I Love Desserts: Seasonal Fruit Desserts—From Orchard, Farm, and Market

the appetizer:

Seasonal Fruit Desserts: From Orchard, Farm, and Market by Deborah Madison, includes excerpts and recipes like Lychees; Late Summer Rhubarb and Blackberry Compote; Individual Rhubarb Tarts in a Corn Flour Crust; and Native Wild Rice Pudding with Maple Syrup and Wine Soaked Cherries.

Seasonal Fruit Desserts
From Orchard, Farm, and Market

by Deborah Madison

Click to Buy Seasonal Fruit Desserts

Known for her remarkable way with vegetables, celebrated cook and author Deborah Madison now brings her skill and creativity to her other great passion—cooking with fruit. In her eagerly awaited new book, Seasonal Fruit Desserts: From Orchard, Farm, and Market, Deborah revisits the farmers markets she loves so well and featured in Local Flavors, introducing readers to a cornucopia of fruits, including some worthy heirlooms, and a wealth of easy ways to enjoy them.

Most of us find it difficult to incorporate enough fruit into our diets, and who can blame us? According to Deborah, the majority of the fruit we tend to eat have flavors that are mere shadows of what they could be if eaten ripe and in season. Seasonal Fruit Desserts strives to remedy that. It names the most delicious varieties of fruits we might find in our various farmers markets and farm stands, local orchards, or even in our own backyards, the fruits that can stand on their own as the ultimate dessert-dazzling, seductive, and gorgeous.

Deborah, an expert on local produce, traveled around the country to sample and learn about fruits and nuts first hand. She shares stories reflecting her visits to farms, conversations with farmers, and a wealth of information about fruit varieties, bringing to light the best fruit pairings for any season and where to find them.

Focusing on selections of carefully chosen and artfully arranged fruit, Deborah expands on nature's perfection with fruit preparations that range from the simple to the elaborate (but never difficult), including compotes based on both fresh and dried fruits, tarts, upside-down cakes, and fruits that complement America's new farmstead cheeses. Since Deborah considers herself a cook who makes desserts rather than a pastry chef, she has created recipes that do not depend on exacting conditions or considerable manual dexterity to succeed.

Berry and Peach Cobbler with Corn Flour Cobbles and Nectarine and Plum Upside-Down Cake are the easiest of all fruit pastries. Her pies and tarts are simply crafted from a few basic doughs and filled with ripe berries, stone fruits, seasonal nuts, and dried fruits. A few luscious examples include Apricot Fold-Over Pie, Huckleberry Cream Tart, and Three-Layer Almond Tart with Fruit Preserves.

It doesn't stop there. Deborah explores other desserts that benefit from being paired with fruit such as puddings, custards, and mousses. Featuring Dark Chocolate Pudding to serve with berries and Butterscotch Pudding with Sweet and Savory Pecans, as well as cookies and a selection of six simple cakes that go with a variety of seasonal fruit compotes throughout the year, Seasonal Fruit Desserts has it all.

With more than 175 recipes and gorgeous photographs, this bountiful collection will stand beside Deborah Madison's best-loved cookbooks as further inspiration to cook with local ingredients in simple and supremely flavorful ways.

About the Author

Deborah Madison, founding chef of the renowned Greens Restaurant in San Francisco, is the award-winning author of nine cookbooks, including The Greens Cookbook (her first), the Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and her latest, Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchens. She has received the M.F.K. Fisher Award, the International Association of Culinary Professionals' Julia Child Cookbook of the Year Award, and three James Beard awards.