The book focuses on recipes that can be done quickly with eight or fewer ingredients. With a few caveats, the book succeeds in providing interesting, workable recipes for people with few pastry skills which can be done in a relatively short time, with no expensive ingredients and no unusual ingredients.
The recipes are divided among four chapters covering recipes which can be completed with 15 minutes, 30 minutes or 45 minutes active time, plus a chapter on `kid doable' recipes. The book gives relatively quick recipes for some old standards such as hot fudge sundaes, Clafouti, scones, Panna Cotta, chocolate chip cookies, shortbread, cheesecake, Tarte Tatin, turnovers, semifreddo, Tiramisu, apple tarts, crème brulee, buttermilk biscuits (c/o Shirley Corriher), cinnamon-raisin bread, and my all time favorite snickerdoodles.While all these names are familiar, Gale gives a new twist to almost all of them, leaving only the venerable Shirley Corriher biscuit tradition and the snickerdoodle recipe untouched. Thus, she is following the same tradition as David Lebovitz by producing creative variations on the standards. Ms. Gand does a little better in my mind than Lebovitz in `Ripe for Desserts' in that she has concentrated on recipes that can be done easily and cheaply. Unlike Lebovitz first book, `Room for Dessert', Ms. Gand does not give long discussions on technique or ingredients. Her effort is redeemed by her recipes' simplicity.
There is a really important caveat to the claim that the recipes can be done in 15, 30, or 45 minutes. This caveat is that this does not include baking times, which can be up to 30 minutes. It also does not include refrigerate time to relax or condition intermediate preparations. This time is not inconsequential when it comes to planning kitchen time. On the other side of the coin, the recipes are quite good in giving points in the preparation where intermediate steps can be refrigerated or frozen before finishing. This may not be a big thing most of the time, but when it helps, it really helps.
There are some things I found which may only annoy a frustrated teacher. These are errors in fact or errors in grammar. The most glaring error in fact I found was the statement that balsamic vinegar is made from red grapes. Since this is such an obviously easy mistake to make, it signals a lack of care by the publisher's copy editor. The same can be said of the few very obvious grammatical errors.
I generally have little interest in photographs of savory dishes, but desserts are a different story. Desserts are as much about eye candy as they are food for the sweet tooth. On average, the pictures in this book are good to very good, with a few stinkers here and there. It is beyond me why the publishers could not see their way clear to include a photograph of every recipe. Desserts, especially when done for kids or for parties, can often be chosen on the basis of a picture.
I am delighted to see Gale Gand come up with some new episodes for her Food Network show `Sweet Dreams'. I am not a big dessert maker, but Gale, along with some other Food Network hosts comprises my favorite comfort food for the mind. This may seem somewhat insubstantial, but the rapport between Gale and her son, Gio, adds a warmth to her printed and TV presentations which may be missing or slightly phony with other hosts. I would seriously add this consideration to your evaluating this book for purchase.
This book is recommended for anyone who likes to create with desserts. It is highly recommended for anyone who likes to bake and create desserts for and with kids.