Chesman Andrea - 250 treasured country desserts: mouthwatering, time-honored, handed-down, soul-satisfying sweet comforts

250 Treasured
COUNTRY DESSERTS

MOUTHWATERING, TIME HONORED,

TRIED & TRUE, SOUL SATISFYING,

HANDED DOWN SWEET COMFORTS

Andrea Chesman & Fran Raboff

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by
publishing practical information that encourages
personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Margaret Sutherland and Nancy D. Wood

Art direction and book design by Mary Winkelman Velgos

Cover design by Alethea Morrison

Text production by Jennifer Jepson Smith

Cover and interior illustration by Julia Rothman

Indexed by Andrea Chesman

2009 by Andrea Chesman and Fran Raboff

Some recipes previously appeared in Moms Best Desserts (Storey Publishing, 2002). Moms Best Desserts was originally published as The Great American Dessert Cookbook (The Crossing Press, 1990).

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other without written permission from the publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information. For additional information, please contact Storey Publishing, 210 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247.

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Printed in the United States by Versa Press
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Chesman, Andrea.

250 treasured country desserts/by Andrea Chesman & Fran Raboff.

p. cm.

Includes index.

Based on the authors Moms best desserts, 100 classic treats

that taste as good now as they did.

ISBN 978-1-60342-152-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Desserts. 2. Cookery, American. I. Raboff, Fran. II. Title.

III. Title: Two hundred and fifty country desserts.

TX773.C521975 2009
641.86dc22

2009013731

This book has been a project that grew and grew and grew. My thanks go to Elaine Gill, who saw this book through in its earliest incarnation (The Great American Dessert Cookbook), to Dianne Cutillo who supported its growth and evolution into Moms Best Desserts, and to Margaret Sutherland, who has helped it blossom into the book it is today. My thanks go to all of the folks at Storey who have contributed to the look and feel and reach of the book.

Everyone loves dessert, so it was not hard to solicit tasters. Still, I thank all of my tasters witting and unwitting at the Ripton Community Coffee House, who gave me reason to bake batch after batch of muffins and cookies. My thanks, as ever, go to Richard, Rory, Sam, and Sara for being critical tasters, appreciative eaters, and thoughtful responders.

Most of all, Id like to thank Fran Raboff, whose drive to perfectionism and tireless testing has inspired and humbled me. I have been greatly enriched by our collaboration.

A. C.

Baking has been one of the great pleasures of my life, more so because the results are always shared. This book is yet another way to share those pleasures with others.

I particularly enjoy the processes and changes that go into the making of a recipe. Its an ongoing adventure, always in flux, from concept to final resolution. Many people have supported me throughout this process. The first was Al Raboff, whose engineering expertise and inventive spirit frequently found its way into my kitchen as he devised new tools and materials to fuel my culinary explorations. He and our daughters, Ellen Badgley and Laura Raboff, continually encouraged me to follow my instincts and to keep challenging myself to do more.

Warmest thanks to my grandchildren, Allegra Gordon, Danielle Roth, and Jeremy Gordon for being reliable and supportive (and very willing) taste testers.

Many of the recipes in 250 Treasured Country Desserts were tested in the cooking classes that Ive taught. It has been very rewarding to prepare these recipes with my students, and a pleasure to spend time eating together and sharing in lively conversations.

I also thank Andrea Chesman, whose intelligence and insight are always valued. I have greatly appreciated the clarity and honesty in the way weve worked together as this book (and our relationship) has grown over the years.

Final thanks to Storey Publishing, particularly Pam Art, Margaret Sutherland, and their staff, for their support.

F. R.

Here is a collection of truly great desserts chocolate cake and blueberry pie, cherry cobblers and apple pandowdy, lemon meringue and chocolate cream pies, chocolate chip cookies and gingerbread men, butterscotch pudding and baked apple dumplings. The classics, the originals, the best.

When you want a birthday cake, nothing but Moms tall devils food cake will do. And when strawberries are finally available locally, your first impulse is to make strawberry shortcake. Likewise, gingerbread brings a smile to a friend laid up with a broken leg, and a creamy rice pudding soothes the soul after a hard week at work. We all have eaten and enjoyed the elaborate restaurant desserts created by trained pastry chefs, but we love the good old, old-fashioned desserts best the ones our mothers and grandmothers made. That is what this book is about.

One of the heirloom recipes we tested for this book was an old receipt for chocolate cake that came from a Hersheys cocoa tin. At one time or another, probably half the households in the United States ate that cake. The saying may be as American as apple pie, but the truth is that the apple pie was invented in England. What America can proudly claim as her own is the layer cake, and the chocolate layer cake may be its best example.

Baking powder, the leavening agent in layer cakes, was an American invention. Before the days of baking powder, cakes were leavened with eggs, sometimes with yeast. The egg cakes required a phenomenal amount of beating. Old recipes can be found that begin with Separate your eggs and beat for five hours Tall cakes were layers of baked sponge cake, sandwiched with sweetened creams and jellies.

As early as the Middle Ages, professional bakers knew that baked goods could be leavened with alkaline salts. They made something called pearl ash from refined wood ash and from a type of Spanish seaweed. In northern Europe, bakers used refined salts from the ash of deer antlers.