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Seasonal Fruit Desserts: From Orchard, Farm, and Market
Deborah Madison, author of the bestselling Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone , has enlightened millions of Americans about the joys of vegetarian cuisine. Now, after six books for the savory palate, she's finally introducing us to her spectacular fruit desserts—more than 175 easy recipes that are as delicious as they are healthful.
Have you ever bitten into a ripe, fragrant strawberry? Or a luscious peach, its juice dripping down your chin? Or a pear that explodes with flavor? Sometimes fruit, all by itself, just seems like the perfect end to a meal. Now, In Seasonal Fruit From Orchard, Farm, and Market, Deborah Madison manages to improve on perfection, turning all of your favorite seasonal fruits into a cornucopia of decadent tarts, pies, puddings, and cakes.
Most of us find it difficult to incorporate enough fruit into our diets but with more than 175 recipes in this book, you'll find plenty of new, healthy and totally pleasurable ideas. Dessert doesn't need to be a complicated and time-consuming task after you have prepared a whole meal. These simple and flavorful recipes are easy to master and will delight your family and guests.
As an expert on local produce, Madison shows us the best fruit pairings for any season and where to find them all over the country. Did you know that the season for mangoes and strawberries overlap in Southern California making them a natural pair? Or that between November and April, there are plenty of citrus varieties—like Dancy mandarins, Fairchilds, Clementines, or honey tangerines—that find their way to shelves and markets? With recipes like Wild Blueberry Tart in a Brown Sugar Crust, Strawberries in Red Wine Syrup, Winter Squash Cake with Dates, Hazelnut-Stuffed Peaches and Apricot Fold-Over Pie, and even simple and beautiful combinations of fruits with the right cheeses, you will be introduced to many varieties of fruit from the exotic to the heirloom and dessert will be your new favorite meal of the day.
Have you ever bitten into a ripe, fragrant strawberry? Or a luscious peach, its juice dripping down your chin? Or a pear that explodes with flavor? Sometimes fruit, all by itself, just seems like the perfect end to a meal. Now, In Seasonal Fruit From Orchard, Farm, and Market, Deborah Madison manages to improve on perfection, turning all of your favorite seasonal fruits into a cornucopia of decadent tarts, pies, puddings, and cakes.
Most of us find it difficult to incorporate enough fruit into our diets but with more than 175 recipes in this book, you'll find plenty of new, healthy and totally pleasurable ideas. Dessert doesn't need to be a complicated and time-consuming task after you have prepared a whole meal. These simple and flavorful recipes are easy to master and will delight your family and guests.
As an expert on local produce, Madison shows us the best fruit pairings for any season and where to find them all over the country. Did you know that the season for mangoes and strawberries overlap in Southern California making them a natural pair? Or that between November and April, there are plenty of citrus varieties—like Dancy mandarins, Fairchilds, Clementines, or honey tangerines—that find their way to shelves and markets? With recipes like Wild Blueberry Tart in a Brown Sugar Crust, Strawberries in Red Wine Syrup, Winter Squash Cake with Dates, Hazelnut-Stuffed Peaches and Apricot Fold-Over Pie, and even simple and beautiful combinations of fruits with the right cheeses, you will be introduced to many varieties of fruit from the exotic to the heirloom and dessert will be your new favorite meal of the day.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
11 people are currently reading
471 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Madison
36 books163 followersDeborah Madison is an American chef, writer and cooking teacher. She has been called an expert on vegetarian cooking and her gourmet repertoire showcases fresh garden produce. Her work also highlights Slow Food, local foods and farmers' markets.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 10, 2018
Another 'cookbook-on-trial' that is being transferred to the 'read' pile! There were quite a few recipes I liked. Quite a few I didn't like at all. The average for the 10 I actually tried is 3.4, which according to math rules, must be rounded to 3, which seems fair enough. The author has a tendency to over-complicate simple things. She also has an unhealthy desire to put rose water in every dessert. And for a book published in 2010 it decisively doesn't have enough pictures.
p. 26 - 4 stars - Softly Whipped Cream - I much prefer descriptions that say "stop after you see..." rather than "stop right before...". When exactly is that "right before"? One paragraph below there is a decent hint, so plus one star for that.
p. 27 - 3 stars - Whipped Creme Fraiche and Cream - Any more hints on what you get at different concentrations?
p. 27 - 5 star - Vanilla Sugar - I'm all for re-using!
p. 42 - 3 stars - Blackberries with Rose Water - I'm not quite convinced that rose water adds much to taste/flavor of blackberries. An update, rose water does not add anything good and two spoonfuls is way too much, you can no longer taste or smell blackberries. If you don't like blackberries, that's of course a solution, but maybe just skip them at all?
p. 50 - 1 star - Fuyu Persimmons with Asian Pears, Figs, and Walnuts - "Smooth, crunchy, and crisp"??!! Guys, why do you keep eating green persimmons? I haven't seen a single ripe persimmon in this country. They are not really edible before that.
p. 116 - 1 star - Concord Grape Fold-Over Pie - Definitely not.
p. 136 - 4 stars - Silky Tart Dough - Will do, but calls for room temperature butter, which means thinking in advance. And well, it's just a tart dough, no need for fanciful epithets.
p. 139 - 5 stars - Cream Tart with Black Raspberries - Fast, easy and tasty.
p. 180 - 4 stars - Honeyed Semolina Pudding with Wine Syrup - This thing is not all that easy to get out of the mold (yes, I do know how to use hot water). I'm pretty sure it doesn't really need gelatin (did the author try cooking semolina for breakfast?). It's also just semolina, tastes exactly as it usually tastes, just cold.
p. 206 - 4 stars - Blackberry Fool - As much as it sounds like an over-complicated recipe for a simple thing, I must admit that blackberries with heavy cream are much better than either blackberries or cream alone. Ok, an update. The author is very fond of rose water, judging by the number of recipes with it. I actually bought a bottle to try it in this recipe and can definitely say that it's absolutely redundant here. Much better without.
p. 26 - 4 stars - Softly Whipped Cream - I much prefer descriptions that say "stop after you see..." rather than "stop right before...". When exactly is that "right before"? One paragraph below there is a decent hint, so plus one star for that.
p. 27 - 3 stars - Whipped Creme Fraiche and Cream - Any more hints on what you get at different concentrations?
p. 27 - 5 star - Vanilla Sugar - I'm all for re-using!
p. 42 - 3 stars - Blackberries with Rose Water - I'm not quite convinced that rose water adds much to taste/flavor of blackberries. An update, rose water does not add anything good and two spoonfuls is way too much, you can no longer taste or smell blackberries. If you don't like blackberries, that's of course a solution, but maybe just skip them at all?
p. 50 - 1 star - Fuyu Persimmons with Asian Pears, Figs, and Walnuts - "Smooth, crunchy, and crisp"??!! Guys, why do you keep eating green persimmons? I haven't seen a single ripe persimmon in this country. They are not really edible before that.
p. 116 - 1 star - Concord Grape Fold-Over Pie - Definitely not.
p. 136 - 4 stars - Silky Tart Dough - Will do, but calls for room temperature butter, which means thinking in advance. And well, it's just a tart dough, no need for fanciful epithets.
p. 139 - 5 stars - Cream Tart with Black Raspberries - Fast, easy and tasty.
p. 180 - 4 stars - Honeyed Semolina Pudding with Wine Syrup - This thing is not all that easy to get out of the mold (yes, I do know how to use hot water). I'm pretty sure it doesn't really need gelatin (did the author try cooking semolina for breakfast?). It's also just semolina, tastes exactly as it usually tastes, just cold.
p. 206 - 4 stars - Blackberry Fool - As much as it sounds like an over-complicated recipe for a simple thing, I must admit that blackberries with heavy cream are much better than either blackberries or cream alone. Ok, an update. The author is very fond of rose water, judging by the number of recipes with it. I actually bought a bottle to try it in this recipe and can definitely say that it's absolutely redundant here. Much better without.
September 1, 2012
I want to like this cookbook, and I do like the premise of making recipes with seasonal fruits. Having said that, the organization of the book is ridiculous. Recipes are not divided into seasons or types of fruit, which really defeats the entire purpose of the book. On the plus side, the photos are gorgeous. Recipes are a mixed bag.
July 17, 2010
Deborah Madison is the founder of "Greens," a revered vegetarian restaurant in California. Now she has a fruit cookbook!
I have only tried one recipe so far - the blueberry and peach cobbler, which was good, but not amazing. I really like the variety of chapter topics, including: Fresh Fruit, Fresh Fruit in Syrup, Roasted and Sauteed Fruits, Classic You Can Count On, Dried Fruits, Nuts, and Preserves, Puddings and Gelees, Cheese and Dairy Desserts, and more. I also really like her flexibility - she mentions all the other fruits you can use in a given recipe (unlike "Rustic Fruit Desserts," which implies that there is only one possible fruit you can use per recipe).
I LOVE this concept from her Introduction:
"There are hundreds of varieties of plums, but what do we see? Red plums and black plums. Plums can be blue, violet, yellow, gold, purple, green, black, red and all shades in between. They will have unique flavors and different uses in the kitchen. And they all have names: Coe’s Golden Drop, Pearl, Green Gage, Mirabelle. The same is pretty much true of all fruits. While we’ve learned the distinctions among vegetables and now know the names of our favorites, we’re behind with fruit. And this relates directly to biodiversity, because when plums are reduced to red and black, what happens to the others? They disappear, just as hundreds of apple varieties have disappeared and those of many other fruits as well. Names matter because if we don’t know what to call a something we can’t make a relationship to it and ask for it again. The taste may have been fantastic, but without a name it is completely ephemeral. How do you ask for that peach you loved the year before? “It was round, and reddish, it was really good, it was juicy …” It will take a great deal of specifics, probably not remembered, to lead you back to the source. A name is much more efficient. “Do you have any Babcoks, or that great Suncrest you had last year?” Much easier." http://deborahmadison.com/blog/perfum...
I have only tried one recipe so far - the blueberry and peach cobbler, which was good, but not amazing. I really like the variety of chapter topics, including: Fresh Fruit, Fresh Fruit in Syrup, Roasted and Sauteed Fruits, Classic You Can Count On, Dried Fruits, Nuts, and Preserves, Puddings and Gelees, Cheese and Dairy Desserts, and more. I also really like her flexibility - she mentions all the other fruits you can use in a given recipe (unlike "Rustic Fruit Desserts," which implies that there is only one possible fruit you can use per recipe).
I LOVE this concept from her Introduction:
"There are hundreds of varieties of plums, but what do we see? Red plums and black plums. Plums can be blue, violet, yellow, gold, purple, green, black, red and all shades in between. They will have unique flavors and different uses in the kitchen. And they all have names: Coe’s Golden Drop, Pearl, Green Gage, Mirabelle. The same is pretty much true of all fruits. While we’ve learned the distinctions among vegetables and now know the names of our favorites, we’re behind with fruit. And this relates directly to biodiversity, because when plums are reduced to red and black, what happens to the others? They disappear, just as hundreds of apple varieties have disappeared and those of many other fruits as well. Names matter because if we don’t know what to call a something we can’t make a relationship to it and ask for it again. The taste may have been fantastic, but without a name it is completely ephemeral. How do you ask for that peach you loved the year before? “It was round, and reddish, it was really good, it was juicy …” It will take a great deal of specifics, probably not remembered, to lead you back to the source. A name is much more efficient. “Do you have any Babcoks, or that great Suncrest you had last year?” Much easier." http://deborahmadison.com/blog/perfum...
June 18, 2010
Another excellent book from Deborah Madison. What I love about Madison's books is the flexibility mixed into almost every recipe - if you don't have X, substitute Y or Z. Given her focus on fresh, seasonal ingredients, this is helpful to those of us who don't live in California and deal with limited availability for some fruits and veg. I also liked the range of recipes, from simple fruit salads and puddings to relatively complex tarts, even ice creams (for those lucky enough to have access to an ice cream maker).
October 24, 2011
Th famous chef Madison (widely known for her vegetarian dishes and her stint at Greens restaurant) has a lovely book on seasonal fruit. My favorite thing about this cookbook is its utmost respect for quality ingredients. She begins with basics, in how to find and select the best quality fruit, especially local varieties unique to your region. This is the basis of quality fruit desserts, and when you get that element down, even a bowl or platter of perfectly ripe fruit can holds its own as a dessert course. She has some beautiful photographs here and intriguing combinations of fruit that I would love to try.
April 18, 2013
A- Really nice book. I was looking for some good fruit cookbooks for my CSA and I browsed this one. (Ultimately I think I'll probably eat most of my fruit plain, which is healthier, and easier, but there are some wonderful recipes.) Nice categories though certain ones (like fruit in syrups) I don't think I'd use that often.
May 14, 2010
Another great cookbook from Deborah Madison--beautifully photographed and well-written book full of all kinds of fruit and fruit-friendly recipes.
Read my full review here:
http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/
Read my full review here:
http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/
July 12, 2010
Yummy recipes using fresh fruit. The author is pushing local food and since she is from California some of her choices are not local here. Still, if you have a sweet tooth for after dinner munching, these are pretty good.
November 12, 2010
Genius fruit desserts. Simple, novel, successful. Lots of compotes, and a collection of five different cakes with which to serve fresh or stewed fruit. Another one of those books I've coveted and thus kept too long from the library. A keeper for my kitchen!
December 19, 2015
Deborah Madison does it again with a cookbook filled with whole food desserts. These recipes focus on the fresh fruits of the season. They are served simply and wonderfully. This is a great book to turn to for a dessert that elevates fruit but still feels special.
April 28, 2010
Lots of great ideas with easy to follow directions and many great pictures.
Lots of these great desserts include alcohol or are accompanied by liqueur.
Lots of these great desserts include alcohol or are accompanied by liqueur.
Read
September 29, 2010A library copy that I am drooling over. Not cooked from yet but there's a winter squash cake and a souffled breakfast pancake iwth aged cheddar and apples that I have my eye on.
May 26, 2010
This book is gorgeous, with lovely minimalist desserts I can't wait to try.
July 11, 2010
A little pretentious, but very interesting recipes with fantastic photos. Can't wait to try some of the recipes out!
July 28, 2014
Most of these were just variations on a theme (fruit in syrup, fruit with cheese, etc.), so not my favorite book.
March 8, 2014
Olive oil orange chiffon cake
July 24, 2013
This book is worth reading for the intros to each fruit alone. Of course I've always been partial to fruit desserts so a book that focuses mostly on the fruit and less on baking is my ideal.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews