Product Description

Sweets. As kids, we could never get enough, and anything sugary, gooey, and good was gratefully devoured. As adults, we give a polite “no thank you” when a dessert tray passes by, or take but a sliver of cake if offered, showing restraint that would make any ten-year-old incredulous. Well, that’s not fair. Why should kids get all the fun? Now, adults can have the best of both worlds.

Gale Gand’s Just a Bite is equal parts kitchen-table, kid-giggling joy and uptown, grown-up chic. Award-winning pastry chef Gale Gand has collected the recipes from her Food Network show Sweet Dreams and renowned restaurant Tru into a book that is as charming and accessible as the author herself. These recipes aren’t just for the expert baker or pastry connoisseur but also for the everyday cook looking to lighten up the end of a meal, or even replace the ubiquitous brownie with, say, Banana Brûlée Spoonfuls. With easy-to-follow instructions, a handful of ingredients, and a craving for fun, you’ll be whipping up Devil’s Peaks with Double-Chocolate Drizzle and popping them in your mouth before, as a kid, you could have licked the frosting beater clean.

Gale has also assembled a mini-menu of sorts for her delectables. Called the Tasting Trio, three of the treats are served together for maximum, sweet tooth bliss. Combinations like Bomb Poppers, Marshmallow Moons, and Butterfly Cupcakes; or Orange-Vanilla “Fried Eggs” on Cinnamon Toast, Meringue Cigarettes, and Mini Granita Watermelons. Or try your own assortments, putting together yummys like Stained-Glass Cookies and Fig Nortons with Peanut Butter Cookie—Grape Jelly Ice Cream Sandwiches and Mini Root Beer Floats. The possibilities are endless and the flavors . . . wow, with flavors like this, who needs to be a kid again?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57277 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-23
• Released on: 2001-10-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Amazon.com Review
Once upon a time there were petit fours--delicious morsels to be enjoyed as, or after, dessert. Today, there are minidesserts like Marshmallow Moons and Banana Brûlée Spoonfuls, at least according to Gale Gand's Just a Bite. Gale Gand and Julia Moskin's 125 accessible recipes provide a captivating variety of cookie, cake, and candy nibbles. Gand, whose recipes come from her Food Network show, Sweet Dreams, and Chicago restaurant Tru, knows her stuff well enough to have serious fun; readers will be delighted by her bites, which can be served at or away from the table.

The recipes range from reborn childhood classics, such as Caramel-Orange Rice Crisps, and animal crackers made with five-spice powder to traditional grown-up favorites such as Orange Tuiles and the extraordinary, custardy cake Cannelés. Present also are inventive extravaganzas, including Chocolate-Almond Fondue with Cake Cubes and Bite-Size Cheesecakes on Lemon-Pepper-Cornmeal Crusts. Candy lovers will be particularly excited by Gand's Chocolate-Caramel Cigarillos and Peppermint Stick-White Chocolate Bark, which take candy in a sophisticated yet approachable direction. (You can leave the candy thermometer in the drawer.) With a succinctly useful section on basics, and color photos, the book is both innovative and tempting. --Arthur Boehm

From Library Journal
Gand, the pastry chef of Chicago's acclaimed Tru restaurant, is also the host of Sweet Dreams, a popular Food Network series. Her last book was Butter Sugar Flour Eggs; here she presents recipes for the "bite-size" (or two- or three-bite size) desserts she serves on her "Tasting Trio" plates though each one could also be served on its own. Gand loves miniature sweets "a combination of dessert and toy" but flavor is all-important. Her recipes are organized by categories of "bites" Cookie Bites, Creamy Bites, Frozen Bites, etc. with color photographs of such delectable creations as Banana Brul?e Spoonfuls, Tiny Lemon Angel Cakes, and Taffy Lady Apples. For all baking collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Noted dessert chief Gale Gand's Just a Bite offers exciting dessert recipes yielding small but intense portions of people's favorites, from two-ingredient Root Beer Floats to an elaborate version of rice pudding called Toasted Coconut Risotto with Pecans. For the hungrier, Gand suggests keeping the palate intrigued by pairing two or three of these small tastings into a multicourse, restaurant-style dessert. Gand's cable television exposure will expand the market for this volume. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Miniature desserts, huge results
Sometimes the prices of cookbooks are enough to make a person question if its worth it. You think will I use it enough? Gale Gand has put together a wonderful cookbook featuring little desserts that pack a big punch. They are wonderfully organized into catergories such as: cheese bites, fruit bites, chocolate bites, candy bites and so forth. It makes it incredibly easy to find a recipe, just based on what you're craving! Not only is this cookbook good for the home baker and professional alike, you can whip up something to serve after a dinner for four or ten.

It's true, there are not pictures for each recipe, and while this usually bothers me, Gale Gand puts everything into simple to understand language that pictures aren't necessary, or missed. In addition, you can turn on the television at any time to her show "sweet dreams" on the food network and see her make any of her desserts from any of her three cookbooks. This book is wonderful, I look forward to making every last thing in it.

Great Presenation
I felt the presentation of this book was great and there are a lot of unique recipies. I did try to make the blueberry shortbread and had a problem with it. The consistancy was just not there. After reading someone's else's review here on Amazon, I see I was not the only one who had a problem and perhaps there was something left out of the recipie?
I also tried the cake on the front cover which everyone did love, but I have to say that it made way more cake batter than the pan size and even though I didn't use it all it overflowed all over the oven. I would say that this cookbook may be for someone with a little more experience than a beginner who is not used to anticipating or judging when things don't look quite right! The choc. cake and topping was a big hit though regardless of the big mess in my stove!!

Great ideas for parties!
This cookbook is a great resource for people planning parties. Most of the recipes are miniature desserts that are very easy to make and fun to eat. The best part is that they are very impressive looking. I especially love the Pansy Petal Lollipops and the Chocolate Mint Tiddlywinks. You can make 3 or 4 different desserts for a party. Gale Gand writes clear intructions and also gives suggestions for desserts that taste great together. The results are delicious! Check out her other cookbooks for more great desserts.