[.ca] The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern (ISBN 037550429X)

From Amazon.com:
"First and foremost, everything I make has to taste absolutely delicious," says Claudia Fleming in her introduction to The Last Course: The Desserts of Grammercy Tavern. Words to live by, especially when you're the pastry chef at one of New York City's most popular restaurants. Fleming cleverly describes and explains her creations in intelligent introductions to every recipe. She easily justifies her unusual flavor combinations, such as Roasted Apricots with Chamomile and Lavender-Lemon Pound Cake, and carefully walks us through important steps like gently cooking the strawberries and rose wine for her Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Strawberry Rosé Gelée. Recipes are divided by their star ingredient, and read like a farmers' market shopping list: apples, pears, and quinces; figs, melons, and grapes; herbs and flowers; cheese, milk, and cream. "Composed Desserts" make up the last chapter, and each is paired with a dessert wine. While every one of Fleming's recipes produces a delectable dessert on its own, the combinations she proposes in this chapter are truly memorable. A lighthearted composition like Waffles with Maple-Glazed Bananas and Maple Flan brings a favorite breakfast treat into the dining room for dessert. It's creamy and sweet, crispy and warm, cold and tangy--all at the same time. A number of Fleming's signature desserts are here, too: Coconut Tapioca with Coconut Sorbet, Passion Fruit-Pineapple Sorbet, Passion Fruit Caramel, and Cilantro Syrup (a Gramercy favorite). There are also plenty of recipes for the cookie jar, including the wonderfully soft and chewy Chocolate Brownie Cookies, elegant enough to serve with coffee for dessert. Treats like Milk Chocolate Malted Ice Cream, Mascarpone Cream Cannoli, and Lime-Gingersnap Parfait will have you singing Fleming's praises as loudly as her fans do at Gramercy Tavern. --Leora Y. Bloom

Toothachingly, heartbreakingly pretty.:
Claudia Fleming's desserts possess charms that are immediately apparent to both the eye and the palate; in fact, one of Claudia's greatest strengths is that she addresses whimsy and mathematics in equal measure. Also, she has managed to come up with the most consistently delightful sounding recipes I have ever encountered in a dessert cookbook. The fantastic photography helps. However, I choose the precise, fastidious and in many ways, highly inflexible world of pastry-making when I want to escape the overwhelming pressure to improvise with my supper. I like the never-fail promise of a good piecrust recipe and all. Which is why I dislike having to nip, tuck, and make alterations when I am dealing with pastry and the whole thing is clearly going pear-shaped. Many of Claudia's recipes, though they were _all_ invariable divine, required modifying to varying degrees. - Hazelnut Torte was dry and there was far too much batter left over. -Gingersnaps were yummy, but if you live near a Whole Foods market and you haven't tried their brand of Gingersnaps yet, save yourself some time and trust me; they are far superior. -Buttermilk Panna Cotta was WONDERFUL. -Caramel Ice Cream tastes good because it has 12 egg yolks in it. I suppose anything would taste good with that much abandon applied to it, but is that surprising? Still, really good stuff. -Chocolate Brownie Cookies are the best thing to happen to the cookie since the chocolate chip. And Claudia makes the chocolate chip look like a dirty joke from outer space. WOW! -All berry desserts are not worth trying unless you have access to truly superior berries. Claudia has a passion for combining fruit, vegetables and chocolate with herbs and spices, and if the fruit is not potent and overpowering in aroma and flavor, the desserts end up tasting like a faceful of basil or tarragon or lemon verbena. As was the case with my strawberry shortcakes. And my bing cherry cheesecake. And my meringue. Hmm. In other words, these are not recipes to help you make the best out of a mediocre crop. And, if you're anything like me and you prefer to eat your best fruit fresh, unadulterated, and out of hand, then that won't leave much left for these tantalizing desserts. Bottom line: my guests were impressed with the innovative presentations and the utterly unique philosophy behind these desserts. I was happy as a clam up until the point where I was eating them, and half if the time I felt disappointed with what I was tasting, given the amount of work I put into these recipes. If you have great access to great produce, then this book will be indispensable to you. Plus, it makes for great bedtime reading.

THERE'S AN ERROR!!!:
In the recipe for the Lemon Lime Souffle Tart (Pp. 79-80) the ingredients for the filling call for 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of sugar but the directions only give instructions for 10 tablespoons of the sugar (5 used in Step 5 and 5 used in Step 7). There is no accounting for when to use the remaining sugar which sits lonely in its bowl. If you follow the directions step by step sequentially, all you will have is wasted time, energy, and a mess to clean up along with a baked crust that yearns to be filled. Claudia Fleming, Melissa Clark and Random House should be ashamed that they couldn't bother proofreading this book, or at the least posting a notice with sale with a correction.

Rachel Hoffman:
One of the best pastry book! I have made half the recepies on the book. My favorite are cornmeal-nut biscotti the espresso-orange panna cotta and the chocolate caramel tarts.Very easy to follow you will realy enjoy this book!

Not as nice as it looks:
The book looks great, with gorgeous pictures and wonderful titles that would inspire any cook. Too bad the recipes didn't deliver as promised. I tried four recipes in here one weekend (trying to pick one for Thanksgiving) and every single one turned out really badly. -The white chocolate espresso tart: Crust was impossibly dry and crumbly. White chocolate cream was too thick to drain through a cheesecloth as the directions asked. -Apple tart tatin: The caramel hardened into a hard candy shell on the bottom of the dish that was too difficult to break through. -Sour cherry and pear crisp: The wine that the cherries soaked in overpowered the dish, turning everything into a pink mass. -Citrus tuiles: These were just disastrous. They burned around the edges and stuck to the pan.

Incredible Edibles:
I was so totally amazed by this book! I like to read and peruse cookbooks as a hobby and I definitely didn't expect this one to be anything above the ordinary. So many celebrity pastry chefs do their own books these days and for the most part, you can't really use the books because the recipes are so complicated and unrealistic. The author of this book did make the same indulgence but she only put it in the last chapter (a short one at that). It certaintly wasn't the focus of the book. This book shows recipes that could actually be prepared and had beautful photographs as well. There are dessert ideas I would of never thought of and I swear, I will never think of vegetables in the same way again. Truly, an outstanding book!