Incredibly Decadent Desserts: Over 100 Divine Treats with 300 Calories or Less

This book surprised me in a very good way. I must say she delivered on heathy but descendant desserts.

Page 127... Chocolate Deluge Cookies.... ingredients include "3/2 cup sugar", which has to be an error, since 3/2 cup is 1+ 1/2 cups. So is it 1/2 cup or 2/3 cup or ???

Like the cookbook. Haven't tried a recipe yet but they sounds good.

Great recipe book!

Deb Wise has a lot of experience creating light-ish desserts. It's her day job, after all. In this book she offers a good selection of meal-ending sweets, from pies and cookies and cakes and fruit-based-but-not-pie things to muffins and puddings. Plenty of variety.Each recipe comes with a photo. Each comes with clear directions - not to be taken lightly. Each category comes with a few tips and techniques, some of which were new to me.But what of the recipes themselves? Of course I've tried only a few, and can't speak for all. The sweet-savory muffins were good, and the chocolate cookies ditto. The biscotti recipe worked. I'm not a pie or cooked-fruit person so can't judge there. But she doesn't just reduce the serving sizes. These are genuinely lightened desserts that get the most taste for the reduction in calories.One large caveat: she uses Cool-Whip in a lot of the mousse-type and pie-type recipes. If you can't countenance that, the number of recipes you can use here is reduced by quite a bit. If you're on the fence, check out her defense of the stuff.

I debated whether or not to order the Deb Wise new book, Incredibly Decadent Desserts, because I've seen several of her recipes online and wasn't terribly impressed by her use of Cool Whip as an ingredient in one. Since her writing style and reasoning far outweighed that one little criticism, I requested the book and have been quite impressed with it for many reasons. The book looks good, reminds me of a textbook with its sturdy cover and white pages with easy to read text. The paper is thick, photos are appealing, layout is done efficiently, but most importantly, it is a good resource for information and Ms. Wise explains her reasoning on recipe development. As a follower of ATK, I appreciate not only recipes, but coming to understand why they work. I may improvise while cooking, but I take my baking very seriously and this book indeed provides some blueprints for 300 calorie or less per serving desserts that are not difficult to prepare and serve.

I really enjoyed making recipes from this Cooking Light Collection. There is something for every type of craving and every diet type. These recipes aimed to reduce calories and fat, but while keeping the flavor.Pros:- Kamut Apple Cake- uses Kamut flour, appealing those those who seek to use different grains-Coconut flour easily- found in most supermarkets and big box warehouse stores is used in a Coconut cake,=- Sometimes the enemy is a full size cake.The recipes have a smaller yield so you don't have too much dessert sitting around calling your name.-Several easy recipes in the book include things like Peach Crisp- Quick and satisfying-p.176's Ration Cake gives you valuable side notes on how to make moist cakes with a simple mixing technique-beautiful pictures of all the recipes- Recipes include cups and ounces for flour - making it easy for those who use a scale and those who don't.-Book includes a fair number of frozen desserts and puddingsSo far my favorites recipes are Raspberry and Almond Linzer Muffins because it uses almond paste. Almond paste adds sucha beautiful flavor to a cake. I also loved making the Maple Cupcakes. Deliciously moist and satisfying.Cons:-The only con I noticed was in my copy a fair number of pages didn't have numbers, I found this annoying.-The book generally goes in the direction of healthier alternatives for desserts. However a few recipes call for Cool Whip, such as TripleChocolate Cheesecake. The author uses the term "frozen reduced calorie whipped topping- such as Cool Whip) This allowsthe user to choose whatever whip topping they like. Currently many stores are carrying "So Delicious Dairy Free CocoWhip Coconut Whipped Topping- Regular and Lite Versions" in their freezer case. Lite versions are two tablespoons are 25 calories and the regular is 30 calories. Cool Whip Lite is 20 calories. There is one other brand out there as well similar to So Delicious. These are great options for a healthier version of a whipped topping if Cool Whip is a turn off due to his heavily laden chemical composition.The book has something for everyone. Even if you don't want to use the lighter dairy options, you can substitute with a full fatversion without compromising the recipes. I really love this book and have several more recipes tagged to make.