CLASSIC SOUTHERN DESSERTS: All-Time Favorite Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Puddings, Cobblers, Ice Cream & More by Southern Living Magazine

PUBLISHER: Oxmoor House, 4/2010
GENRE: Cookbooks/Baking
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: From the experts at Southern Living comes this all-new cookbook of classic Southern desserts updated to fit today's trends and ingredients.

Selected from the more than 10,000 dessert recipes fine-tuned in the Southern Living test kitchens over the past 40 years, Classic Southern Desserts is the ultimate treasury of best-ever recipes, foolproof baking advice, step-by-step techniques, and gorgeous visuals to turn even the kitchen novice into the best baker in town. Whether it's chocolate you crave or kid-friendly treats, recipes are tagged to suit your needs.

THINGS I'VE MADE

CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE WITH BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

I made half the recipe in a 9"x1.5" round pan. It baked in 24 minutes. One layer baked in that size pan is actually thick enough to cut in half and make into a layer cake. It's incredibly moist. It's made with melted semisweet chocolate, all brown sugar, and sour cream. The flavor is a little off and I'm pretty sure it's from the brown sugar. I'll definitely make this again but I'll use equal parts white and brown sugar.

BASIC WHITE CAKE

This is made with equal parts butter and shortening. You fold stiffly beaten egg whites into your creamed mixture. I added 3/4c. chopped sweetened dried cherries. The full recipe makes three 8" round pans. I made half the recipe in a 10" round pan. I don't know why but it took quite awhile to bake, 42 minutes, and it sunk in the middle slightly and is slightly dry. I don't know what I could have done wrong. It tastes good, especially the cherries, and I can taste a hint of almond extract. I made my own vanilla glaze for it. Not sure if I'd make this again.

OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

I made these with a combination of old-fashioned and quick oats. The recipe uses quick oats but stated that for a chewier texture you could use old-fashioned oats, so I used some of each. They're very good and the first batch, which were baked immediately after mixing, spread out nicely. Subsequent batches using chilled dough didn't spread out quite as much.

I got 35 dough balls using a 1.5" diameter/1 T. scoop. I baked the first batch for 10.5 minutes but they were a little too crunchy for me. The other batches baked perfectly in 10 minutes.

LUSCIOUS LEMON CAKE

I made half the recipe in a 9" round pan. This uses egg yolks, no whites, and cake flour. The flavor wasn't that good so I wouldn't make it again.

MOM'S PECAN PIE

It's no surprise that this turned out great. It's a very good basic recipe. I made just half in a 7" diameter/2.5 c. Pyrex pie dish. I covered the top after 20 minutes to prevent the nuts from overbrowning. It baked in about 40 minutes. It needs a little more salt and less vanilla. It set up well and held its shape when sliced.

MY THOUGHTS: More things than not turned out alright. There's not much else in here that I'd want to make.