You may have actually seen authors Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell on television. Not necessarily on their cooking show. In 2012, they won The Amazing Race. Actually, they have been on their own personal and successful race for some time.
Two New York professional men meet, become partners, buy a weekend house, lose their jobs in the 2008 crash, and make the weekend house the entry way into a merchandising empire, complete with cookbooks. That’s how the Beekman 1802 brand began, with that first meeting in 2000. The past 14 years have seen adventure, success, and certainly accomplishment.
Their cookbooks reflect their flavorful style and concern for meticulous, down-to-last-last teaspoon care. The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook is their latest achievement. It’s an enviable work. I’ve tested, I’ve tasted, and I really enjoy Heirloom Desserts. I’m sure you will, too. Why? Simple and excellent recipes.
I suppose with a title that says “heirloom” you’d expect to find the recipes from grandparents and herds of cousins. Those old and familiar dishes do appear here, but the gentlemen have a very forward looking perspective. You’ll find brand new recipes, too, but ones they believe will become heirloom. Their definition of heirloom is quite specific: it’s a recipe that will be made over and over again because:
- It is delicious
- It is relatively simple to make
- It uses ingredients readily available to everyone
So, the recipes in this book are really good to eat, definitely simple to make, and will not require a journey to Whole Foods and Trader Joes all in the same day.
The recipes are arranged by season. However, I have never been one to see a great recipe and say to myself, “My, I must remember to make that in six months.” I suppose the Chocolate Pots de Crème would be perfect on a winter night as suggested here, but they have to be refrigerated so why not serve them up in July?
Let’s just toss the calendar aside. Besides Pots de Crème, old favorites appear: German Chocolate Cake, Key Lime Pie, … The names are the same, but all these familiar recipes have been tweaked just a tad. The Key Lime Pie filling is quite standard, but the crust is adjusted with the addition of lime zest and salt, and reduced sugar. Their German Chocolate Cake is altered too: more sugar, eggs, and butter. After all, richer is better, right?
So, if you see a “standard” recipe in this book, you’ll benefit from giving it a spin and discovering how a new version appeals to your palate.
It’s the new recipes, though, that caught my eye. Consider, if you will:
- Mint Bars [chocolate wafer crust and mint gelatin filling, studded with mint candy]
- Pancake Cake with Maple Cream Frosting [the picture on the cover of the book!]
- Pumpkin Jelly Roll [your Thanksgiving alternative to pumpkin pie, although it works year round]
- Salty Nougat Fudge Brownies [Snickers bar required]
- Concord Grape Pie [which is seasonal, I admit]
- Grilled Fruit Cocktail with Bourbon and Sweetened Sour Cream
- Three-Citrus Crème Caramel
- Diablo Cake with Custard Sauce [their riff on Devil’s Food Cake]
Inventive, clearly new, and appealing. There’s plenty in Heirloom Desserts to engage you and have you stirring up an extravagant ending to your meal. Thanks to the crafting of these recipes, extravagance can be achieved with mere modest effort.
I’ve already been busy testing away from Heirloom Desserts. Tomorrow you’ll see a Fudge Topping for ice cream that is, to use their definition, heirloom. It will be made again and again. And later this week, you’ll see the Diablo Cake, with chocolate, spice, and heat.
Heirloom Desserts is a solid cookbook, designed for the home cook with a sweet tooth. You can be sure that you will definitely use it over and over again. A heritage book indeed.