Sensational Preserves: 250 Recipes for Jams, Jellies, Chutneys and Sauces and How

Rating:
Summary: A Major Disappointment
Review: Having tried all the basic recipes in other books, I was ready to move up to some more creative and unusual recipes. This book fit the bill perfectly! Trying to limit which ones to try is the hard part! The pictures are very enticing, and the steps in the recipes are concise.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing recipes
Review: Having tried all the basic recipes in other books, I was ready to move up to some more creative and unusual recipes. This book fit the bill perfectly! Trying to limit which ones to try is the hard part! The pictures are very enticing, and the steps in the recipes are concise.

Rating:
Summary: A Major Disappointment
Review: I am a very experienced home canner and I was not impressed by this book. It was written primarily for a European audience by a British author and many of the ingredients are difficult to find. There are also a number of unusual recipes - Carnation Liqueur, Elderflower Cordial, Goat's Cheese in Oil, Pickled Walnuts - that I did not find appealing.

A number of the jams, jellies and marmalades I made following the recipe directions set up too firm, while others failed to set at all. For most of the recipes, the author's instructions require the sugar to be warmed in the oven for 20 minutes, a tricky and time consuming task at best, before the sugar is added to the fruit. There are also a lot of recipes for fruits and jams preserved with alcohol.

A substantial number of recipes do not give processing instructions. Of the recipes that the author does suggest processing in a boiling water bath, many are too low in acid to be safely processed by this method. European canning standards differ from those of the USDA.

While the pictures in the book are pretty to look at, the flavor and texture of the finished preserves are not really all that good.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most exhilirating books on preserving!
Review: My husband purchased this book for me while he was on a business trip to Paris, France. It is an insightful volume with numerous unique, detailed recipes which contain metric and apothecary/troy measurements for cooks around the world. This is a must for every serious american home canner who seeks diverse, unusual and interesting preserved flavored specialties to serve their family. This is a real find!