One of my readers recently brought a dessert e-book, Any Room? Simple Dessert Recipes to my attention. It was written by Diana Bricker, a former caterer, and is, I think, one of the better dessert e-books out there. In fact, I downloaded it and put it in a binder in my kitchen so I can use it often. It contains 25 recipes, many with beautiful pictures. That may not seem like a lot of recipes, but they are 25 recipes that most of us would really want to make. In fact, I have some of them lined up on my “must make this week” list (including the 3-Ingredient Ice Cream Dessert, Key Lime Cheesecake Pie, and Brownie Peanut Butter Trifle). And you can be sure that my next Christmas buffet will include her luscious-looking Hot Chocolate Peppermint Torte.

One of the things I especially like about this book is that it has something for everyone – easy convenient recipes for those who don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen, and showstopper desserts for those who enjoy spending lots of time in the kitchen. None of the recipes, however, are difficult or very time-consuming – anyone with a minimum amount of cooking savvy can easily make every recipe in the book. There is a good mix of desserts: cakes, puddings, pies, trifles, and cookies. Another thing I really like is that many of the recipes contain stories about how the recipe came about or the person the recipe came from. These stories make the recipes something other than a bucket list, and when they are personalized, I am apt to relate to that person and then of course to the recipe.

At the time I downloaded the book, I needed to make several dozen cookies for dessert at a family party I was catering. I made Grandma Scobee’s Sugar Cookies and found that they were similar to a favorite sugar cookie I’ve been making for years. The recipe is easy, and says that it makes 4 dozen “large” cookies. The word “large” is relative, of course, and since I got about 13 dozen “medium” sugar cookies (2 1/2 – 3” in diameter), I can only imagine how big those “large” cookies are. I rolled my cookies in colored sugar, which made them festive, and kept the leftovers in an airtight container. They were still delicious a month after making them, and my family loved them.

The only negative about this book that I see is that some of the recipes call for frozen whipped topping (an ingredient which I am adamantly opposed to and would not use under any circumstances), I understand that many use it as a convenience, and I will admit that it is a quick and easy ingredient. Hopefully, if you use it in these recipes, you will understand what it is (read the ingredients some time when you’re in the mood for something scary) and know that it is not real whipped cream and doesn’t taste like real whipped cream. I plan to substitute real whipped cream in the recipes I make from this book.

All-in all, this e-book is one I would recommend for anyone who loves desserts. It’s very convenient to have e-books stored on the computer, phone, or e-reader so the recipes can be brought up wherever you are; they don’t take up space on the bookshelves, either.

To download this e-book from Amazon, click on the link below:
Any Room? Simple Dessert Recipes