Desserts in Jars: 50 Sweet Treats That Shine

What a divine little book to wreak havoc with carb-counters! Shaina Olmanson's Desserts In Jars is indeed a sweet way to tease your insulin back to life and remind you of that pancreas you learned about in high school. Normally, when I review a cookbook I will have already tried at least 3 recipes so I can make a more informed report. But because I need to keep my insulin quiescent for a few more weeks, I will come back and provide an update. (Update 8/29/2012: please see end of review.) And when I do, here will be the first recipes I'll consider: * Peanut Butter Cup Cakes * Pull-apart Cinnamon Breads * Peach Bourbon Pies * Lemon-Blueberry Bread Puddings * Sweet Corn Panna Cotta (It's got a bacon & blueberry topping) * Banana Buttermilk Trifles * Frozen Mudslide Pies * Apple Pancake Puffs * Campfire Bars Mix (a super attractive mix-in-a-jar for gift-giving) Every recipe has its own photograph and specifies which size of jar is needed (but this critical information is imbedded deep within each set of instructions). Ms. Omanson provides a helpful introduction to baking with jars, including online sources for jar manufacturers. She even gives tips, such as aging egg whites for better French macarons. Most recipes are short, but a couple are longer and more involved (for example: the Pains au Chocolat). Also worth knowing is that many of the recipes require more than just the jar for cooking; you should anticipate using cupcake tins, baking pans, and cookie sheets. ** Unless you are an avid canner, you'll most likely need to invest in a few sets of jars. Some recipes require up to 24 4-ounce jars, up to 14 8-ounce jars, and some use wide-mouth and/or tall variants of each. A few recipes alternatively use up to 18 6-ounce jars. All but one of the mix-in-a-jar assemblies require larger jars (1-quart). Fortunately, canning jars are inexpensive and easy to find in most grocery stores. More problematic might be storage for the extensive collections. Here are some links for jars on Amazon: Ball Canning Regular Mouth Half Pint Canning Jar 8 oz. 12-Count , Bormioli Rocco Quattro Stagioni 8 1/2 Ounce Canning Jar, Set of 12 , and Ball Quilted Jelly Canning Jar 4 Oz., Case of 12 . My only ONLY issue with this book is that for some of the recipes, you have to read the instructions very carefully in order to determine serving counts and sizes. And none of the recipes indicate clearly under the ingredients which SIZE of jar will be required. I'll be back with updates. In the meantime, it's all meat and Romaine for me. Hmmm, now how nice would a salad look in a jar? Update 8/29/2012: I made the Peanut Butter Cup Cakes for a club meeting and they got rave reviews, despite a couple of issues I had. Plus, people were able to bring some home very easily because of the screw-on lids. Issues: The recipe did not specify wide-mouth jars (8 oz), and I bought the taller and narrower common jam jar. Big logistical mistake!! Getting the batter into each jar was messy and I had to clean & re-clean them, the counters, the floor, my shirt, etc frequently. But most important, the cupcakes did NOT test in the 18-20 minutes specified; I had to add 8 minutes, and I think this is due to using the taller/narrower jars. And getting the chocolate topping to melt on them was further mess, but I highly recommend Ghirardelli Chocolate 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar , 4 oz. . Ghirardelli marks their 4-ounce bars into 8 squares, perfectly suited for this recipe. You will need 1.5 bars. The finished cupcakes have great flavor, and they are not super sweet. My peanut butter balls sank to the bottom of each jar since it took so darn long to prepare each jar, but this might not happen next time when I opt for the wider/shorter jars. Recommended, if you don't mind a bit of extra work in preparation. Update 10/2012: I used the section "How To Create Your Own Layered Desserts" on page 65 as an inspiration for my own "Deconstructed Whoopie Pies In A Jar". I used my mother's old recipe, tore the cookie parts into bits, thinned the cream filling with just a little heavy cream, and layered it all. Nice, clean way to eat Whoopies without getting cream filling all over my fingers.

I just read this book from cover to cover, and it's one of the few cookbooks where I can say that every single recipe appealed to me! I love that there's an entire section of dry mixes to give as gifts. That's Christmas sorted for me (along with a copy of this book for each recipient)! Shaina has proved she's truly a master at recipe developing. You'd think with 50 recipes, there'd be some overlap or repetition, but there isn't. From the Indian Rice Pudding to the pains au chocolat, I am set for dinner party desserts from now on. The photography is stunning, and speaking of those pains au chocolate - the photo of those literally had me imagining the crisp flaky texture of the pastry and the bittersweet surprise of chocolate. I am impressed!

I was tired of the same desserts,but I like the same desserts. What to do? I changed the presentation with the helpful ideas in this great cookbook. Wonderfully written and if you like pictures it's a must have. On the day I received it, I set out to make the lemon meringue pies in the small canning jars. These darling little desserts were a great hit at our family dinner. For me, it has put a new look on some great family recipes.

I wanted to have a little book on baking desserts in jars specifically for cooking. I liked that the pages were glossy and there were plenty of pictures (if a cook book has no pictures, I usually put them back down). The author has some neat ideas, has some discussion on choosing jars. I kind of wish there was a little more discussion on baking for shipping. Recipe wise, I haven't tried any, but the recipes do give some great ideas, especially when I get tired of baking plain apple pies. I got the book while it was about $7.50 (with Prime). The corners were all bent and warped, but since I saw this book again a week later and noticed it had doubled in price, I was grateful to have this dinged up book for less that the current $14.

I gave a couple of the presents in jars to loved ones for Christmas & they loved them! It was fun to get the ingredients together and print out the recipe cards, then decorate the jars with cloth and a cute ribbon. I think the recipients liked them too. I love giving hand-made gifts for Christmas.

This book is ok and there are a few good ideas in it but nothing that couldn't be googled. I was actually pretty upset since a bunch of the recipes are things like cupcakes that you bake in a cupcake pan and then place in a jar as decoration. I was expecting everything to be made in the jars to help save time and effort. There is a five page introduction that seems to be written for idiots,"don't place hot jars in the freezer" Really...I thought that would be a GREAT IDEA! If you are looking at making things in jars you should be able to make things that are not in jars easily. Some of the ideas are just dumb too. "Profiteroles with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream"..you are spending all that effort to make cream puffs and then lets stick them in a jar so they can get soggy and no one can eat them. Plus the Puff recipe is time consuming and not very good. Same story with Macaroons in a jar and Vanilla Bean Cupcakes. Some of the resipies are really good but I wish that everyone that made these cookooks would five some alternative ideas for when you do not own a food processor! I don;t have one yet I still manage to make some amazing food and I am not going to wast money on one just so I can make your version of cream puffs once a year. There are some good recipes in here and I like the pictures since I am a very visual cook and want a pleasing presentation. The Pumkin Chessecakes look amazing and I am going to make those soon so it will not have been a waste of money.

いろんなお菓子を透明なガラスビンに入れて作ってしまおう という発想がユニーク＆かわいい。 もちろん、作れるお菓子もカラフルで見ているだけでわくわくしますが、 透明なビンをリボンやシールなどでかんたんに飾れるのも このクリアビン入りスイーツの優れた点だなぁと思います。 掲載レシピは、プリンやゼリーのように 誰でも想像がつきそうなデザートだけはないのも オススメポイントです。

Completamente satisfecha con él, unas fotos preciosas y gran variedad de recetas, hoy probaré la primera :) Las recetas especifican el tamaño de frasco a utilizar, son sencillas de seguir aunque no se domine el inglés en exceso, muy recomendable este libro.

Didn't enjoy this kindle book as you can find the all of the recipes (plus much better ones) on pinterest. It really isn't worth £7 at all.

Es ist in Ordnung...aber ich würde nicht weiter empfehlen. Ich probiere weiter verschenken. Es ist nicht soooooooooooo nett aber na ja geschmack Sache....

Lots of great ideas. Great book.