Wintersweet: Seasonal Desserts to Warm the Home

by Tammy Donroe Inman

Overview

Who says the winter months have to be bleak and barren? Author Tammy Donroe sees this season as an opportunity to stay inside, fire up the oven, and produce decadent desserts from the bounty of wholesome winter ingredients. Wintersweet encourages readers to make use of fresh, local ingredients for warming seasonal desserts. While summer farmers' markets are always overflowing with ripe produce, there's plenty to be had from November to March: squashes and pumpkins, parsnips and carrots, apples, pears, citrus of all types, and feel-good ingredients like nuts, cheese, and chocolate.

The fresh and rustic recipes in Wintersweet push the envelope of traditional winter desserts like pumpkin or apple pies with such delicacies as Pear Cranberry Clafouti, Spicy Prune Cake with Penuche Frosting, Tangelo Sorbet, and Goat Cheese Cake with Dried Cherry Compote. Each chapter is devoted to different ingredients, ranging from Persimmons, Pomegranates, and Cranberries to Citrus, Cheese, and Dried Fruits, allowing readers to experiment with new and exciting ingredients for complex and delicious flavors. They taste even better when they can be found near your own backyard; Donroe provides resources for finding the best local farmers' markets and agricultural centers near you. Perfect for holiday gatherings or to warm the belly on a cold night, Wintersweet is the perfect dessert companion to make the year's coldest season a bit more festive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762450688
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	10/22/2013
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Tammy Donroe has spent years sourcing the best local ingredients, from apples to zucchini. Her philosophy is simple: the fresher, the better for health, for flavor, for the soul. A graduate of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, she worked at Cook's Illustrated magazine and its television spin-off America's Test Kitchen and Boston Magazine. She writes at her humorous, delicious food blog, Food on the Food. She lives just outside of Boston with her husband and two sons.

Editorial Reviews

10/07/2013
The seasonally minded cook will delight in the ingenuity of this tome dedicated to the dark days of winter. Just as the greenmarket inventory guides savory cooking, so can it be the basis for dessert, Inman argues, even in Northeast climes. There are, of course, apples aplenty here (cooked down into pie, and applesauce, but also tucked into cheddar turnovers). Less predictable fruits such as persimmon, quince, and Asian pear make an appearance, while cranberries find their way into a cobbler, and citrus is the basis for such concoctions as Rosemary Meyer Lemon Tart and Grapefruit Custard. Root vegetables are hearty meal-enders with fulfilling flavor, and Inman warms the kitchen and the belly by baking up Parsnip Spice Cupcakes with Maple Frosting, Chocolate Beet Whoopie Pies, and Chai-Spiced Squash Pie. Finally, of course, there are seasonless standbys such as pecan pie, chocolate chip cheesecake bars, and rice pudding. Inman’s breakdown of ingredients is informative yet easily digested, leaving all the more room for ice cream and cookies. Photos. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Inman gives new meaning to shelter from the storm. This enticing cookbook grew out of her desire to spend cold winter days next to a hot stove. The result is a collection of recipes for real people using readily available ingredients in their home kitchens. Sometimes basic and familiar, like Apple Cider Doughnuts — sometimes slightly exotic, like Chocolate Pomegranite Pavlova — sometimes elegant, like Salted Dark Chocolate Tart with Pistachios, Wintersweet will provide many happy afternoons in the kitchen.
—Anna Jedrziewski, Retailing Insight

This book is the gem of the pack...wonderful, craveable, sweet, hearty, and most of all executable recipes that make me almost pull for a dinner party in a snowstorm... The book is lavish. Lovely layout, happy finger-feel pages that invite you to settle into the world of Wintersweet, page by page, fabulous toothsome recipe by recipe. Buy this book for yourself. And on a cold, wintry, don't-go-out-night, have a dinner party with a menu crowned by one of these recipes, and invite in all the neighbors. They'll come cold and hungry.”
—Edible Boston

From the Publisher

★ 11/15/2013
Donroe Inman, a food blogger with a culinary degree, has worked for Cook's Illustrated magazine and TV show America's Test Kitchen. Her debut cookbook encourages readers to spend their winters in a warm kitchen preparing comforting seasonal desserts such as pear crostada, brown butter pecan ice cream, and gingersnap-crusted pumpkin cheesecake. These unintimidating recipes, organized by main ingredient (e.g., apples, pears, persimmons, citrus, tubers, nuts, cheese), will inspire bakers to see winter as a time of abundance, not scarcity. VERDICT Like Diana Henry's Roast Figs Sugar Snow: Winter Food To Warm the Soul, this weighty and beautifully photographed cookbook captures the season's best qualities.

Library Journal