**I have made 25 of the recipes in this book**
This is quite the
decadent cookbook. And with the holidays rolling around there is always
plenty of room on the table for dessert. This book has quite a few
fabulous recipes in it, and most are quite easy to make as well.
As
most people know, the Red Hat Society is a club for ladies who
primarily dress in purple and red and hats. And I'm sure there's more
to it than that, but I honestly don't know much beyond that. Except
that these ladies can cook, and that this book puts dessert before
everything else.
There are several sections to this book. The
first is "Cakes for Every Occasion". The Raw Apple Cake is the first
recipe in the book and it was interesting, but it did turn out rather
dense, so it was a filling type of cake. The Best Ever Coconut Pound
Cake was ok, but didn't actually taste coconutty, and the recipe for
glaze that came with it made entirely too much. But then there was the
Peanut Butter Sheet Cake. Oh my goodness. This was about one of the
most fabulous cakes I've had, and I usually prefer my peanut butter
spicy as compared to sweet. Then there was the Double Delicious Banana
Cake. It was good, but quite messy and the batter only made enough for 2
layers, instead of the three that it called for. A time consuming
recipe in this book was the Mexican Chocolate Cake, but it was entirely
worth it. There's something about a mix of spices and chocolate that is
a great favorite of mine. Claire's Lavender and Lemon Cake was ok, but
I didn't find it remarkable or overly note-worthy. The only real
disappointment in this chapter was the German Black Forest Cake and
that's because it was mostly put together from canned and boxed
ingredients and it just tasted fake to me.
The next section was
"Savory Cheesecakes and Pies". I made the Mini Surprise Cheesecakes to
take into work and they were very popular. And for a cheesecake they
weren't that hard to make either. Then there was the Fresh Blueberry
Cream Pie. I greatly enjoyed this. It was definitely fresh tasting.
The Strawberry pie was also delicious.
Which leads us to "Pastry
Delights". I made the Cranberry-Maple Nut Scones in this section and
they were amazing. Light, flaky, and filled with great ingredients, I
could probably eat these for breakfast every day. The Sun Parlor Coffee
Cake was also good, and another hit at work. As was the Mom's
Neverl-Fail Sour Cream Coffee Cake. And they were so easy to make. The
Strawberry Orange Muffins were another good breakfast item.
"Munchable
Cookies" was a favored section of mine, just because cookies are so
quick to make. The sugar cookies were very good, and I used some almond
flour in them to really amp up the flavor, they turned out great even
with the substitution. The Chocolate Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies were
also very yummy and easy to make. The Chocolate Chips Cookies Plus
tasted ok, but were quite crumbly for eating. I'm intrigued by crispy
cookies so when I tried the Crispy Oatmeal cookies I was pleasantly
surprised to find out they tasted good and still didn't involve a lot of
labor to make. The Molasses Cookies though I wouldn't waste my time on
again, they were just kind of blah in taste. The Southern Shortbread
Cookies were popular, and I added a bit of Amaretto for a kick. And the
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies I can't say I enjoyed the texture on. They might
have tasted ok, but they were kind of gummy.
"Mouthwatering Bars
and Luscious Brownies" was a chapter I didn't delve into too far. It
had all the standards though. The Apple Nut Squares tasted healthy, and
they were easy to make. The Blonde Brownies tasted ok, but they were
rather dry.
Next chapter was "Old-Fashioned Favorites". I made
the Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce and it was ok, but not something
I'd make again. They had other interesting sounding recipes in the
chapter though that I haven't tried yet, like Rice Pudding and Fondue.
"Frozen
Delights" was a chapter I did not get into. But there were recipes for
ice cream or recipes involving ice cream, like Baked Alaska.
Which
brings us to "A Medley of Other Sweet Pleasures". This is a mish mash
of all types of desserts, and I only read through a little bit in this
chapter. But there are puddings, bread puddings, cobblers, etc.
"Brittles,
Truffles and Assorted Candies" is exactly as it sounds. There are even
numerous types of fudge in this section. I made the Fleming Fudge and
it didn't set up right for me, but I was living at a high altitude at
the time which could have had an influence.
The last section was
"Thirst-Satisfying Beverages" and I didn't make anything from this
chapter. Nothing particularly stood out for me but there are punches
galore and even an eggnog recipe in this section.
Technically
speak this book does a good job on measurements and baking times. There
were only a few that I had trouble with, and one of those could have
been due to the high altitude. So a beginner cook could probably be
quite successful using this book. Everything is clearly spelled out.
The
book was put together beautifully. Great big pictures that are well
done for a good portion of the recipes. And throughout the book are
pictures and stories from different Red Hat Society Club Members, which
would probably be appealing for someone who is a member. I kind of just
ignored them. The index is easy to use and each recipe is credited to
the lady that submitted it. This would be a great book for someone in
this club or someone who enjoys making desserts.
Everyone loves dessert. No one ever hates it. And surely, Red Hat Society member love desserts as well as cooking and baking.
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