December 1, 2013 Advent with SusieJ

Tammy Donroe Inman: Wintersweet

First, I must confess that a friend, Jen, an editor for the same publisher, gave me a copy of Wintersweet because she thought it was my kind of cookbook. She was absolutely right, and I loved it so much I did buy a copy for a friend, because the book is so wonderful.

Most wonderful is that this is a seasonal book, not tied to any single holiday. These are desserts that are best made in the fall and winter because that is the season for the ingredients, not because pumpkins mean Halloween and cranberries mean Thanksgiving. (It's impressive that it was not subsumed by the Christmas juggernaut that devours all things from late September through December 30th.) Grouping the recipes by main ingredient answers that question of what to do with all those pears from the farmers' market, or the leftover pint of buttermilk.

Jen gave me Wintersweet at a youth soccer game, successfully distracting me from the cold weather, lack of unlocked bathrooms, and the final score. Everything in the book inspired me — the simple and direct recipe titles, full-page photographs, unusual flavor combinations, inspired organization by produce. That afternoon I whipped up the base for lovely buttermilk ice cream, and started planning what to bake next.

Tammy Donroe Inman worked in the test kitchen of Cook's Illustrated before starting her blog, Food on the Food. She is not a professional chef and is experienced writing for the home baker. The recipes are easier to make than the elegant names suggest. This recipe, you think, must come from a restaurant and require three hours preparation time. In reality, all the recipes I tried (cranberry tart, gingerbread with pears, buttermilk ice cream, pomegranate jelly and pomegranate pavlova), were within reach of any baker with some experience (and the cranberry tart and gingerbread are doable even by a beginner).

The cheese plate, in my opinion, often delivers the most deliciousness for the least effort. Wintersweet has two pages of suggested accompaniments to various types of cheeses, including dishes from the book. This is in addition to the entire chapter devoted to dairy recipes, and ice creams in other sections. That there is a recipe for a Quark cake is cause for celebration on its own.