Chocolate and Vanilla

Love Vanilla?Award-winning pastry chef and Food Network star Gale Gand considers vanilla the lingerie of baking: Its an invisible essential, the thing you put on before anything else, but when given the spotlight, its every bit as sexy and alluring as chocolatevanilla fans would say even more so. In this flip/cookbook, Gand offers tips on working with both vanilla beans and vanilla extract, revealing which is best for what, and includes a helpful substitution guide. And then its on to the good stuff: recipes for irresistible sweets that showcase vanillas beguiling flavor. With one section devoted to desserts using whole vanilla beansthink Vanilla Raspberry Rice Pudding with Lemon-Vanilla Caramel and Late-Night Vanilla Flanand another focusing on extractsuch as Vanilla-Blueberry Crumb Cake and Boston Cream Cupcakesthese are recipes that are anything but plain vanilla.Love Chocolate?Say the word chocolate and a chocoholics face lights up with visions of utterly satisfying, rich pleasures. In this fun flip/cookbook, award-winning pastry chef and Food Network star Gale Gand shares her favorite ways to indulge family and friendsand yourself. Gand offers tips on buying and working with chocolate, including demystifying those ever-confusing cacao percentages, before getting down to business with more than thirty luscious, tempting recipes. Organized by type of chocolatedark, semi-sweet, milk, and whitethey run the gamut from simple treats such as Chocolate-Praline Cake in a Jar and Creamy Dreamy Walnut Fudge to impress-the-guests desserts that include Mexican Hot Chocolate Fondue and Chocolate-Almond Upside-Down Cake. Accompanied by amusing anecdotes, helpful make-ahead notes, and clear, uncomplicated techniques, Gands creations are as much fun to make as they are to eat.From the Hardcover edition.