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A la Mode: 120 Recipes in 60 Pairings: Pies, Tarts, Cakes, Crisps, and More Topped with Ice Cream, Gelato, Frozen Custard, and More
Are you ready to take your baking over the top? Here are sixty decadent and delightful ice creams and the sixty desserts that are their vehicles. A la Mode offers not just solid dessert recipes, from raspberry oat bars to bear claws, from chocolate pecan pie to a white chocolate pavlova, but also gives you the unforgettable pairings that make these desserts smash hits: apple cranberry pie with Camembert ice cream, chocolate sheet cake with salt caramel frozen custard, and espresso cream jelly roll with mascarpone ice cream.
Let's face it: vanilla can sometimes be so... vanilla. A great a-la-mode pairing should be as decadent as finding the perfect wine to go with your cheese plate. With A la Mode , IACP winners and cookbook dynamos Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough show you how to create innovative delights such as creamy hazelnut gelato atop coffee-poached pears, or maple frozen custard with a mouthwatering cinnamon roll cake, alongside simpler classics like confetti ice cream with layered vanilla birthday cake. You haven't lived until you've had peanut brittle pie with popcorn ice cream, a Cracker Jack fantasy!
Because what's a warm pie without ice cream? With A la Mode , you'll have to answer that question!
Let's face it: vanilla can sometimes be so... vanilla. A great a-la-mode pairing should be as decadent as finding the perfect wine to go with your cheese plate. With A la Mode , IACP winners and cookbook dynamos Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough show you how to create innovative delights such as creamy hazelnut gelato atop coffee-poached pears, or maple frozen custard with a mouthwatering cinnamon roll cake, alongside simpler classics like confetti ice cream with layered vanilla birthday cake. You haven't lived until you've had peanut brittle pie with popcorn ice cream, a Cracker Jack fantasy!
Because what's a warm pie without ice cream? With A la Mode , you'll have to answer that question!
224 pages, Paperback
First published June 7, 2016
5 people are currently reading
876 people want to read
About the author
Mark Scarbrough
48 books39 followersI'm half of the NYTimes bestselling cookbook writing team behind over thirty cookbooks, including THE INSTANT POT BIBLE, THE ULTIMATE COOKBOOK, and THE ESSENTIAL AIR FRYER COOKBOOK. I'm (recently!) a memoirist, too, with BOOKMARKED: HOW THE GREAT WORKS OF WESTERN LITERATURE F*CKED UP MY LIFE. I host two literary podcasts: WALKING WITH DANTE, the only slow-walk through Dante's masterwork COMEDY; and LYRIC LIFE, a podcast about lyric poetry. I also co-host COOKING WITH BRUCE AND MARK, a podcast and YouTube channel with his husband, Bruce Weinstein. A former academic, I now teach eight-week literary seminars across my part of of the world on Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, Emily Dickinson, and more; and I lead two book discussion group, one online with multiple sessions and an international membership. I find my peace with two collies on acres in very rural New England.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 28, 2019
A unique one-two powerful and delicious pairing of the flavors of pies/tarts and cakes and ice cream. Both sets of recipes were great. I don't often make ice cream but this book led me to take out the old ice cream maker.
March 11, 2017
i want to try every recipe in this book!
June 20, 2016
I received the book from a Goodreads giveaway.
A La Mode is comprised of 60 ice cream/gelato/custard recipes & 60 pie/crisp/tart/cake recipes. Honestly, I wasn't interested in this book for the pairings; I'm a sucker for a good cookbook that shows a picture of each product (I want to know what it looks like before I make it), and I love dessert recipes.
The cookbook is packed with a lot of good tips and information about the best ingredients & and how-to's, as well as recipes, and it's fun to read. For example, I found the tips on making a good pie crust to be the best I've ever read, and reading the tips were entertaining: They're snapping glutens, proclaiming a pie revolution, and adding cheeky lead-ins like, "Yes, the hipster kids love the old metal plates. But you'll end up with a crisper, browner crust in glass..."
The recipes themselves are a twist on old favorites, including ingredients that I wouldn't think of but that actually make the final product a real treat. This book was put together by bakers who really love making good food--they care about how it's all put together, when you can use frozen fruit and when you can't, how to store the leftovers, and how to turn an old standby into something special.
I admit that some of these recipes are either a little too weird (fennel-raisin pie) or complex for me, but who needs to make 60 different pie-like desserts? Not me. I'll be satisfied with trying out at least half of these recipes, and with finally being able to make a decent pie crust.
A La Mode is comprised of 60 ice cream/gelato/custard recipes & 60 pie/crisp/tart/cake recipes. Honestly, I wasn't interested in this book for the pairings; I'm a sucker for a good cookbook that shows a picture of each product (I want to know what it looks like before I make it), and I love dessert recipes.
The cookbook is packed with a lot of good tips and information about the best ingredients & and how-to's, as well as recipes, and it's fun to read. For example, I found the tips on making a good pie crust to be the best I've ever read, and reading the tips were entertaining: They're snapping glutens, proclaiming a pie revolution, and adding cheeky lead-ins like, "Yes, the hipster kids love the old metal plates. But you'll end up with a crisper, browner crust in glass..."
The recipes themselves are a twist on old favorites, including ingredients that I wouldn't think of but that actually make the final product a real treat. This book was put together by bakers who really love making good food--they care about how it's all put together, when you can use frozen fruit and when you can't, how to store the leftovers, and how to turn an old standby into something special.
I admit that some of these recipes are either a little too weird (fennel-raisin pie) or complex for me, but who needs to make 60 different pie-like desserts? Not me. I'll be satisfied with trying out at least half of these recipes, and with finally being able to make a decent pie crust.
June 28, 2016
Though I'm happy with six of the eight things I made, I'm disappointed in this book. There are two more chocolate cake recipes and one brownie recipe in here but sadly I'm not comfortable making any of them because of how awful the one chocolate cake I made turned out. There are a few other ice cream/frozen custards I'd like to make and only a couple more baked goods.
There's not a basic chocolate ice cream recipe in here. The one basic vanilla ice cream recipe has chopped chocolate added and was given a fancy unpronounceable name. I wish there were a few more fruit sorbet recipes, those using no dairy.
There's not a photo of everything but there are quite a few and they're beautiful.
THINGS I MADE:
Cherry-Vanilla Frozen Custard, Chocolate Sour Cherry Layer Cake, Apple-Cranberry Streusel Pie, Orange Sherbet, Peach Ice Cream, Sour Cherry Cobbler, Lemon Polenta Cake, and my favorite, Raspberry Oat Bars.
Full review with photos of everything I made, http://bit.ly/298M2IJ
I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
January 27, 2017
without a doubt, a beautiful book...however, I don't live a lifestyle that is compatible with this book. This is more of a Style book, as in, beautifully considered pairings, but assumes a level of culinary literacy... for example, if you want to learn HOW TO make a pie, Magpie is a much better choice.
July 7, 2016
Lots of great, yummy recipes!! Pretty book!!
June 10, 2016
I'm not a huge sweets person, but this made me want all the sweets. I'm inspired. Totally poaching pears in coffee soon.
June 18, 2016
Some really amazing dessert filling combinations - Bacon-Maple Walnut Pie, Peanut Brittle Tart, Lemon Polenta Bundt cake...mmm!
July 7, 2016
The photography in this book is GORGEOUS, and the recipes are excellent.
July 17, 2016
Oh.my.gracious...... I am Swooning over ice cream and bakery pairings, be still my heart!
July 23, 2016
Many interesting recipes pairing ice cream and pastry.
August 3, 2016
Very interesting book - I like the pairings, although I admit i wouldn't make the ice cream half the time. great pie recipes and a few interesting cake recipes. Definitely worth looking at again.
April 5, 2017
The cookbook have lot of good tips and information about the best ingredients and how-to's, as well as recipes. The photography in this book is GORGEOUS!!!
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August 27, 2018I haven’t tried any of the recipes but they look amazing. I found the book on display at my library and might just need to purchase a copy.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews