Rating: 
Summary: just about perfect
Review: I own shelves full of cookbooks and have to think very carefully about new purchases/additions. This small book lives up to its hype and is absolutely delightful. We have a small Meyer lemon tree in our yard and it has been joyful having this book. It is clearly written with a range of recipes that are accessible and yet even the experienced gourmet cook will find much that is intriguing. Did I forget to mention that everything I've made has turned out yummy?
Rating:
Summary: Tart and sweet
Review: I want to make everything in Lori Longbotham's beautiful dessert book and am not sure I can say that about any other book in my collection. Not only do the desserts look superb but the recipes are extremely simple. The book has the world's best recipes for classic lemon bars, meringue pie and pound cake but also highly inspired ones such as the blueberry pizza with sweet lemon-ricotta crust and chocolate profiteroles filled with lemon custard ice cream with lemon chocolate sauce--yummo! The only real problem is you need to buy 2 copies so you can cut out the photographs, frame and hang them on your wall. Make that 3 as you'll want to share this with your very best friend as I did.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have Dessert Cookbook
Review: I wish desserts from this book were on the menus of some of the better restaurants I've eaten in. I've tried out a number of them on family and friends to rave reviews. Nobody doesn't like lemon, and this book shows how many ways it can make a great dessert. Some of the recipes are also somple, such as the Lemon-Caramel Pots de Creme. The Perfect Lemon Tart, artfully pictured on the book's cover, is the best version I've tasted of one of my favorite desserts. I'm still working my way through the book and can't wait to try the Chocolate Ganache Tart with Lots of Lemon, though my son is lobbying for Lemonade Fruit Jewel Popsicles. If you're not already a lemon lover, this book will give you new respect for this often underappreciated flavor.
Rating:
Summary: Restaurant Dessert Chefs Take Note
Review: I wish some of these desserts were on the menu of some of the finer restaurants I've eaten at. I've tried out a number of Lori Longbotham's lemon recipes on family and friends to rave reviews. Nobody doesn't like lemon, and these recipes show how many different ways it can make a great dessert. Many of them are also simple, such as the Lemon-Caramel Pots de Creme. The Perfect Lemon Tart, artfully pictured on the cover, is the best version I've tasted of one of my favorite desserts. I'm still working my way through the book and can't wait to try the Chocolate Ganache Cake with Lots of Lemon, although my son is lobbying for Lemonade Fruit Jewel Popsicles. If you are not already a lemon fan, this book will give you new respect for this underappreciated flavor.
Rating: 
Summary: Luscious prose
Review: I've got at least a hundred cookbooks, which doubtless contain nearly every recipe in this book, so why am I recommending it? Because Ms. Longbotham is able, with a brief evocative description prefacing each of her recipes, to elevate what is, after all, commonplace into something that's so much more -- a memory of a friend or an occasion, a curious bit of culinary culture or a tie-in with some exotic locale that she's visited. This is what I want in a cookbook, and she's given it to me by the cupful.
Rating:
Summary: Sweet Victory
Review: Is it fair for a cookbook author to present too many temptations, to put forth such an enticing array of recipes that a hapless and hungry reader simply does not know where to begin? Apparently, Lori Longbotham was not bothered by such conundrums as she set about writing "Luscious Lemon Desserts." The lemon tart that graces the cover practically commands the user to quickly find the formula for making it. But that means fast-forwarding past other pictures and recipes that are every bit as gorgeous. Lemon meringue ice cream cake. Ethereal lemon angel pie. Lemon upside-down cake. Such sweet indecision eventually will give way to a test run in the kitchen and that is where the real value of this book becomes apparent. Cookbooks ask from their readers a sense of trust in return for the promise of recipes that work. Few have carried through on the pact better or more appealingly than this one. Each recipe I've tried-nine and counting fast-has worked like a dream, the short ingredient lists and straightforward instructions gently leading the way to sugar-coated bliss. The buttery lemon shortbread is phenomenal while the panna cotta is a dream come true. Lemon mousse is simple and sublime and has made me the most in-demand dessert maker among my friends. Long ago, I decided that a cookbook had paid for itself if it yielded one great recipe. In this case, Luscious has paid for itself tenfold and still counting. Anyone who revels in great desserts should put this one in their shopping cart and then into the kitchen.
Rating:
Summary: I Wanted More Instructions
Review: Let's do the pluses first. The book is beautiful, the layout-- lots of yellow-- is inviting, the photographs of these desserts make your want to cook them, and there are a lot of unusual recipes here. The minus: Last night I baked the lemon tart photographed on the front cover. The recipe is easy enough to qualify for my "quick and easy dessert recipes for the lazy cook." The problem is that Ms. Longbotham doesn't give enough instructions. Please tell me what the following statement means: " . . . and continue stirring until the dough begins to come together when a small bit is pressed between your fingers." I don't have the foggiest notion what she means here. I do know the consistency dough must have before you attempt to bake it so I figured out what to do on my own. And I suppose any fool could look at the photograph and tell that at some point you've got to get the tart out of the pan, but Ms. Longbotham doesn't tell you that. I went to another dessert cookbook and found pages of instructions on tart baking so I found out-- among other things-- that I could use the baking sheet like a huge spatula for sliding the completed and cooled tart onto a serving plate. But shouldn't that information have been here? I think so. In the author's defense, I did read through other recipes later and they seemed to have all the directions necessary. Maybe I just chose a lemon! Seriously the tart was delicious. I took it to work today and am taking an empty plate home.
Rating:
Summary: sweet lemons
Review: Luscious Lemon Desserts is a perfect primer on lemon desserts that will appeal to the novice as well as the experienced cook. Beautifully photographed, consise, easy-to-read instructions and a great selection of lemony winners.
Rating:
Summary: So many great desserts for LEMON LOVERS!!!
Review: My father, the ULTIMATE LEMON LOVER, was the inspiration for me to buy this book. I wanted to make him some special treats for his birthday, so I thought this would be perfect. I was NOT disappointed. Every recipe in this book is a lemon lover's dream. I made him the classic lemon bars and the lemon sugar cookies and he was in lemon heaven. I myself love the candied lemon rind and the lemon madelines. I'm still eager to try some more of the recipes when time allows. She gives great instructions and the pictures are nice. I highly reccommend this book!!!
Rating:
Summary: luscious lemon desserts
Review: My husband is a lemon fan, so I bought this book with him in mind. I've made several of the recipes, and each one of them have been wonderful. His all time favorite is the lemon strawberry shortcake. I'm looking forward to being able to purchase Luscious Choclolate
Desserts soon.
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