Small-Batch Baking for Chocolate Lovers

January 3, 2011
Scones for two? A batch of eight cookies? Three brownies hot out of the oven? These tiny yields are the norm for recipes in Maugans's second Small-Batch Baking title. "Scaled back to manageable proportions," recipes produce handfuls of baked goods, ideal for the single person, those counting calories, or must-eat-fresh-out-of-the-oven die-hard bakers. The self-proclaimed "chocoholic" uses the cacao bean in various forms including unsweetened cocoa powder, milk chocolate bars, bittersweet chocolate chips, and even chocolate milk in her recipes for cakes, pies and tarts, and more. Clever ideas include baking "baby-layer" cakes in cans and making soufflés in eight-inch ramekins. Classic desserts such as red velvet cake and chocolate chip cookies are alongside less-than-traditional combinations including chocolate lime bread and java choco-banana muffins. A lack of photography may prevent gift buyers scanning the shelves from noticing, but chocolate lovers and those who want small yields will appreciate this straightforward title.

February 15, 2011
With more and more American households consisting of just one or two people, its often difficult to find recipes that dont end up wasting food with quantities that are meant to fill four, six, or more mouths. Maugans comes to the rescue of such challenged bakers with a collection of chocolate desserts that serve just two. Pastry dough can be cut back to yield bases for just a couple of tarts. She suggests a number of cookie recipes, such as a dark chocolate pistachio shortbread or oatmeal chocolate raisin cookies. Desserts can be simple or as elaborate as layered turtle cheesecake. Even bread pudding can be reduced to a pair of small portions. In some cases, special small pans are required, but often its a matter of using just a couple of the holes in a standard muffin tin or improvising with some recycled tin cans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)