Madison (Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
) reinvigorates the possibilities of dessert by putting fruit center stage in this mouth-watering collection of recipes: apple crisp with cinnamon cream; berry and peach cobbler; nectarine and plum upside-down cake; and cherry tart with crushed amaretti. But it also ventures off the beaten path. The wild rice pudding with maple syrup and wine-soaked cherries is a marvelous twist on traditional dessert puddings, as is the sweet potato–coconut pudding. The various sauces and creams (sabayon, frangipane, raspberry coulis with muscat wine) are easy to make. Some of the most elegant recipes in the book are simple plates; they combine fruits with nuts and sauces (for example, figs with mascarpone and pine nuts); or pair fruits with cheeses (Teleme with dried fruit compote). Lovely sidebars and inserts offer a wonderful amount of information on fruit, fruit varieties, and cooking and baking with fruit to further enhance this book. Madison has a lovely writing style—clear, entertaining, and knowledgeable—and with her commentary it's as if she's in your kitchen discussing every recipe. (Jan.)
