Spago Desserts

Book excerpt: Mary Bergin's fabulous desserts have helped make Spago, winner of the 1994 James Beard Award for the best restaurant of the year, a landmark the world over. Now, in these pages, Bergin tells us her secrets. First, start with basic recipes: Chocolate Chiffon Cake, Buttermilk Cake, Cheesecake, Brioche, Shortcakes, Puff Pastry, and Pie Dough. Then, as Bergin shows us, you can vary these basics to produce such wonders as Austrian Chocolate Cake, Lemon Buttermilk Cake, White Chocolate Rum Raisin Cheesecake, Apricot Rolls, Peach and Berry Cobbler, Apple Pear Tarte Tatin, Fresh Cherry Lattice Tart, and many, many more. The unique ability of Mary Bergin and Judy Gethers, Wolfgang Puck's longtime collaborator, to break down even the most complex recipes into simple basics makes this book perfect not only for seasoned bakers, but also for enterprising novices. To aid beginners, the authors include an extensive glossary of ingredients, equipment, and techniques, as well as numerous practical illustrations that clarify and complement the written text. The instructions are clear and simple, replete with helpful tips and advice. In Spago Desserts, you will find everything from Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies to Cherry Clafouti. Great Spago staples, such as the sumptuous Opera Cake, are intermixed with simple pleasures -- Brownies, Spago's Old-fashioned Apple Pie, muffins of all shapes and sizes -- and not-so-simple pleasures, such as Tiramisu, Fresh Berry Napoleon with Caramel Sauce, and Chocolate Truffles with Brandied Apricots. For those who wish to indulge less sinfully, the authors have also included a few superb fat-free recipes, such as Grapefruit Vodka Sorbet and Strawberries in Port Wine. Bergin and Gethers have worked for years with Wolfgang Puck, Spago's chef and owner, and have mastered the rare blend of classical teaching and innovative spirit that have made Spago in Los Angeles and the new Spago in Las Vegas among the best restaurants in the world. Spago Desserts is a brilliant addition to the Spago line of cookbooks, and, like its predecessors, it is sure to become a modern classic. Now you can make these desserts, whether fat-free or sinfully delicious, at home, exactly as they are prepared in the Spago kitchens.