Sweet Reads

Strawberry Shortcake. Courtesy of CakeLove.

Purchasing cookbooks seems a tad extravagant when a few keywords and clicks can quickly provide a recipe for just about anything I've ever (or never) dreamed of. But it probably goes without saying that clicking through websites is not quite the same as a bound book. Here are some recent additions to my kitchen:

CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch: Warren Brown left his career in law to bake cakes. In 2002 he opened CakeLove, a retail bakery specializing in cakes and small sweets baked from scratch. Brown shares his cake skills and Renee Comet provides the photographs. Comet has photographed for more than 30 cookbooks.

Dessert Fourplay: Sweet Quartets from a Four-Star Pastry Chef: The title and the hot tattooed guy on the cover were enough for me--into the shopping cart you go. Paula Deen says, “Y'all...I just love a man who knows his way around some chocolate!" Preach, girl, preach.

The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book: Though the source of a recent salmonella outbreak, peanut butter is definitely my favorite food. I'll be cooking from this book a lot in 2009 and probably for the rest of my life. I'm looking forward to making PB from scratch, PB Scones, and Peanut Kale soup.

The Cook's Encyclopedia of Four Ingredient Cooking: I quickly grabbed this book from the $5 bin at Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago. As of today, you can purchase a used copy online for $1.99. Chocolate-Stuffed Prunes; Creamed Coconut Macaroons; White Chocolate Castles; and a Meringue Pyramid with Chocolate Mascarpone are a few highlights from this collection of more than 200 recipes.

Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share: Voted one of the best cookbooks of 2008, the book boasts "the perfect cookie [recipe] for every occasion" and a full-color photograph of each. I have to say that Martha's Cookie-of-the-Day web feature looks just as good.

The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs: The so-called definitive guide to creating "deliciousness" in any dish.