Rating: 
Summary: Not a lot of pictures, but it doesn't matter. . .
Review: Although there aren't as many illustrations as in some other cookbooks, the recipes are presented in a way that gives you a sense of what the finished product is going to look like. There are some pictures, but this book doesn't need a lot of pictures to make the recipes appealing.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic recipes, puzzling errors
Review: First and foremost, I highly recommend this book. I just ordered a copy of it for my mother. The recipes may take a lot of time, but they aren't tricky. The results are delightful. I've only made half a dozen things but all have turned out very well.I agree with other reviewers that there are puzzling discrepancies. One recipe called for "9 ounces of pecan halves (about 3/4 cup)." By the time I had weighed 9 oz of pecan halves, I had about 7/4 cups. So trust yourself, some, when things don't seem "right". But don't let that stop you from using this cookbook! Fantastic stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic recipes, puzzling errors
Review: First and foremost, I highly recommend this book. I just ordered a copy of it for my mother. The recipes may take a lot of time, but they aren't tricky. The results are delightful. I've only made half a dozen things but all have turned out very well. I agree with other reviewers that there are puzzling discrepancies. One recipe called for "9 ounces of pecan halves (about 3/4 cup)." By the time I had weighed 9 oz of pecan halves, I had about 7/4 cups. So trust yourself, some, when things don't seem "right". But don't let that stop you from using this cookbook! Fantastic stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Gale Gand's Just a Bite
Review: Good ideas in this book. I only wish all the recipes were listed in the index and that the trios were referenced with a page number.
Rating:
Summary: Little is More in the Case of These Desserts
Review: Here is a wealth of info on reducing serving portions for dessert, but with the added suggestion on each recipe of three combos served as a tasting menu. How about Bread Puddings with Orange Marmalade, Mint-Chocolate Chip Meringues and Roasted Strawberries with Cherry Balsalmic Sauce? Or Cherry Charlottes, Cinnamon Peanut Brittle and Tiny Lemon Angel Cakes with Lemon Confit. My favorte trios: Raisin-Anise Biscotti, Canneles, and Taffy Lady Apples; Red, White and Blueberry Salad, Myrna's Toasted Cocunut-Chocolate Bars and Petit Popovers with Peach Butter. Gale knows her subject matter, intense with excitement and skill about it and also is passionate about passing this love of dessert making and creativity on to the rest of us. Finally, got to try "Chocolate Raspberry Pot Pies" "Parfaits of Tangerine Sorbet and Sour-Cream Ice Cream" and "Blackberry Brown-Butter Financiers." Go crazy, this is just a motherload of great dessert offerings you'll not find in anyother place.
Rating:
Summary: GALE GAND'S JUST A BITE
Review: I bought this book recently when I saw her at a cooking demostration. I have made quite a few items already and they have all turned out great and the people I have given them to keep asking for more.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Presenation
Review: I felt the presentation of this book was great and there are a lot of unique recipies. I did try to make the blueberry shortbread and had a problem with it. The consistancy was just not there. After reading someone's else's review here on Amazon, I see I was not the only one who had a problem and perhaps there was something left out of the recipie?
I also tried the cake on the front cover which everyone did love, but I have to say that it made way more cake batter than the pan size and even though I didn't use it all it overflowed all over the oven. I would say that this cookbook may be for someone with a little more experience than a beginner who is not used to anticipating or judging when things don't look quite right! The choc. cake and topping was a big hit though regardless of the big mess in my stove!!
Rating:
Summary: Great author, questionable editing?
Review: I have to say the ideas in this book are so ADORABLE and fun, several made me laugh out loud and hope I have girl children one day. I made one recipe (Lemon Cream Daisies) w/no problems & to great acclaim. But today I tried Lemon Angel Food Cakes w/Lemon Confit, & found a possible typo - ? - or just a mistake: The cake batter recipe is supposed to make 24 mini-muffins. For me it made 24 mini, plus 24 regular muffins! (I can only guess they're supposed to be all regular size?) At least they do taste good. Anyway, add this to the caution from another person who noted wrong amount of butter in the blueberry shortbread recipe... Questionable editing, I guess, but I still think the author is a sugar genius.
Rating:
Summary: perfection marred - please please re-edit and re-issue!
Review: i love the pictures. love the trio suggestions. her instructions are detailed and clear. i love that the baking supplies necessary are noted in the margin of the recipe so one doesn't need to go searching in the middle of a recipe. most of my desserts came out superb.
however, i also found a mistake - the twinkle twinkies don't quite puff up enough to fill a 9x13 pan. they were flat so i used a 9x9 pan instead. anyway, it was a great idea and tasted fine but the ingredient list needs to be rechecked.
Rating: 
Summary: Painfully out of my league
Review: Okay, so she's a pastry chef. Still, most of us are not. I can't even attempt to do almost any recipe in this thing if I don't want to roll something out, if I don't have a special mold or pan or a candy thermometer, if I don't know where to find a vanilla bean or some other goofy ingredient that requires a trip to a special food store, or if I don't know how to/am no good at using a pastry bag. I'm a good cook, and I've been doing it for a long time, and I do enjoy taking pains to make special treats now and then. However, the recipes in this book are way, way too convoluted for someone who isn't experienced in pastry making. (And here I thought there would be more cookies and cakes. Silly me.) One recipe's instructions (not incl. the indgredient list) took TWO AND A HALF PAGES. This thing is going straight back into the used book selling area where I found it.
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