Product Description

FROM THE FOUNDER OF MRS. FIELDS' COOKIES, THE RENOWNED CHAIN OF COOKIE STORES, A SPECTACULAR COLLECTION OF DESSERT RECIPES

Debbi Fields, who turned a simple chocolate chip cookie into a national icon, understands America's love of desserts. In Debbi Fields' Great American Desserts, she offers 100 recipes bound to satisfy all dessert fans. Beautifully illustrated and lively, Debbi Fields' Great American Desserts presents Debbi's own down-to-earth style in easy, foolproof recipes for American favorites with delectable variations on many of them.

Try Debbi's classic Devil's Food Cake, then make her irresistible variation: four chocolate layers sandwiched with Dark Chocolate Fudge Ganache and Whipped Chocolate Espresso Filling, covered in White Chocolate Frosting. And if you think Debbi's Truffle Cake is to die for, just wait until you taste her Triple Truffle Cake. Prefer pie to cake? Then enjoy Paradise Key Lime Pie, or the heavenly Peanut Butter-Chocolate Mud Pie. Craving cheesecake? After you've baked Debbi's New York Style Cheesecake, move on to her Sweet Potato-Pecan Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust. In the mood for something simpler? Then Debbi's Banana Pudding or Strawberry-Peach Shortcake will fill the bill. And for cookie lovers, there are Caramel Macadamia Butter Cookies and Chocolate Swirled Shortbread.

With easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, and lavishly illustrated with seventy full-color photographs, Debbi Fields' Great American Desserts will inspire cooks and bakers everywhere to create and indulge in these supremely satisfying delights.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #935193 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Fields, of the Mrs. Fields' cookie chain, knows the kinds of desserts Americans like: rich, familiar and frequently chocolate. Eschewing the honorific in her third cookbook (after Mrs. Fields' Cookie Book and Mrs. Fields' I Love Chocolate Cook), which is being published simultaneously with the appearance of a PBS TV series of the same title, she covers expected family favorites, including layer cakes, pies, icebox desserts and cookies. Chocolate remains the most favored flavor, especially in such "signature" recipes as Debbi's Devil's Food Cake, Debbi's Chocolate Cream Pie, Debbi's Fudge Mousse, and Debbi's Flourless Fudge Brownies. Fields describes herself as "almost incapable of resisting the temptation to add extra ingredients." This proclivity leads to some excess, as in Peanut Butter, Fruit, and Nut Bars, the recipe for which includes a pecan-chocolate crust topped with peanut butter, chocolate chips, peanuts, almonds, apricots, dates and coconut. More appealing are simpler recipes such as Georgia Peach Butter Cake, Lemon-Berry Bars, Sweet Potato Pie and White Chocolate Bundt Cake. Throughout, recipes are clearly presented and often accompanied by illustrative photos, although discussion of technique is limited. 200,000 first printing; first serial to Family Circle; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Bluestein and Morrissey are the authors of The 99% Fat-Free Cookbook of Appetizers and Desserts (LJ 2/15/96) and The 99% Fat-Free Cookbook (LJ 4/15/94), among other titles; this time around, they're indulging themselves. True, they do include a chapter of Healthy Cookies (low-fat, sugarless, and/or gluten-free), but there are dozens of recipes for such treats as Cappuccino-Filled Hazelnut Sandwiches, Three-Layer Brownies, and Macadamia Florentines. Instructions are particularly clear, and there is also a section on holiday cookies, from Christmas to Passover to Halloween. Highly recommended. Debbi Fields is Mrs. Fields of cookie shop fame (see Mrs. Fields Cookie Book, LJ 8/92); she has appeared often on the TV Food Network, and this book is the companion to a new PBS series. She offers lots of rich desserts, both her versions of classic favorites such as Coconut Cake and Banana Pudding and her dressed-up, more extravagant variations, such as Lemon-Cream Coconut Cake or Chocolate Banana Pudding. The recipes sound delicious, and her TV show will only increase her popularity. Recommended for most collections.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
A familiar name among cookie lovers (and cookie bakers) widens her bakery repertoire in this companion to a PBS television series slated for September. Although she includes a selection of scrumptious cookie and brownie recipes, her real focus is on bigger sweet treats. There's much that practiced bakers will find familiar, but Fields adds her own special touch. There's also lots that will seem new, with all recipes accompanied by step-by-step instructions that even novice bakers should be able to follow. Filled with butter, egg yolks, and chocolate, these sweets aren't for the nutrition conscious, but reserve room for this on the shelf anyway. Stephanie Zvirin

Customer Reviews

A Treasure for Dessert Lovers!
Cookie aficionados have known for years that no one does moist, chewy, gooey cookies better than Mrs. Fields. With her latest, gorgeously photographed book, "Great American Desserts," Mrs. Fields gives her legions of admirers more reason to celebrate. The superb recipes I've tried include Flourless Fudge Brownies, Paradise Key Lime Pie, Butterscotch Blondies, and Peanut Butter Mississippi Mud Bars. Those are just a few standout recipes - I can't wait to try more of the 100 classic desserts in this book, which often contain a wonderfully surprising, updated twist. The Paradise Key Lime Pie, for instance, uses heavy cream instead of sweetened condensed milk, and the results are superb! I'm not a vastly experienced baker, just a longtime dessert lover who has gradually taken up baking. I have high expectations for dessert recipes, and will never repeat a recipe that fails the taste test. The recipes in "Great American Desserts" are a feast for the senses! The next desserts I plan to try are the Truffle Cake, and Debbi's Ice Cream Cake. If the results are even half as good as what I've seen previously, I should be in dessert heaven!

Very disappointing
I too was lured into purchasing this book because of the over-the-top recipes but that actually proved to be the downfall. After trying out several I gave up on this book because they either were too hard, didn't work out or were just OK. I made the Carrot Cake twice and it ended up just falling apart both times when I took it out of the pan. And this was after about an hour & 1/2 in the kitchen. Other things like the Flourless Fudge Brownies were way too sweet & rich and made me a little sick to my stomach. I consider myself an experienced baker and there are so many other books which are more helpful and less of a waste. Try the Cake Bible or Betty Crocker books.

Interesting but not entirely pleased
Some of these recipes were strange, and some of the cakes appeared dry-looking although very pretty to look at. I really like the blueberry muffins. The cheesecake section does look very good even though I haven't had the chance to try any of them yet. The chocolate icing calling for 22 tablespoons of butter is fluffy, thick, and excellent. The pictures are very impressive looking but I am not sure if all of the recipes are tried-and-true. I have mixed feelings about this cookbook. The price was right, however, for a hardback.