Rating: 
Summary: Not Great or Good !!
Review: I must admit that I bought this book with great expectations after reading the positive reviews. After trying a couple of the recipes, I was greatly disappointed. The carrot cake was just average tasting, more like cinnamon bread, and I noticed that the most important spice was left out for some reason. Anyway, I thought I would make it up for the bland taste, with the suggested lemon glaze. Big mistake!! The cake became soggy and the flavor of the glaze had a strong lemon flavor, very much like cough syrup. At that point, I tried to scrape off the glaze to save some of the cake, but it was too late, the glaze had already soaked into it. My next step was to discard the entire cake.
I would think that if a recipe calls for good quality expensive ingredients, the least an author can do, is to make sure it tastes good. I believe that is a reasonable expectation on my part. I was very upset that this expensive cake ended up in the garbage. This is one book that I will not be using anytime soon.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing taste!No dairy No more problem!
Review: I really like to bake but since I developed allergy to dairy I was stumped. Then I read a recipe online at Yoga Journal written by Costigan and tried it. Simple to make, simply the best cookie I ever ate (ginger orange crisps.) SO I bought the book and have been baking my way happily though it. The cornbread is amazing, the carrot cake the best, and the chocolate is the best I ever ate, dairy free or not. Easy to follow recipes, easy to make, tips on how to work with natural ingredients and where to find them. I am happy, my grilfriend is happy as I am the baker and cook and so are the friends who received this book from me for Xmas.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing taste!No dairy No more problem!
Review: I really like to bake but since I developed allergy to dairy I was stumped. Then I read a recipe online at Yoga Journal written by Costigan and tried it. Simple to make, simply the best cookie I ever ate (ginger orange crisps.) SO I bought the book and have been baking my way happily though it. The cornbread is amazing, the carrot cake the best, and the chocolate is the best I ever ate, dairy free or not. Easy to follow recipes, easy to make, tips on how to work with natural ingredients and where to find them. I am happy, my grilfriend is happy as I am the baker and cook and so are the friends who received this book from me for Xmas.
Rating:
Summary: Great Cookbook!
Review: I recently purchased a copy of Great Good Desserts Naturally! by Fran Costigan. I am a strict vegetarian and try to cook and bake using only natural ingredients. This book has great recipes that taste as if they have been made the traditional way with eggs, butter, and sugar. I have made the double fudge brownies with great success, and my skeptical husband even thought they were excellent. I also made the cornbread recipe, which is moister than any of the traditional recipes I have made. This recipe can be turned into cornmeal pancakes or corn muffins as well. In the book, the author gives several tips about whole food ingredients as well as how to subsitute traditional ingredients with natural alternatives. She discusses appropriate baking utensils and techniques that make this book suitable for novice bakers in addition to experienced ones. She also tells how to modify recipes (e.g. making cupcakes from a cake recipe), and she provides information on how to present the desserts (frosting ideas for cakes, sauce ideas, fillings for cookies). The book contains recipes for cakes, frostings, cookies, frozen desserts, sauces, and more. I would recommend it as an easy way to have healthier snacks and sweets in your diet.
Rating:
Summary: Too delicious for words!
Review: Now dessert lovers everywhere can have their cake and eat it, too. Fran Costigan shows you how easy it is to enjoy sinfully delicious sweets that are made with truly healthful and wholesome ingredients. With cakes, cookies, pies, puddings, and more, it's a tantalizing collection of yummy, good-for-you treats!
Rating:
Summary: Wow - And It's Good For Me Too!
Review: One of the biggest challenge when it comes to creating a healthy meal for family and friends is coming up with a dessert that is not overloaded with saturated fat, cholesterol and empty calories. Fran Costigan gives us all the tools we need to create heart-healthy but scrumptious final notes to our menu planning. For those health-conscious cooks who wish to avoid the use of eggs, butter, dairy and white sugar, this book is a treasure trove of recipes and ideas. I have tried most of the recipes in this book and they have been a huge hit at my dinner parties and special events such as birthdays and open houses.
Rating:
Summary: I RATE THIS BOOK 10 STARS!DELCIOUS-EASY-NO SUGAR-LOWFAT!
Review: The Recipe-Chocolate Cake to Live For and Ultimate Chocolate Frosting are worth the price of this book! I can cook but have not been successful with desserts. Until now! Fran's clear recipes and sense of humor have transformed me into the queen of dairy-free desserts (According to my happy family and friends). I think she must teach great classes and wish I was closer to NYC. What amazes me is that I have to fight to save pieces of these desserts for my vegan friends. EVERYONE LOVES THESE DESSERTS. I want to make every recipe. I am a chocolate person but love the blueberry slump as much. The format of the book is smart. THe beginning seems like a private class in natural foods, with so much information about healthy ingredients and how to use them and WHY and charts. I think beginners and more advanced bakers can use this book-it is like a terrific reference book with delcious recipes. She points out the recipes are easily varied. I doubled the orange cake (Tropical Fruit Gateau), split the layer in half, filled and frosted it with Chocolate and now it is a much requested birthday cake. I can't beleive how professional it looked. I am ordering onther copy for myself and definately will send this book out when a gift is needed. If I sound excited, it is because I am. Did I mention that the recipes are easy and many can be made and frozen? I can find only one negative and that is I want to see more books by Fran like this one. Yes I recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, great vegan desserts that everyone loves!
Review: The results of the recipes in this book are so delicious that I had to fight to keep servings available for my vegan friends. NO ONE KNEW these were healthy desserts. Finally, I am able to stop explaining and finally I am able to make easy, delicious everytime treats. I especially like the introduction to ingredients and the step by step instructions which are written in a very easy to manage format. In fact, I love the format of this book. I want to marry this author. Thanks Fran.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful dessert book!
Review: This book is brilliant. Of my myriad vegan cookbooks, it's recipes are consistently the best and most thoughtfully presented. Every single recipe I have tried has been mouthwateringly good. Fran (if I may use her name so informally, which only feels natural since I use her cookbook so much) leaves out no details when it comes to baking delectable desserts and provides tons of background information on healthy sugar substitutes and the like. I have made many of these desserts for my family and peers and they too have been shocked that there are no animal products or refined sugars in them. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to vegans and non-vegans alike. I am delighted each time I get the opportunity to make something from it.
Rating:
Summary: I am simply blown away
Review: This book is brilliant. Of my myriad vegan cookbooks, it's recipes are consistently the best and most thoughtfully presented. Every single recipe I have tried has been mouthwateringly good. Fran (if I may use her name so informally, which only feels natural since I use her cookbook so much) leaves out no details when it comes to baking delectable desserts and provides tons of background information on healthy sugar substitutes and the like. I have made many of these desserts for my family and peers and they too have been shocked that there are no animal products or refined sugars in them. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to vegans and non-vegans alike. I am delighted each time I get the opportunity to make something from it.
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