I’m a huge fan and supporter of local farmer’s markets. The concept of farm to table is something we should all be on board with—not only can you get more nutritious food, but you can get fresher, seasonal produce, while supporting the local farming community at the same time. We have several farmers’ markets in my area and recently I brought home some wonderfully delicious strawberries and blueberries that we devoured in one afternoon.
My plan was to make a delicious dessert from a new cookbook that I received called, Farm-to-Table Desserts, by Lei Shishak, an established pastry chef who trained at the CIA in New York and has worked at restaurants in Sun Valley and Los Angeles. This cookbook contains 80 recipes, divided by season, which all look delicious and fairly easy. I looked at a handful of recipes and realized that I had many of the ingredients right at my fingertips in my pantry.
Being someone that enjoys baking, I couldn’t wait to dive into this cookbook and try out a new recipe. Since the berries made a quick disappearing act, I moved on to plan B, which was to bake something using the insanely gorgeous lemons found right in my neighbor’s sunny, California front yard. Luckily, my neighbors are very generous with their lemon supply! I made a recipe called, Lemon Grahams, which were a hit with the family. The recipe was simple, fun and quite delicious. It’s not overly sweet and not ultra rich. It’s perfect for a ladies book night dessert or ideal for a brunch. My husband really liked them and asked me to make them again.
Some of the other mouth-watering desserts you’ll find in this book are:
• Stone peach cobbler
• Strawberry hand pies
• Key Lime Bars
• Pomegranate Chocolate Cookies
• Guava Cheesecake
The photos in the book also are incredibly inviting and will have you trying recipe after recipe. You’ll be returning to your local farmer’s market weekly to try your hand at the tantalizing treats that you’ll find in this book. Farm-to-Table Desserts is available now from retailers like Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
Lei Shishak has also been featured in People, Riviera Magazine, Sunset Magazine, Coast, the Los Angeles Daily News, and Fine Living, among others. She is the author of Beach House Baking, named one of 2014’s Top 10 Summer Cookbooks by USA Today.
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Disclaimer: Kristine has personally reviewed the product listed above. She has not received any monetary compensation for her review but did receive a free product to try out so she could evaluate and use it for her review. Her thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ.
I love the idea of farm to table recipes. I enjoy baking and would love to make all of these recipes. The Pomegranate chocolate cookies sound interesting to me.
This would be a terrific book for my mother. She loves to cook with farm fresh ingredients (and luckily, there are several farmers markets nearby), but she’s not much for making desserts. Maybe this would change her mind!
My sister has lemon tree. I would pick her lemons to make some lemon bars.
I love lemon bars. This book looks delicious and very helpful since it has recipies by the seasons.
These recipes make me hungry for my mom’s lemon bars and cherry cheesecake. These days Mom watches her sugar so no more decadent desserts. I’m sure you could modify them to make them more acceptable for those watching certain nutrients. The yearly California Strawberry Festival was last weekend and I’m still dreaming of fresh strawberries!