August 5th, 2011 
(Photo Credit: Pecan Publishing)
Desserts should be decadent, don’t you think? Atlanta Classic Desserts, by Krista Reese, with photography by Deborah Whitlaw LLewellyn, is filled with rich, fabulous recipes, making this cookbook as much a feast for the eyes as it is for the palate.
Mmmm….flip the pages and you can almost taste the Coconut Ice Box Pie, topped by a cloud of heavy, whipped cream; the Lemon Poppyseed Cake served alongside a scoop of zesty Lemon Mousse; and the fluffy Tres Leches Cake, studded with fresh strawberries, blueberries, grapes, and pineapple. (And just in case you’re wondering, those are Fried Oreos with Bourbon Ice Cream, from The Glenwood Atlanta, pictured on the book’s cover.)
Key Lime Pie with a "three lime" custard, from Atlanta's Chocolate Pink Cafe
Reese is an Atlanta-based author and restaurant critic/reviewer who has covered the city’s food scene for two decades. You may have spotted her work in Atlanta Magazine’s dining section, or Bon Appetit, Southern Living, U.S. News & World Report, or many other publications.
Her experience and expertise in fine dining makes her book as much a guide to Atlanta’s restaurants as a cook book. You’ll find the recipes for 40 signature desserts here, including the famous Peanut Butter Pie from Mary Mac’s Tea Room; S’mores from Aria (complete with directions for making your own whole wheat graham crackers, marshmallows, and dark chocolate); and Zabaglione Gelato Tartufo, from La Grotta. Reese takes her readers on a tasteworthy tour of pies, cookies, cobblers, puddings, candies, ice creams, custards, tarts, and donuts.
I confess, I’m one of those cooks whose busy life finds me picking up a roll of refrigerator slice-and-bake cookies more often than a whisk, but this collection of recipes from Atlanta’s favorite dining spots is pulling me into the kitchen. I’ll eat salads every day next week. Tonight, I think I’ll bake the Coca Cola Cake from Carver’s Country Kitchen!
Atlanta Classic Desserts, by Krista Reese. Forward by Janice Shay. Photographs by Deborah Whitlaw Llwewllyn. Pelican Publishing Company, Gretna, LA, 2009.
