After Dinner

This wonderful book is really more than a cookbook. The book begins with telling the reader how to set the after-dinner scene, and then how to prepare a bar, a cheese tray, and coffee and tea. After that, the book launches into forty-four recipes for wonderful after-dinner snack and drinks. Going along with that, the book has an extraordinary selection of "menus," that is, four items from the book that compliment each other.This is a grand book, and a worthwhile addition to your library. My three favorite recipes from the book are the Miniature Jelly Thumbprint Cookies (I used blackberry jam, rather than currant jelly), Cardamom Palmiers (quick and easy to make), and the Tiny Chocolate Chunk and Toffee Cookies (as good as they sound). I highly recommend this book!

I own many, many dessert cookbooks, and I find myself returning to this one again and again. All of the recipes that I have made (which is pretty much the entire book at this point!) have turned out great. (Brownie Bites and Fruit Tarts are two of my favorites) The pictures in the book are beautiful, and there are great ideas for after dinner drinks and nibbles. This book is a must have for anyone who does any type of entertaining at their home.

I am a baking and pastry student and have made almost every recipe in this book and have enjoyed each one throughly. I have a great collection of dessert recipes from home and school but these have become my standards. The Viennese Crescent cookies are a favorite among friends and family, along with the Choc Coated Orange cookies. The brown sugar ginger cookies are pretty spicy and go great with coffee or tea, as well as the anise and pine nut biscotti which I enjoyed last Christmas morning. Anyone with a craving for rugelach will love this great updated recipe using hazelnuts which gives it a rich but sweet flavor. The chocolate mint swirls along with the bourbon truffles and chocolate raspberry kisses made an elegant platter of after dinner chocolates of course lets not forget the Cognac Brownie Bites which I sometimes subsitute Cointreau for the brandy. The amount of alcohol called for in the topping is just too much, I always cut it in half. These brownie are great to make and freeze. I have frozen then with and without the topping and they both freeze well. The cream cheese and berry tartlets have been very popular for parties during the holidays esp. because you can decorat then with any small fruits and berries, the light lemon taste in the filling is what makes this tartlet into heaven, not to mention how sweet the pastry turns out. When i get a request for tartlets other then the berry I always use the Chocolate-Apricot tartlet recipe with its dreamy smooth choc filling it's bound to satisfy any chocoholic's craving. once again, one of the best books I ever used, think of giving it as a gift for someone who loves sweets.