[.ca] Retro Desserts: Totally Hip, Updated Classic Desserts ... (ISBN 0688164447)

From Amazon.com:
Tired of tiramisu? Good. Wayne Brachman to the rescue. He's the pastry chef for Bobby Flay at Mesa Grill and Bolo in New York City. For Retro Desserts Brachman has culled food magazines, newspapers, cookbooks, leaflets, and the like from the 1940s to the early 1970s for the classics of American dessert kitsch, turning up one horrid treasure after another. The most frightening aspect of this book is the urge that comes with each turning page to get into the kitchen and start baking, stirring, cooking, and re-creating. Why would anyone want to bake a Crazy Craters of the Moon Cake with Moonrock Topping? (Miniature marshmallows--that's the secret of the topping.) But then Brachman shows you how to make your own marshmallow, reconstructing this entire processed dessert from scratch. "If you must," he writes, "go out and get store-bought cookies or crumbs \ofor pie crusts\c. OK, it's extra work, but homemade cookie crumbs make a remarkably big difference in flavor." There are recipes for the home-baked equivalent of the Oreo and Cream-Filled Devil's Food Cupcakes, as well as Strawberry Chiffon Pie, Banana Pudding, Bananas Foster, Strawberries Romanoff, Lemon Bars, and Cornflake Macaroons--all illustrated with the kitsch of the time. Fun as they all sound, the recipes bear the integrity of a fine pastry chef who obviously likes a good time but is also serious about what he brings to the table. Those may look like Ding Dongs you are serving at your next dinner party, but wait until the flavor kicks in. --Schuyler Ingle

good book with great food:
I've had the book for a couple of years and have made many things out of it. I especailly like the key lime pie. I've only had one problem with one cake falling and it was because I was living at a very high elevation. Otherwise its been a great book. I don't understand why so many people seem to have so much trouble with it.

Schmear's To Wayne!:
I totally loved this book. It isn't hard to see why Mr. Brachman was selected as one of the ten best pastry chefs in America, he may well be the next Martha Stewart! It takes personality and character to create a masterful cookbook, and these are combined to perfection in this book. I have already tried seven of the recipes in this book, and intend to try many more in the months to come; I just bought the book last week! Truly a must have for any baker. Do yourself a favor and at least check this book out! After glancing through it you'll be sold.

Retro Desserts : Totally Hip, Updated Classic Desserts:
I tried making the Black and White Cookies. I followed the directions, TO THE LETTER. The batter for the six cookies on each cookie sheet melted together into a single mess! I double checked the recipe, and I did not make any mistakes. There must be something missing, either ingredient-wise or in the instructions. Very frustrating, because what little I was able to taste was pretty good, even though it was impossible properly cook them (there was no way to turn the single mass this became over at the half way point).

Pretty, but recipes don't work:
When I saw this book, I had to have it. It is beautifully photographed and the text is witty. The problem is, like some other reviewers have mentioned, the recipes don't work. I promised the gang at work I'd bring in delicious Black and White cookies and the results were a waste of time and money. I have tried four different recipes and had trouble with each. I've never attended culinary school, but I'm a pretty experienced home baker. After the recipes failed, I could figure out the problem and make adjustments, but I don't feel it's my responsibility to do that after purchasing a hardback cookbook. Get this book if you want to set it on your coffee table, but don't take it into the kitchen!!!

I wanted to like it, but...:
I really wanted to love this book. The idea is great, the photos are fantastic, the writing is funny -- but so far, every recipe I have tried has stunk. Some of them didn't work, some of them worked but the result just wasn't that great. I'm glad I have it on my shelf to look at and be inspired by, but I'm not going to cook from it anymore.