You’ll be tempted to head straight to your kitchen and start baking when you pick up a copy of “Blue Ribbon Desserts” ($29.95), a collection of hard-to-find and heritage recipes collected and updated by the editors of “Cook’s Country.”
The book includes modernized versions of classic desserts, from blueberry pie to banana pudding. Some of the recipes are truly old-fashioned, such as Jefferson Davis Pie (kind of like a pecan pie and not likely to be too popular here in northern climes); icebox strawberry pie; Tick Tock Orange Sticky Rolls, named after the old Hollywood tearoom where they originated; and Millionaire Pie, a creamy pineapple-and-nut confection I remember from my own childhood.
The book also contains tips for successful baking that will explain how to get a clean break when cracking an egg and why it’s important to get butter to the right temperature.
— Meredith Goad, staff writer
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