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.

MY METHODS

I have a dream job. I spend my days thinking up ideas for desserts, and then I make and test them. The initial spark of an idea might start with a memory or be inspired by something I recently tasted or read about. It’s typical for me to go through a few iterations to get the dessert just right and make sure it meets Cooking Light’s nutritional standards. My challenge is always to produce the same gratifying desserts you would enjoy in a bakery or a restaurant, just in a package that’s 300 calories or less. Then the magazine staff tastes it and decides if it rates high enough to be published. Fortunately, this type of tinkering—using ingredients smartly, adjusting baking times to get the perfect texture and browning, and playing with other elements to create the perfect dessert—is why I love what I do.

When developing a new light dessert, I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I manage the sugar content by using assertive ingredients to wring out absolutely every bit of flavor, like high-quality vanilla extract, lemon rind, and almond paste. I use the freshest fruit at the peak of its season. I put just a dash of salt in everything, even in an eggy custard, to balance it and bring out flavors.

Saturated fat is the most difficult part to get right in any light dessert. Dessert needs the richness added by fat to have the right mouthfeel—whether it’s moist and cakey, or creamy, or crisp, or flaky like a piecrust. Truthfully, piecrust is one of the hardest things to make light because butter is the key to those wonderful layers. Often I substitute canola oil or egg white for some of the butter, and I’ve also started using non-hydrogenated natural shortening to get those flaky layers. (It took me a long time to convince Cooking Light’s dietitian to sanction it.) I also discovered that adding vinegar and baking powder helps create the right texture. And in other desserts, I like using nut flours because they deliver huge flavor without adding too much fat.

Healthier chocolate desserts are always a challenge. Chocolate itself is high in saturated fat, even though it’s plant-based. So I find the richest, deepest chocolate and use it in smaller amounts to keep the flavor as intense as possible. Wait until you taste the Baked Chocolate Mousse, Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie, and Seriously Chocolate Cupcakes. One taste of these rich desserts will have you wondering how they can really be light.

One of my favorite ingredients for keeping light desserts creamy and fluffy is frozen whipped topping. One day I’ll write a book called In Defense of Frozen Reduced-Calorie Whipped Topping, but for now, you can read a little more about my view on it on page 15. Let’s just say, without it, I’d be sunk.

With the resurgence of interest in ancient grains, I wanted to create recipes that included some of them, such as amaranth, teff, and Kamut flours. What I learned through developing these recipes is that you can’t just substitute equal amounts of them for regular all-purpose flour. The gluten content in each is different and the flavors are bold. It took me several tries, for example, to get the Cinnamon-Honey Crackers just right because the flavor of amaranth is so strong and earthy that it needed to be balanced with just the right amount of all-purpose flour. In the end, I found a happy ratio. You’ll find all the desserts that include whole and ancient grains are tagged throughout the book.

A FEW NOTES ON THE RECIPES

You’ll find modern recipes, some favorite old-fashioned ones, and a few restaurant-ish desserts like smoked cherry bombs, soufflés, and towering cakes with multiple components. I had so much fun throwing in a few flavor twists on classic desserts, like cardamom in a strawberry-rhubarb pie, a cream pie flavored with chai, and star anise snickerdoodles. I wanted to give you a range of flavors and textures to enjoy.

ADDITIONALLY, YOU CAN EXPECT THAT:

•Some of the recipes may look long or complicated, but the majority are easy.

•A few do take more time but the instructions are clearly written and you will feel confident preparing and serving them.

•Each dessert features the attributes you love in desserts. They are never gummy, dry, or lacking in taste just because they have fewer calories and less fat.

•These recipes do not assume you are an experienced cook.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

The most important skill I learned in culinary school was patience. Desserts take time, consideration, and attention. When you’re cooking you can make corrections along the way to many dishes when they go wrong, but that’s not often true with dessert. With baked treats, you don’t know what you’re going to get until it comes out of the oven, and sometimes not until you bite into it. And often you’re baking for a special occasion and there’s no time for a do-over. But there’s no need to feel nervous. I’ve got your back, and you can trust my recipes. Here’s my advice: Make a dessert on a day when you have time. If it’s for an event, it’s often fine to start the day before. Put on music you love, and make sure everybody else in the house is busy and won’t interrupt you. There’s nothing worse than having to leave the stove while your caramel bubbles or abandon the mixer only to return to deflated egg whites.

Read each recipe all the way through, and prepare all the ingredients before you start mixing. If you’re a novice baker, start with something easy, like a Bundt cake (try the one). Once you’ve mastered that, move on to a layer cake, and then increase your confidence by preparing a dessert with more components, like a filling or icing (like the cake). When you feel like trying something new, you may not know all the techniques I’ve included, but there’s nothing to worry about. I’ve written the instructions clearly to help you power through the critical moments, like how to add a hot simple syrup into whipping egg whites for creamy Italian meringue icing.

Over time, I’ve learned to be more confident in the kitchen, and you’ll get there, too. Be neat and organized and locate all your ingredients and equipment before starting. I get loads of pleasure from the process itself, not just the end result. I’m mesmerized by the texture and color changes that take place during the mixing, folding, stirring, whipping, creaming, and baking steps of a recipe. I hope you learn to love the process, too.

Besides, I’ve already made all the mistakes so you won’t have to. I’ve made all the desserts multiple times, fixing what turned out to be overly sweet, too dry, too wet, overcooked, undercooked, or flavors that were too harsh or not strong enough. I want every cake, cookie, cobbler, frozen dessert, pie, and pudding to have a wow factor worth your investment of time and energy.

ENJOY THE END RESULT

Our bodies love sugar. I think that’s why people get so excited when I bring out a cake or a frozen dessert. Some can hardly wait for the rice pudding to cool enough so they can eat it without burning their tongues. That’s why one of the best parts of making a dessert is visualizing the gorgeous end result and anticipating the pleasure that will happen when people taste your masterpiece. It’s so gratifying.

Good desserts conjure good times and celebrations, like a birthday or a holiday. It’s not only the taste but the memories that are integral to our appreciation. So go ahead and show off. People love to celebrate and socialize, and the best fellowship occurs when sharing a meal. These recipes are meant for those occasions. They’re indulgent and give you a full blast of flavor and satisfaction, but a lovely little bonus is that they will help you manage calories. You can feel good about sharing them, making them for yourself, and serving them to family and friends.