INTRODUCTION 1 THE BASICS 2 THE CAKE WALK 3 UPPER CRUST 4 SMALL BITES 5 OLD SCHOOL 6 FROZEN AND CHILLED 7 LABORS OF LOVE NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION METRIC EQUIVALENTS I often spend a majority of my day thinking about dessert. Luckily, it’s my job, which is particularly wonderful because I have been a sugar-lover for as long as I can remember. Desserts were always part of our family’s meal when I was growing up. Even if my grandmother, aunt, or mom hadn’t made an apple pie, berry cobbler, or a creamy baked custard, we would have a scoop of vanilla ice cream out of the freezer. These were simple desserts, but because family members took the time to make and serve them, I always felt loved and indulged. That’s what’s magical about dessert. The simple act of sharing something sweet that’s been made with care brings such tremendous joy. A LOVE AFFAIR WITH DESSERT Some of my earliest memories are of being with my grandmother in the kitchen stirring batters, dipping out flour, and snatching M&Ms while she poured them into cookie dough. All of the women in my family are wonderful cooks and particularly talented bakers. I loved watching my grandmother’s hands—they were arthritic but strong—and the care she took with whatever she was creating inspired me to become a good baker. She had a deft touch guided by intuition that made her desserts memorable. To this day, no one can recreate her crustless baked custard pie. She would transform the strawberries bought from roadside stands near our home in Garden Grove, California, into strawberry shortcake made with sweetened drop biscuits. She could make her signature jumbo raisin cookies without a recipe well into her 60s. My aunt was in charge of the coconut cake I usually requested for my birthday—she finished the three-layer cake with super-thick Italian meringue icing and tons of toasted coconut. (I’ve recreated a lighter version that’s just as much of a showstopper on page 226.) These are the kinds of desserts that have stayed with me my whole life. These desserts, made with such love, are the ones I still crave. I’ve always enjoyed tinkering in the kitchen, but this passion didn’t become my career until later in life. My first job was in banking, and then I moved into the heartfelt world of nonprofit organizations. I was an executive, and although I enjoyed the work, it became incredibly stressful. Amid all of that, there was always my love of baking. So after 25 years in the business world and thanks to an amazing, supportive husband, I decided to change careers and focus on my true love: DESSERT. My husband, Barry, and I packed up a U- Haul and moved from Visalia, California, to Hyde Park, New York, where I attended the Culinary Institute of America and received a degree in baking and pastry arts. Culinary school was two of the most challenging and yet rewarding years of my life. My ultimate goal was to work in a test kitchen, and that’s where I ended up in 2008 when I came to Cooking Light. I started as an intern, where I did the grocery shopping and prep work for recipe testers, and organized and cleaned out the pantries. I did have a few recipes to test each week, but not the same number as the full-time testers. One of the highlights of my time as an intern was when I developed an ice cream topping that ran in the magazine—I was over the moon in love with my new career. Now, I am one of those full-time recipe developers and testers. It’s my job to come up with the irresistible desserts in the magazine, and it’s these and additional new recipes that I’ve collected here in Incredibly Decadent Desserts. I’ve reevaluated and retested many original recipes, too, reading online reader comments and adjusting the recipes to reflect those helpful suggestions.