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Luscious Berry Desserts
by Lori Longbotham
Chronicle Books
ISBN 0-8118-4414-5
Published May 2005 - Hardcover - 168 pages - $19.95

I love the berry season.  All the wonderfully tempting tarts, pies, and desserts.  Full of healthy goodness and a spectacular variety of flavors, we are also given information on strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, boysenberries, loganberries, dewberries, youngberries, mulberries, blueberries, and more.  Author Lori Longbotham tells us how to buy our berries, about cleaning and freezing them, and the baking basics we should know when cooking with particular berries, as well as tips, techniques, and tricks of the trade.  Contents of this book include: Cakes; Pies, Tarts, and a Cheesecake; Shortcakes; a Crisp Flummery, Cobbler, Grunt, Buckle, and Betty; Puddings and a Soufflé; Frozen Berry Desserts, and Sauces, Toppings, Creams, and a Truffle.  I'd never heard of grunts, a buckle, flummery, and betty when it comes to desserts.  Neither had I heard of clafouti - I'm not very big on desserts I have to admit!  Some of the recipes you can memorize or make a note of ahead of the berry season, are: Lime and Thyme Blueberry Pound Cake; Raspberry Truffle Tart; Roasted Strawberry Shortcake with Vanilla-Scented Biscuits (they look absolutely delicious), and Blackberry Frozen Yogurt.  I'd never heard of using herbs with berries - rosemary, thyme, and basil are used in this book - I'll have to try this.  I have heard of pepper on strawberries though.  Apart from delicious berry recipes, we also get nutrition details for strawberries and blueberries with fiber, potassium, vitamin C, antioxidents, and folic acid among others.  Berries not used in these recipes are cranberries, gooseberries, and fresh currants.  Illustrated.  No nutritional guides.  Visit author Lori Longbotham at her website.
Conclusion - There's always time for dessert, and with the goodness you get from berries, we shouldn't resist.