Cookbook Reviews

The Perfect Finish

Come over for dinner more than a few times and you’re bound to re-experience my white chocolate-almond cake, strawberry yogurt pie and warm chocolate puddings. The reason for the repetition is pretty straightforward — I have about a dozen good desserts in my repertoire. If you’re in a similar position, I would suggest taking a glance at Bill Yosses’s and Melissa Clark’s The Perfect Finish (W.W. Norton and Co., 2010).

You may recognize Yosses as the White House’s executive pastry chef and Clark as a food columnist for the New York Times. In The Perfect Finish the two culinary pros come together to share 80 exquisite, easy-to-make sweets. These are desserts that anyone would be happy to add to her collection.

Organized according to occasion, the book begins with a section on muffins, scones, breads and pastries, foods that work perfectly for breakfast or brunch. Hence the chapter’s title, “Come for Brunch.” Cookies feature prominently in the next chapter, “Pick-Me-Ups.” Along with familiar favorites such as chocolate chip cookies and brownies, I found such uncommon treats as chocolate peanut crinkles, chocolate chunk cookies with Nutella and blood orange squares.

For more formal events I’ve turned to the chapters “I’ll Bring Dessert” and “Restaurant Desserts That You Can Make at Home.” Here I’ve gotten recipes for such memorable meal endings as lemon tart brulee and blueberry jelly roll.

Because I own several Bundt pans, I’m always on the lookout for interesting and successful Bundt cakes. Much to my delight, The Perfect Finish provides two reliable recipes. For the warmer months I have the lovely blackberry buttermilk Bundt with orange glaze. During colder months I have the redolent gingerbread Bundt with freshly ground spices.

Although it provides a smattering of treats — everything from cakes, pies, tarts and waffles to puddings, trifles and sundaes is covered in the book — each recipe is unique and works as written. Thanks to The Perfect Finish, I can introduce a range of divine, new desserts to my dinner guests.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since writing this, I made another dessert, red eye devil’s food cake, that was grossly inaccurate. The cake portion of the recipe calls for 2 cups (8 ounces) of strongly brewed coffee. Two cups equals 16, not 8, ounces. I went with the 8-ounce weight measurement for the coffee. Likewise, the ganache recipe for the cake calls for 3 cups of heavy cream and 14 ounces of chopped chocolate. With 3 cups of cream I ended up with a chocolate soup, not a chocolate frosting. I used all the semi-sweet chocolate that I had on hand (26 ounces total) as well as 3/4 cup of ground sweet chocolate; only then did the concoction resemble a ganache. As this same measurement is used in the recipe for chestnut cake with milk chocolate ganache, I would have the identical issue there. Needless to say, I retract what I said about the recipes working as written.

Filed under: Cookbook Reviews

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Based on the U.S. East Coast, I am a trained journalist, writer and photographer specializing in food, travel, STEM and education. My articles appear in such publications as the Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Standardization News, VegNews and See All This. I have written two nonfiction books, contributed to two other books and provided the photography for one. A world traveler, I have journeyed through 51 countries and six continents, collecting story ideas as I've roamed.