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Mary Berry - Desserts

Mary Berry is one of those few cooks who has remained current and popular despite the fads and fashions of the fickle food industry. Mary has over 60 books to her name! Now that must be worth some kind of a medal...or at least a mention on your favourite foodie Internet site. Her perennial appeal relies on quality and hard work, and Desserts is the end result of both those attributes.

This volume has a wealth of recipes that are guaranteed to work. Mary has been voted among the top 3 by BBC Good Food for the category “Most Reliable Celebrity Cook Books”. Desserts also has the advantage of fine step-by-step photographs. For that reason alone this book should become a best seller. The timid and inexperienced home cook is led painlessly through every stage of the recipe.

Mary covers the whole gamut of desserts. The recipes are divided by type – Special Desserts, Cakes, Pies, etc. I found it difficult to choose some favourites as each recipe is so well presented and photographed by David Murray – he did a superb job. But I managed: I don’t think there is a single sweet delight here that wouldn’t be a winner. One of the easiest of this collection has got to be Cherries Glacés. This is a lovely dessert to make ahead of time, and it’s a stunner. It has a “why didn’t I think of that” order of simplicity. It’s a good illustration of why Mary Berry continues to do what she does, and the rest of us just enjoy the results.

Mincemeat and Pear Flan would be a great alternative to mince pies at Christmas. Once again a simple recipe but Mary manages to think outside the box of tradition. There are still plenty of the usual dessert suspects and this book is given balance by their inclusion.

Desserts is packed with lovely recipes but its strength lies in the detailed instructions. There are several pages of chocolate cake decorations, fancy pastry edges, fruit tartlets, biscuit decoration. Mary has taken as much trouble over presentation as over the desserts themselves. You’ll be producing professional-looking puds with confidence in no time at all.

Desserts is destined to become a standard. It’s an attractive book with over 200 scrumptious recipes to inspire and entice.

Desserts
Author: Mary Berry
Published by: Dorling Kindersley
Price: £18.99
ISBN 978-1-4053-3434-1