Sweet & Southern: Classic Desserts with a Twist

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Description

Southern desserts are a perennially hot subject for bakers who appreciate tradition and craft. In this book, a fresh, new voice in food writing pulls traditional recipes out of the kitschy country kitchen, adding new flavors and streamlining technique, bringing beloved sweets up to date for modern tastes and and presenting original recipes that lovers of Southern desserts will embrace as new favorites.

Combining delicious recipes, expert tips on ingredients and technique, and charming anecdotes from growing up in the Deep South, Sweet & Southern feels more like a delicious afternoon in the kitchen with your gossipy best friend than a cookbook.

Reviews

Sweet & Southernwas pure, unexpected bliss. I wanted to make practically every one of Mr. Mimss original, modern and often whimsical takes on classic Southern desserts, but had to stop myself (for now) after three. Creative notions aboundMy favorite was a layered chocolate flan and cake hybrid creamy, luscious and completely unlike anything Id made before. The New York Times

Each recipe is presented with an eye for technique and a borderline-obsessive attention to detail - a mark of his pastry chef background - plus plenty of his irresistible Mississippi charm. Saveur

Sweet & Southern is a paean to the richsometimes all-too-richdelights of Southern dessertshe treats us to scores of Dixie classics, he brings a light, imaginative touch to many of them. Whether he is writing about watermelon gelatin or sweet potato cake, Mr. Mims approaches his subject with kitchen know-how and contagious enthusiasm. Wall Street Journal

I found every excuse to bake from this book and share with other people. So whether youre sharing or indulging, enjoy a sweet twist on the classics. Appetite for Books

"Sweet and Southernis 224 pages of mouth watering Southern delights, accompanied by 100 color photographs that will practically have you wanting to eat the pages. Mr. Mims has successfully modernized many of the traditional southern desserts, tweaking them a bit to cater to modern day tastes and diets that prefer lighter and less sugary treats.I highly recommend Sweet and Southern as a lovely addition to your cook book collection. Dozens of tasty recipes grace this book and I guarantee you will spend many a happy hour baking them." -Snug Harbor Bay

Sweet & Southern takes down-home staples such as cobblers, upside-down cake, red velvet cake and cornbread pudding updating them with fresh flavors and international influences. With a background as both a food editor and a recipe developer for publications such as Saveur, Southern Living and Every Day with Rachel Ray, Mims ably mixes precision and detailed process information with history and encouragement. AmericanCakeDecorating.com

Southern desserts you should definitely be eating. Food & Wine Magazine

"These Southern-style layer cakes and cobblers come with a side of sass...Ben Mims...editorial side shines through in the recipe tweaks and twists..." Huffington Post

Sweet & Southern is a gem of a cookbookaccompanied by 100 beautiful and mouth-watering photographs. While keeping true to their southern roots, Mims adds a twist to the traditionally southern recipes - modernizing old world decadence and sweetness to fit in better with today's more sophisticated lifestyle and palate. Mims makes these recipes relatable to all of usHe also has a way of gently guiding his readers, breaking down recipes into simple steps, so that even the novice and nervous baker can follow suit. Sweet & Southern is the type of cookbook that offers something for everyone. With the holidays fast approaching this gorgeous book makes a lovely gift - Or, if you can't bear to part with it, the recipes inside will delight dinner guests and holiday guests alike and make for wonderful gifts in their own right. The Entertaining House

Sweet & Southern is a lovely cookbookMims takes a really unique approach to Southern desserts (and non-Southern desserts) but really twisting many traditional recipes on their axes. I love perusing through the pages of this book and seeing comforting sweets through a whole different lens. I have bookmarked many recipes...I would also recommend this cookbook to anyone who loves to bake and is looking for some less traditional variations on some Southern favorites (as well as fun desserts in general). Mission: Food

"Sweet & Southern, feels more like a delicious afternoon in the kitchen with your best friend than a cookbook. Author Ben Mims grew up amid the classic dessert traditions of the Deep South and now he has reinvigorated these sweets with a fun, modern edge. This publication includes such picture-perfect favorites as hummingbird cake, lemon layer cake, and peanut butter pie. Mims also reinterprets traditional recipes with inventive twistsThis book encourages home bakers everywhere to experiment with different flavors, combinations and preparation. Arlington Advocate

In Sweet & Southern, Ben Mims has taken classic Southern desserts and added a bit of restraint and balance, scaling back sugar by a cup or two, or adding in generous pinches of salt to cut into richness. He has honored the sweet traditions that turned him intoan avidbaker, but adapted the cakes and pies of his childhood to modern tastes, with a recipe testers keen eye. These cakes and friends are not lightened up for any reason relating to your middle -- theyre just made better, and more reasonableFor novices and seasoned bakers alike, Mims has valuable advice in almost every recipe; his additions never feel superfluousthese recipes feel necessary, like weve been waiting yearsfor themYoull walk away from the book a smarter baker, with a better understanding of technique and a few tricks in your back pocket -- such as a newfound appreciation for salt and vanilla. Food52

Each chapter in this cookbook contains a list of the recipes inside it. I love being able to quickly see what recipes are in a chapter... The ingredients all looked to be fairly common and available in a typical grocery storeI like that the author encourages you to experiment with different things to make these and any other desserts your own. The cookbook contains a lot of gorgeous color photos but not all recipes have a photo. This cookbook would be perfect for anyone who enjoys baking, entertaining, and of course dessert. From Vals Kitchen

Author Bio

Originally from Kosciusko, Mississippi, Ben Mims grew up amid the classic dessert traditions of the deep South, including a towering caramel cake after church every Sunday.He combines a journalism degree from the University of Mississippi with a certificate from the French Culinary Institute in New York.For five years, Ben worked as associate food editor for Saveur magazine, eventually writing their long-running "Pantry" column.His March 2012 cover story "Sweet Southern Dreams" was featured in Best Food Writing 2012.More recently, he was executive pastry chef at San Francisco's James Beard Award-nominated Bar Agricole, and has developed recipes for EveryDay with Rachael Ray and Southern Living.This is his first book.