Cookbook Club April 2015: Desserts From My Kitchen

Welcome to the Geeky Hostess Cookbook Club! Each month I’ll pick a cookbook and try various recipes from it. I’ll post pictures of the outcomes on Instagram and share my thoughts on social media. Based on permissions from the author/publisher, some months may include giveaways, free recipes, and interviews. You can join along by getting a copy of the book and sharing your thoughts with #GHRecipeBookClub! 

I’ve been wanting to start a cookbook club for a while. I have stacks and stacks of cookbooks with fun recipes and beautiful pictures, yet I hardly ever actually use them. This gives me a chance to really explore the books and learn a bit more about cooking/baking in the process. Plus, it gives you a chance to see multiple recipes from a book made by someone other than the author, and allows us all to learn and share tips together if you choose to get the book as well!

To start us off, I’ve chosen Desserts from My Kitchen by Lesley Stowe (the creator of Raincoast Crisps, those delicious crackers I used in my Fairytale Party post!). I had the pleasure of meeting Lesley Stowe at the Seattle Food Bloggers Conference, and she’s amazing. She’s a Paris-trained chef, former caterer, and now creator of the Raincoast Crisp line. She has a variety of cookbooks, but this one is her newest. Her passion is desserts, and you can really see it through the gorgeous creations in this book. Many of the desserts look like they’d be at home in an art museum!

The recipes range from fairly simple to complex, and all of them have measurements written out by cup/teaspoon and by weight. Although this cookbook isn’t particularly geeky, I feel it lays down a great foundation on a variety of treats. Once you have these down and in your repertoire, you can find ways to incorporate geeky touches!

The book includes the following categories:

• Cookies
• Bars & Biscotti
• Tarts & More Tarts
• Cakes
• Dinner Party Desserts
• Frozen Desserts
• Holiday Favorites
• Toppings & Special Touches
• Baking Basics

I’m looking forward to trying the following recipes:

• Oatmeal Milk-Chocolate Chunk Cookies (A nice basic!)
• Chocolate Macarons (I’ve been wanting to learn how to make macarons for a long time!)
• Lemon Shortbread Bars (These are going to make a fantastic treat for Easter brunch!)
• Semifreddo (A frozen mousse/ice cream type dessert. She has a few different flavor options!)

And if I have time, I may try one of her beautiful tarts or cakes.

Desserts From My Kitchen is currently available for $26.27 on Amazon.com. Will you join me for the first Geeky Hostess Cookbook Club? If so, please share your thoughts and pics by using #GHCookBookClub!