I’m new to this giveaway thing. I think it’s going well, but my style of announcing giveaways has been all over the place.
With my first two giveaways, I reviewed the books. Then I ran into a snag. I knew the author of the third book, so I just interviewed Deborah Madison instead of reviewing her cookbook, because I knew I couldn’t be objective about a friend I met more than 10 years ago.
Now we come to David Lebovitz, another friend I adore, and I have a fourth way to handle this giveaway. I’m going to talk about his video, and a little about the book, and a little about David, one of the nicest, most talented, smartest, funniest and most generous food writers I’ve ever met. (See, I told you I couldn’t be objective.)
One of the dilemmas facing someone with a blog as huge as David’s is that it’s a challenge for his publisher to reach as many potential buyers for Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes. After all, his blog has more annual readers than at least two of the top national food magazines. So Ten Speed Press agreed to do a video with a James Beard award-winning documentary filmmaker David had met earlier in France.
“I wanted to do something snappy that wasn’t just me talking to the camera, or cooking,” explained David. “I wanted to show Paris, too, since that’s part of my life and my story. Mark from Flow Films shot the whole thing in HD on his Canon DSLR and we kind of went and just did it. I put a notice on Twitter that anyone who wanted to come taste cookies should show up! Then we also went into some shops, like the chocolate shop of Jacques Genin and a motorcycle shop to get the opinions.”
Author David Lebovitz
Apparently publishers are doing more of these promo videos. Says Aaron Wehner, publisher of Ten Speed Press, “We are doing videos for most of our lead cooking titles in Fall. The cost can range from $1,000 to $5,000 for something professionally done, depending on length, number of locations etc. We’ve been doing book trailers for a few years (see Alinea and Peter Reinhardt, among others) but David’s came off particularly well.” I agree. Like David, the video is warm, fun, and funny.
Now, on to the book itself. It’s a big, hardcover, classy looking cookbook, full of dramatic photography and doable recipes. I made the huge Apple-Pear Crisp with Grappa-Soaked Raisins and Polenta Topping. It served 6 at dinner easily and made spectacular leftovers, even when cold. I also made Cranzacs, David’s riff on Anzac cookies, a chewy, coconutty oatmeal cookie that my husband assured me will be gone before I get back from IACP’s annual conference this coming Saturday night. I’m hoping to make more recipes before I have to give this book away, including his famous Fresh Ginger Cake.
And speaking of giveaways, if you’d like this book, please write a comment below on your favorite dessert. I’ll chose a winner by midnight April 26. Contest rules: You must live in the US (Sorry, fellow Canadians). One entry per person. If the winner does not respond within a week, I will choose someone else.
Update: Winner is Elizabeth Greene. Congratulations!
It’s not just your fellow Canadians you are excluding here. The web is worldwide. I read you regularly from New Zealand. I am sure there are many others international readers that are also excluded. I admit to some bitterness because non-US residents are routinely excluded from this kind of stuff. Really rather disappointing, I must admit.
It’s only because it’s so expensive to ship books outside the country, Nic. I sent 2 books to a friend in Australia last month and it cost $22 US. I plan to give away books regularly and that kind of postage adds up too quickly. Also, a friend in France said he had to pay $17US duty on a book sent him recently, so it’s tricky.
I singled out Canada because I’m from Vancouver. I have lots of food writer friends in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Japan, etc. so I’m disappointed about my decision too. I’m certainly not trying to alienate people.
My favorite dessert? Creme brulee. My most memorable dessert was at Aubergine in Whistler, BC. It was five different flavors of creme brulee, and it was just perfect. Got to love cracking the sugar on top and digging into the creamy custard.
While I prefer fruit pie, I must say that David has a chocolate brownie-cake-spectacularness in his fruit desserts book that rocks my world.
Alas, that book suffered damage in storage and had to be thrown away.
When I say I would to win the new book, and that David is one of my pastry heroes, I mean it on the deepest level.
Thanks for having such a great giveaway, because I know it taks great strength to part with that book!
It does! It’s still sitting here. Trying hard to say good-bye.
My favorite dessert, when it’s done well, is Bananas Foster. I don’t know if David has that in his new book, but I heard that he is republishing his Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons, and that is fabulous! Hope you enjoyed the conference.
While I don’t live in the US, I’d like to win this book for my delicious friend Alice who does. She and I have cooked together since we were old enough to pour and stir, and my favorite dessert is something that we often cook together – pineapple upside down cake. The recipe is from an oh-so-kitschy 70’s cookbook, and yes we finish the pineapple rings with maraschino cherries – just like in the photo.
We’ll be spending her birthday together in Maine and this book would be the perfect gift for our week together!
Hey, this is a great way to win a book if you live outside the US (Nic, are you paying attention?) Have me send it to a friend in the U.S., then go visit.
Not saying you are doing that, Alecia, but it’s a good idea.
Oh I’d love this book! Favorite desserts? I love davidson creative ice cream recipes! In general, I love cream pies, anything chocolate, and really good croissants. Thanks for the exciting giveaway, Dianne!
I agree with Nic from Wheeling Gourmet here. I understand that most of your readers come from North America, but the days of uncharted maps and “there be dragons” are long gone. Sure postage is a hassle, I understand why you’re excluding your Australian, NZ, British, European, Asian, South American etc readers, but to single out ” fellow Canadians” as worthy of apology only makes your more distant readers feel more excluded. Especially if you’re going to talk about Anzac cookies which after all originated with the Aussies and New Zealanders. (ANZAC = Australian and New Zealand Army Corp). I think giveaways are great, I don’t mind that I can’t be involved, but it does make me feel sad that you don’t even consider we exist!
Okay. I apologize to all my readers living outside the US, not just Canadians! You are right, Heather. You all are no less valuable and I didn’t meant to imply that.
French macarons….love them. Also really like David’s recipe for caramelized white chocolate. mmm…skeptical until I tried it.
Profiteroles!
Banana Cake with Mocha Frosting and Salted Candied Peanuts on page 62. Yum!
I purchased this cookbook for myself and 5 friends, it is wonderful!!
i live in europe, but would love love love to win this cookbook for someone i know in the states.
my fav dessert? ice-cream. i’m thinking of testing every single recipe form david’s book. halfway through!
My favorite dessert is Tiramisu. *drools*
I will always eat anything with lemon in it so the Lemon Creme Tart at Tartine in San Francisco was probably one of the best things I have ever eaten. It took us all day running around the city to get there, but it was so worth it in the end. Truly amazing.
And if all else fails, there is always my (almost) famous chocolate-white chocolate chip cookies. Yummy…
Fruit with freshly whipped cream for splurge days.
Cheesecake for the days when I’m being really, really bad.
Picture this: There I am, a small boy in the north of England, about as bleak a food wilderness as you can imagine in the 1970s. (Now I live in NYC, by the way.)
For pudding we would get things like Angel Delight, which was a dry mix blended with milk and refrigerated to create a mousse. Then I loved it. Now, I shudder. One day my grandparents took my brother and I to York, the nearest city of any size and we went to a hotel for lunch. When the waiter asked if we wanted dessert, and we said we did, he replied with words that would transform my thinking about puddings forever. He said, “I’ll bring the trolley.” And he wheeled over a trolley filled with amazing desserts (say what you want about British food, but we’re champions when it comes to the sweet stuff). I had a meringue in the shape of a swan, filled with strawberries and cream. As a result, to this day pavlova remains, for me, the ultimate dessert.
Fresh ginger cake!!!!! I bake gluten free and it is still my favorite!!
I’ve served it sometimes with whipped cream, with a handful of chopped
crystallized ginger thrown in- the ginger softens to little jellies.. fab.
Perfectly ripe mixed berries covered with soft clouds of zabaglione. My mouth waters just writing it.
My favorite dessert is green tea ice cream. I grew up in San Francisco and was often the lone Jewish kid in a mostly Asian class. Food gave me a platform of mutuality. Kids would flock to the local ice cream parlor after school and get red bean, melon or green tea. If I had the money I was right there with the group. Red bean was a disaster (something about the texture of re-ried beans being sweet and frozen remains unappealing) but I loved green tea. At home we use to eat neapolitan ice cream – which had that vaguely chemically aftertaste. Green tea ice cream was exotic and refreshing. As an adult I’ve transferred this adoration to mochi with green tea ice cream in the middle. Mmm.
Fresh Ice cream
Favorite dessert? Mocha Creme Brulee at my favorite local restaurant, Bistro Europa (in Buffalo).
Favorite dessert would have to be pavlova with balsamic strawberries. I could have it daily! Ice cream is another obsession. Would love to have David’s new book if for no other reason than to finally tear myself away from The Scoop for a while. That one is definitely on my top 10 list. Love his stuff!
Fantastic blog and cookbook. Would love to have entered but I am from ‘down under’. Good luck with it David.
Linda
My favorite dessert treat in haiku:
Tasty caramel.
Challenging for dental work.
Reward for my tongue.
my favorite dessert is actually brownies from a box on a rare occation. i know this is sacrilegious but like all my other favorites foods it is based almost purely on sentimental reasons. it reminds me of the excitement of being a kid waiting for them to come out of the oven and how fancy i thought they were at the time makes me laugh.
Butterscotch budino at Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles
My favorite dessert is flourless chocolate cake with vanilla whipped cream
There is something so delightful and refreshing about a huge fruit salad full of all the fruits of summer and fresh herbs from my garden!
That said, I love ooey gooey cookies and anything chocolate!
My favorite dessert is an ice cream sandwich. Ice cream and cookies together, perfect.
LOL it depends on the season:
Summer- my mom’s fabulous unbaked Strawberry cheesecake
In late summer/fall..my wonderful apple pie;
Julia Childs’ “Aunt Helen’s Pumpkin Pie” at Thanksgiving
In winter , Mary Lou Williams’ famous Pecan Pie
and for a year-round chocoholic fix, my mom’s famous Brazo de gitano…a flourless dark chocolate cake/mousse log….mmmmm
I love Davids recipes and would delight in winning his cookbook !!
I absolutely love perfectly ripe fresh fruit for dessert, especially if it includes mango and pineapple.
Vanilla frozen yogurt with Pim T’s Vann cherries and blood oranges
I love David Lebovitz, his writing, his wit, his recipes. My favorite dessert is brownies, and I’ve been making various recipes for a dozen years trying to find THE recipe. It’s a fun and tasty quest!
Dessert I dream about lovingly, is the dacquoise from Tartine in NYC. The best I make is a sunshine cheesecake, that has paperthin slices of candied orange peel fanned out like a flower atop a decadent creamy base. Although I love all complex desserts, one of the best from David is a simple twist on the classic rice krispie treat – done with white chocolate and peanuts!
My favorite dessert, hands down, are Sicilian profiteroles … filled with either chocolate or coffee gelato….drizzled with deep dark chocolate. There is nothing better for me.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake is my all time favorite dessert. I adore pineapples.
Oh, how I love David. And his recipes. And keep wondering how someone who dishes out such mouth watering desserts can remain so slim and in-shape. He must also advice on this aspect.
I bought his Perfect Scoop for christmas (gifted self) and so far has made 70 percent of the recipes. Naturally, every week my favorite dessert changes. Once it was the vanilla ice cream, then the fresh ginger ice cream (for which even David left a comment on my post), and then many passed, but currently it is the roasted banana ice cream with a hot chcocolate fudge spread over. Yumm.
So many lovely desserts to choose from, but the dessert I love best is old fashioned Southern Banana Pudding. Warm or cold, it is the ultimate in a dessert and comfort food. This is the dessert I turn to when I want something sweet or just want comfort. Whenever I am ill, I will struggle to my kitchen, whip up a batch and eat nothing but banana pudding until I am all better. Lovely vanilla custard alternating with sliced bananas and ‘nilla wafers and covered in meringue. Mmmmm. I think I hear the siren call now…
I love ice cream!
Chocolate cake in any form or fashion!
We served a favorite dessert at our wedding – hazelnut dome cakes.
Nearly impossible to narrow it down to just one favorite, but I’ll single out my recent obsession: sfogliatelle. During a recent vacation in Italy, I squealed with delight to find it, better tasting and at a fraction of the cost at the fancy boutique bakery back home. The combination of flaky pastry, creamy filling, and orange notes is heavenly! I sought one out each day of our trip, but found it harder as we went from south to north.
How to choose my favorite dessert? Today it’s probably flourless chocolate cake with drifts of whipped cream, but tomorrow it could be berries. Or coconut cream pie. Or ice cream… So many sweets, so little time!
My favorite dessert has to be any kind of cheesecake. Creamy, with a fruity topping … yummmm
Ice cream. French vanilla ice cream. Simple but wonderful.
an orange, semolina, yogurt and olive oil cake.
Zest of oranges,ground almonds(or hazelnuts),semolina and a really fruity extra virgin olive oil make this Italian style cake my go to cake. Unassuming,simple but a slice of sunshine in my mouth.
One of my NEW favorite desserts is David’s Dulce de Leche Brownies, served like a cake square with a really good vanilla bean ice cream scoop. DE-licious!
David’s Chocolate Idiot Cake… a flourless chocolate cake… fudgy chocolate through and through… need I say more?
It is VERY hard to narrow it down. But my favorite dessert? Something in the flourless chocolate cake category…with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.
I am a big fan of grasshopper brownies.
http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/12/grasshopper-brownies/
One favorite dessert? I think I go through seasonal obsessions. Right now I can’t wait for summer and homemade ice cream and any fresh fruit-filled pie, cobbler, etc.
My favorite dessert is a seasonal fruit tart. My six year old daughter picks the fruit in season and we mix equal parts almond paste and butter together and spread it on a sqaure of puff pastry. Top with the fruit, a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar and bake! Simple and delicious!
Hmm, what a terribly difficult question! Marzipan maybe? Or cheesecake?!
Never met a dessert I didn’t like, but if I had to choose, my heart (and tastebuds) will always favor a rustic fruit tart/galette.
My favorite dessert is an English Trifle full of fresh summer berries, lemony custard and rich whipped cream!
thanks for this offer! he is phenomenal and i can’t wait to get my hands on this book. my favorite dessert shall always remain a simple white cake with white icing. so perfect.
hmm chocolate, my favorite vitamin!
Ahhhhhhh – I go through food obsessions. For a while I could not resist key lime pie (problematic since I live in Miami so it’s everywhere), but currently my obsession lies with panna cotta, for which David Lebovitz has a great recipe!
Most of my favorite desserts are store-bought, because they’re what I grew up loving. Kozy Shack Rice Pudding is at the top of the list (still, even though I’ve been working my way through every rice pudding recipe I can find to try to beat it!). I swear, I could eat gallons of that stuff and not be either full or sick of it. Closely following that, however, is my aunt’s recipe for absolutely decadent brownies: a pound of chocolate, 8 eggs, 4c flour, 2c sugar, etc… you get the idea. Decadent. And even more so with coarse kosher salt on top!
Not to be cliche, but anything chocolate! Cake, cookies, brownies, ice cream…yum!
My favorite dessert is a nice warm chocolate chip cookie w/ walnuts. Yum.
I’m not sure that I could pick just one, but a really rich flourless chocolate cake, with some fresh, home made whipped cream, is definitely in my top 3.
Thank you for the great offer – Good Luck to everyone who enters!
My favorite all-time dessert is apple pie. I love it with cheese or raisins or just apples. It is not complicated to make and can be whipped up quickly for unexpected guests. You can get as creative with it as you want but really prefer the simplicity of the apple pie itself.
Hi David, I really want your new cookbook because I lent your book “The great book of chocolate” to a friend 4yrs. ago and he will not give it back. 🙁 We love you here in Madison, Wisconsin!, your desserts get me through the cold winters. Linda Muller
Key lime pie!
my fav dessert is homemade fruit pie – preferably with some kind of berries, but as long as it’s made with fresh fruit and not too much sugar i’m a happy camper. and no store bought pie, even from the best bakery, can compare to one made with love at home.
My preferences are seasonal, but one of my all time favorites is a gooey, caramelized Tarte Tatin with a dollop of whipped cream fortified with a splash of Calvados.
The chocolate pistachio millefeuilles at Restaurant du Palais Royal by the Louvre. It is amazing!!!
Plum ice cream! Oh my goodness it is so good. It always turns out Barbie Pink, but you can eat it in the dark if you can’t get over it. 😉
My favorite is my mom’s recipe for rhubarb cream pie. It’s thick and custardy but not too sweet. She liked to use a mix of green and red stalked rhubarb and I now grow descendents of her rhubarb patch in my own backyard. Made with her foolproof pie crust recipe passed down from her mother, it’s unspeakably good.
daquoise! with hazelnuts, almonds, and chocolate…
The ones that will be sorry will not only the the fellow Canadians, but the rest of the world too….(Yes, there IS a world out there….) I understand the question of shipping costs but this is like having someone organising a party to which you’ll never be invited….just because you don’t live nearby….I think giveaways and contests SHOULD include all the world, after all the world reads your sites, not only Americans….For example, I bought your book, that is not available in France, I took the trouble of ordering it in an English bookstore (by the way the same bookstore where D Lebovitz will sign his books…) but now I do not exist for a giveaway…!!! bizarre, isn’t it? By the way, Mr Lebovitz lives in Paris now, did he stop existing because he doesn’t step the American ground???
Obviously I AM upset at this instance of provincialism. In a globalised world, where shipping a book costs “almost nothing” , not sending a book, not even to “your fellow Canadians” seems like too much….
Save your shipping costs…as far as I am concerned, I can still buy that book with my pocket money !!!
Guys, guys, certainly I am not the only food blogger in the US who restricts who can enter these contests. It’s only because of the cost. Really. I do not adore those of you outside the country any less. I suppose I could only give away a few books a year and then open the contest up to anyone, anywhere. Maybe I should consider that instead. Or maybe I should charge for postage outside the US?
By the way, David may live in France, but he pitched his book to an American publisher who is selling it to an American market.
Thanks for buying my book, Cristina. I appreciate it.
favorite dessert = coffee ice cream. homemade, of course.
Thank you for the offer. My favorite dessert……anything that is made with phyllo!!!
A rich, flourless chocolate cake with unsweetened, espresso whipped cream. Yummmmmmm……
first – i do adore david’s site and have his book on my amazon list. i’d certainly love a free copy :).
my favorite dessert? that’s so hard…. but i am a sucker for bread pudding or any sort, or ice cream. maybe both???!!
Favorite dessert…would have to be big, gooey chocolate chip cookies or chocolate cake! My mouth is watering!
I’m torn…but my favorite dessert is probably cheesecake in any of its incarnations. But lately, I find myself craving Cappuccino Fudge Cheesecake.
Or, ya know…ICE CREAM is always good!
I’m from Johnny Appleseed country, so my favorite dessert is warm, homemade apple pie – with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, of course!
Chocolate mousse!
Chartreuse soufflé with pistachio creme anglaise at L’Atelier in Las Vegas!
I’ve worked my way through a large number of David’s ice cream recipes in The Perfect Scoop and have loved every one of them! So I guess my answer is ice cream 🙂
One of my fav dessert would be from D. lebovitz’s chocolate brownie base with cream cheese swirl topping… yummm! His recipes are some that I know I can depend upon!
Thanks for the giveaway can’t wait to see who wins!
happy baking!
LeeYong
The Tia Maria Torte from Baked Expectations in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada– amazing!!
Yellow cake with choclate frosting!
Favorite dessert – German Chocolate Cake by David Lebovitz!
I would have to say it’s a toss up between nocciola (hazelnut) gelato and tiramisu. But, because I can make tiramisu quickly at home, nocciiola is much more of a treat!
Lemon-blueberry panna cotta, as served at Gautreau’s in New Orleans.
I am moody, so it changes frequently, but the two that I return to over and over are Nutella on shortbread cookies or mascarpone cheese and lingonberry preserves spread on water crackers – both are simple, easily adjust to taste and are do-it-yourself at the table.
My favorite dessert is the cream puffs my mom makes. Thanks for entering me.
My first choice is white chocolate cake with strawberries. A close second is granny smith apple pie.
It must be some sort of ice cream. I’d go for pistachio, but no, rather this: good-quality vanilla ice cream with sliced bananas and Belgian chocolate sauce.
That, or a huge chocolate chip cookie. 🙂
My favorite desert is definitely sour cherry crisp with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Very hard combination to beat in my mind.
OK, I’m going to enter anyway and if I win you can ship it to my parents-in-law… I would love to get a free copy of David’s new book!
Banana cake with chocolate- brandy frosting, or a berry galette out of the Baking with Julia cookbook when the berries are most sublime and the summer sun renders one lazy and stupid.
My favorite dessert is strawberry shortcake. I just love the combination of strawberries, angel food cake, and cream. Thank you so much for hosting the giveaway!
Favorite dessert is the ginger cake from the first edition of “Room For Dessert,” which I used to own before my daughter took it with her when she moved to NY(!*#@!). The ginger cake recipe is now scribbled on a scrap of paper that’s been passed around from friend to friend to friend making it look like it crossed the Rockies in a covered wagon in the 1800’s. The ginger cake is a hit with everyone. I’d love a copy of “Room For Dessert.” I know there must be some other spectacular recipes in it.
Oops forgot to mention my fave dessert – a big, chewy, gooey chocolate chip cookie. 🙂
My favorite dessert is homemade ice cream. My favorite gadget is my ice cream maker, I now could not live without it.
I can not count the number of times I have made eggless mint chocolate chip ice cream over the last 2 years.
Mom’s pound cake. Simple, reliable, and what I crave when I crave dessert.
chocolate. and ice cream. period.
buttery brioche with cinnamon and raisins
I will have to say, hot apple pie with a dollop of ice cream.
hard question…i’m going with apple pie. double crust flaky pastry with fresh apples and cinnamon= a whole lotta yumm!
I absolutely loved the Perfect Scoop. The chocolate ice cream was to die for, and I was able to adapt the vanilla to make my favorite ice cream flavor in the whole world…Hokey Pokey. Yummm….
My favorite desserts are seasonal fruit/berry crisps with milk or vanilla ice cream.
I’m a big fan of cobblers and crisps!
Chocolate chip cookies or chocolate peanut butter ice cream…ps David is a god (not God but more like a minor luminous figure.)
It’s kind of like two questions. My favorite changes with the wind, or the moon, or something astrological depending on too many factors, but if I were asked if it was to be my last day on earth and I could have just one dessert, what would it be? My answer is clear; a warm, dense, homemade brownie with mint chocolate chunk ice cream, topped with hot fudge, the kind that sort of coagulates a bit when it hits the ice cream, whipped cream and nuts. Hold the yuckky maraschino cherry please.
hi – dark chocolate cake. yum.
Cheesecake. 🙂
I’m not much on sweet things. I really don’t care for the taste of any form of sugar, so desserts are not that high on my list. However, I do have a wonderful memory of the one of the best desserts I’ve ever eaten…
Tony’s Restaurant in St. Louis was the place to eat about 10 years ago. My then husband and I dressed up in our finery and headed to Tony’s. It was our anniversary, so we splurged with the Romantic Dinner for Two, complete with wines by the course, and dessert.
I was also a vegetarian, but managed quite nicely to work around the prix fixe menu which included a beef entree. Our waiter, being aware of my herbivore status, was a little distraught at the accomodation I was making. When he discovered I didn’t eat sugar, however, he was really concerned and went straight to the top: Tony himself appeared table side!
He graciously introduced himself, asking after our meals, commenting on our attire. Looking to my husband, he said, “And have we decided on a dessert choice?” My husband looked to me, and Tony continued: “I understand you do not eat sugar. I respect that, and yet, I feel it would be sad for you to miss our dessert experience. Would you allow me to create something just for you?” His eyes twinkled in the low lights. I lowered my own and said a soft, “Why, thank you!”, secretly pleased to the core.
A short time later, Tony came sailing to our table, with a white cloth draped over his arm, bearing a silver dessert cup on a small plate. I smiled with delight when he set it in front of me, for it contained a generous serving of unsweetened creme fraiche – just whipped up for me, I was assured – with a touch of vanilla bean extract. Crowning this beautiful achievement was an assortment of piquant wild blueberries and sweet yet slighty tart strawberries, with a gorgeous cluster of tiny, flavorful champagne grapes lying enticingly to the side. Absolute nirvana – and perfect!
As I sighed and yummed over each delicious, sensual bite, my husband, with his something-or-other creme brulee, kept glancing longing at the bowl. Finally I relinquished a taste to him. It was my anniversary gift in that moment! He closed his eyes, savoring the blend of melting creme fraiche with the cool crispness of the berries and grapes. He then looked at me and said, “You’re right. This is the perfect dessert!” To date, I haven’t dared tried to recreate it. You cannot mess with perfection, even if it is but a memory.
My mother’s cherry pie!
Sour cherry pie! So hard to get unless you have your own tree.
Definitely brownies — so good right out of the oven, a few days later (if they last!) or as the basis for a sundae!
Key Lime Pie! Not the kind with gelatin. Gross! Real key lime pie! No artificial colors and no thickeners.
As long as there’s cream and eggs I know I will like it … frozen or cooked … homemade ice cream, creme brulee, pudding, custard, tapioca, pot au creme, panna cotta …
My great grandma’s peach cobbler. Yum!
Chocolate flecked angelfood cake with raspberries!
Hmm.. favorite dessert….. make that favorite dessert(s)!!!
My Grandmother’s Florence Cake – thin, flaky pastry with a thin layer of raspberry preserves, sponge cake and a buttercream frosting!!
David Lebovitz’s Lemon Tart – Easy, beautiful and, needless to say, absolutely delicious !!
ohhh…too many to choose: paris brest, tarte tatin, pear-almond tart, buttery lemon pound cake, flourless chocolate cake, italian almond cake, really dense brownies, chocolate marble cheese pie, philadelphia butter cake, vanilla bean anything….and beautiful, fresh, crusty bread! these are just a few of the favorites that i make for us but especially whenever we have someone staying with us – a good excuse to splurge on calories!
Almost any tweaked classic, although ice cream is pretty big with me.
My favorite dessert hasn’t changed since I was a kid: a warm chocolate chip cookie with a glass of milk.
hot fudge pudding cake with vanilla ice cream, warm and gooey and chocolatey and ice cream to cleanse the palette for the next bite. YUM!
Warm rhubarb pie (with a little heavy cream drizzled on it). For that matter, anything with rhubarb. I find it charming that it’s a fr-egetable that reminds me of the pies my grandmother in the Midwest used to make (it was a favorite of hers too) and also is somehow so beloved by the French. (I was so thrilled to go to Paris for the first time to find… rhubarb yogurt.) The bite of the rhubarb, bolstered by a good buttery pie crust, and tempered and enriched by the cream…Oh, just the thought of rhubarb sends me into a state of near ecstasy.
My favorite dessert is ice cream, particularly any salted caramel ice cream, but any ice cream flavor works for me!
Warm rhubarb pie with a little heavy cream drizzled on it. (For that matter, anything with rhubarb.) I find it charming that it’s a fr-egetable that reminds me of the pies my grandmother in the Midwest used to make (it was a favorite of hers too) and also is somehow so beloved by the French. (I was so thrilled to go to Paris for the first time to find… rhubarb yogurt.) The bite of the rhubarb, bolstered by a good buttery pie crust, and tempered and enriched by the cream…Oh, just the thought of rhubarb sends me into a state of near ecstasy.
Well, I’m a Southern girl, so this won’t surprise you: PECAN PIE!
Moist chocolate gâteau with raspberry buttercream frosting between the layers and just enough dark chocolate ganache poured on top to barely drip down the sides. Très magnifique!
Ice cream! Maybe even David’s Chocolate Coconut Sorbet from The Perfect Scoop.
peach custard pie.
I love the blueberry and white chocolate tart. So good…
At the moment… carrot cake with maple cream cheese frosting.
It is not fer, but you have not write anything about living in Macedonia, so my favorite desert is chocolate cake.
I will understand if you not choose me.
Any way thank you for asking.
loooove dessert so it’s so hard to pick a favorite…but I’ll never turn away from a chocolate chip cookie.
All notions of health and idealism aside, nothing beats a seven-layer, decadent, slightly fudgy-but-not-too-dense chocolate cake still cold from the refrigerator or only slightly thawed from the freezer – you know, the kind of cake you approach thinking there’s no way you could possible eat the entire slice of, and then you somehow -remarkably and heroically – find a way.
Cheesecake!
My grandmothers Three Layer Chocolate Cake with Seven Minute Frosting. She made this cake for my fathers birthdays and for the past 20 years I’ve been making this cake for him on his birthday and other occasions.
My husband’s tiramisu recipe is the best. Nice and light and creamy. A great way to finish off a lovely romantic dinner.
I love chocolate chip cookies!
When I was 17 I went to a French restaurant that had fried strawberries in vanilla sauce. I’ve never seen then since sadly. This the dessert I have dreams about and have never once come close to finding a recipe that works.
Creme Brule comes to mind but more then that the homemade Indian desserts my mother & grandmother made.
Chocolate cake with raspberry filling covered in chocolate ganache. Mmmmm…
Homemade cheesecake that has some sort of fine dark chocolate component . . . either in the crust, the filling, or the topping. Then again . . . maybe a really good, fresh fruit shortcake with whipped cream . . .
My answer to the “favorite dessert” question will vary depending on the day. Lately I’ve been craving zabaglione with fresh berries… guess I’m eager for summer’s bounty to begin. 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway!
Being from Mauritius, it is a napolitaine. Great with a nice cup of English tea. And you can’t find it anywhere else.
My favorite one-time dessert is the apple pie that I had from the little kiosk at the ferry back from the Isle of Skye. I was cold and wet and the pie was warm and perfect with slightly melty ice cream (I don’t know how – it was THAT cold at the time). Eaten out of a styrofoam container with a spork, nothing has ever come close to topping it.
My favorite dessert in general is anything, and I mean anything!, with dulce de leche. Seriously, anything.
at the moment, carrot cake with maple cream cheese frosting!
peach cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream 🙂
Hands down, it’s carrot cake.
Shortbread! It melts…
I adore David Leibovitz! My favorite dessert is chocolate ice cream with lots of nuts!
That would be profiteroles!
It’s very hard to lay my allegiance with one favorite dessert 🙂 I love trying new recipes, so I’m usually pretty pleased with the latest result (my husband will agree with me!). If I must choose, I have to say German chocolate cake is pretty amazing!
Lately it’s been caramel apple cheesecake with a scatterig of pecans, but that could change now that strawberry season has arrived!
I had the most fun making red velvet cupcakes with my granddaughter Sadie in San Francisco from the cookbook “Magnolias” (NYC bakery). Flour flying, red Wilton in her hair and it took half a day with the cooked frosting and all…but these were to die for!!!
Mmmm, that’s easy! Dark chocolate truffles.
Oh, I have been dying to get my hands on this book! My favorite dessert is probably ice cream, Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey being my favorite in that category. But really, if you put something chocolate in front of me I’ll probably decide THAT’s my favorite desert… that day.
I love fresh fruit desserts. Right now I’m longing for peach galette.
For my ridiculous sweet tooth, I’d have to go with pecan pie.
Home-made vanilla ice cream.
David Lbovitz’s books are wonderful! I’d love to have this one. As for my favorite dessert: warm homemade chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream.
Wow, don’t know if I have just one favorite dessert! I have such a raging sweet-tooth that for me its more about controlling those urges (especially now that I’m middle-aged and needing to lose some weight). Lately, the desserts that call most to me are ones with caramel, especially salted caramel. I’ve moved on from chocolate to more nutty, caramely, buttery cravings, especially anything that goes with a nice cup of tea.
My favorite, everything chocolate!
Revani with icecream
Oven baked rice pudding
David’s famous Fresh Ginger Cake…
but the Apple-Pear Crisp sounds delectable.
This is an impossible contest! 🙂
Warm persimmon pudding with raisins topped by a dollop of whipped cream.
Anything with lemon flavor….love, love, love it.
My favorite is definitely a cookie pie recipe I found and changed a bit to my liking. It has a chocolate chip cookie crust, semisweet/milk chocolate ganache filling, with a heap of fresh whipped cream on top. Absolutely delicious. But my new favorite may be David’s chocolate chip pecan cookies.
Can I pick a couple faves? I love pear and almond tart, but sometimes tarte Tatin is the only thing that hits the spot.
Of course, I’d never turn down good chocolate, but it’s hard to find where I live.
I love cupcakes – any kind…any where!
Choosing a favorite dessert is nearly as excruciating as trying to decipher an Ozzy Osbourne interview. However, if it means getting a shot at winning David Levovitz’s book, then I’m game. Give me a bowl of silky chocolate mousse any day of the week and I just might be transported to a plane where Ozzy and I understand each other.
Ok, if I have to make a “Sophie’s Choice,” I’ll go with homemade rugelach. I have perfected the family recipe that has sour cream, NOT cream cheese in the dough, tart apricot jam, walnuts, golden raisins and lots of sugar and cinnamon both inside and on top after they’re rolled. The best part is getting to eat the “drippings” right out of the oven before all the leftover jam, nuts and raisins stick to the parchment paper and will no longer come off. On the other hand, I made David Lebovitz’s cheesecake brownies once, and they were to die for. No! I’m sticking with the rugelach!! Final answer? Rugelach!!
Choosing a favorite dessert is like choosing a favorite child – somedays it’s easier than others. Today is a tough day but I’m going to go with pound cake with any number of accompaniments. Today was strawberries and brie. But i love it with chocolate, with ice cream, whipped cream or just plain by itself no strings attached!
Pecan pie – is my favorite.
Ohhh, so hard to choose one. But it has to be with whipped cream!
anything that has chocolate in it. i really really love this chocolate mousse from Almondine bakery in Brooklyn. absolutely UH-mazing. i was going to cry because it was so good. so for now, that is my fave dessert.
No chance of winning this book as I live outside the US, but I am going to post anyway!
French Lemon Tart
Oh, so many good desserts and i have to choose one? Then i think i will go with Rhubarb and starwverry Pie.
Ice cream, chocolate pot de creme from the Slated Door, shaker lemon pie, anything with marzipan or almond…homemade pumpkin pie with piles of whip cream.
Awesome giveaway! Crossing my fingers and toes…
Lemon squares are my very favorite with David’s cheesecake brownies and raspberry clafouti from The Sweet Life in Paris close behind…
Virtually an impossible question for me to answer, but most of the time it’s something chocolate, a chocolate marquise with a chocolate sable to add a little crunch to the dense and creamy marquise.
I love cheesecake!
French Silk Pie…but as others have stated, choosing just one favorite…not easy ;D