the crème brûlée tart), and ingredient substitutions. Home cooks will delight in this inviting collection of recipes that are perfect for entertaining. [em](Mar.) [/em]