Notes about Recipes in this book

• Roasted rhubarb Pavlova

  • cespitler on July 04, 2017

    This was a hit on the 4th of July. I'm a huge rhubarb fan so next time I would add a bit more and cut it into smaller pieces. Roasting with the vanilla bean is so delicious. Knowing my audience, I also used 2 c of cream for the whipped cream.

  • metacritic on June 05, 2022

    Fantastically good and interesting. The pomegranate molasses cuts the sweetness of the meringue. I, too, will cut the rhubarb into smaller pieces in the future. And I made two meringues, one with a few drops of rosewater and the other with vanilla and white vinegar. Both were superb. A great base recipe.

• Rhubarb and rye upside-down cake

  • TrishaCP on March 10, 2018

    This was a lovely cake but the recipe needed tweaks. I used frozen rhubarb, and didn't bother to thaw it- it went right into making the rhubarb caramel sauce. I used a permitted springform pan, and lined it with foil in anticipation of leaks from the rhubarb topping. (It did leak, but the recipe assumes the baker knows to mitigate leaking from springform pans.) The cake base is a lovely buttermilk cake but the rye is not too prominent. I had to bake my cake for 20 minutes longer than specified to get it cooked through. (Even with a fairly high temp, 30-35 minutes seemed very short to me.)

• Strawberry ice cream sandwiches with cacao nib poppy seed wafer

  • bwhip on July 27, 2018

    Oh man, these are awesome. The wafers are so light and crispy, and the perfect counterpoint to the creamy strawberry goodness inside. Roasting the strawberries and the bit of creme fraiche really made the ice cream sing. Well worth the time and effort (which wasn’t that much).

• Pistachio pound cake with strawberries in lavender sugar

  • mklasan on January 16, 2026

    Every strawberry season I look forward to repeatedly making this pound cake. I don’t use any lavender. The pistachio in the cake works so well with the strawberries! BUT, I find both the baking temperature and the time to be off. 45-55 minutes aren’t enough to bake the cake and 175C is too high so the cake turns very brown on the outside while still raw inside.

• Cherry and chocolate turnovers

  • mklasan on January 16, 2026

    These turned out fantastic. We ate the whole batch in one afternoon.

• Cherry and poppy seed yogurt cake

  • LouiseQuasiChef on July 06, 2017

    Big disappointment. "Fold in" cherries?? My batter was the consistency of a milky milkshake. Took much longer to bake than recipe. Cake was tart and not sweet enough -- I used sour cherries which author said could be used interchangeably with other cherries (what other cherries does one bake with??). It *seemed* like a good idea, but I after baking, I don't think lime is a great idea. Bummer.

  • ingabritt on August 16, 2017

    I loved this cake! Moist and delicious and a very pleasant change from the typical lemon and poppyseed cake. I think the sweetness level is just right with sweet cherries. I wouldn't use sour cherries. My batter was a normal consistency, not strangely thin.

• Small-batch apricot jam

  • Tinala523 on June 22, 2024

    I really liked the sweet-tart apricot flavor. Recipe made three Bonne Maman jars of jam.

• Crème fraîche and blueberry ice cream

  • Babycarrot on July 05, 2023

    Subbed black raspberries for blueberries as they are growing everywhere here. This was really delicious. Might just up the fruit ratio slightly next time. I’m sure this would work with any type of berry.

• Cantaloupe and mint yogurt pops

  • Babycarrot on July 27, 2023

    Pleasingly refreshing and easy to make. I scaled down on the honey from 1/3 to 1/4 cup because I like my sweets not too sweet and my cantaloupe was ripe enough that it was sufficiently sweet on its own. A less ripe/sweet melon may in fact require the full amount of honey. Curious as to how this would be with honey dew melon.

• Chocolate cake with fresh raspberry buttercream

  • bwhip on July 23, 2018

    This cake was delicious! Great chocolate flavor with a really nice texture. The buttercream initially "broke," and was quite soupy - but I stuck it in the refrigerator for a half hour, then mixed it for another minute or two with the paddle, and it was perfect. Buttercream was really fluffy and had great raspberry flavor. We really enjoyed this one.

• Persimmon sorbet with ginger and vanilla

  • Twysbeek on May 24, 2022

    I was making another recipe and had far too much persimmon puree left over. Hacked this recipe a bit, used powdered ginger and vanilla bean paste. Did not boil syrup since I wasn't using vanilla bean, used very hot tap water to dissolve sugar and incorporate vanilla paste and ginger. Mixed with puree and tossed in my ice cream machine right away, came out great.

• Cornmeal and ricotta cake with cranberries

  • breakthroughc on June 12, 2022

    The flavor of the cake is okay, but it needs more cranberries. I struggled with the baking. I baked for more than the full 50 minutes and the cake was getting hard edges on the outside and still wasn't done in the center. I ended up cutting out the center before serving. The cake completely filled my 8 inch spring form pan. I would not try baking it in a regular 8 inch cake pan which the author gives as an option. Won't make again.

• Cranberry and pear pandowdy

  • JadeBakes on March 10, 2024

    Made without dried cranberries. A little tart but still nice, especially with some ice cream. Made a half batch in a 7 inch cake pan

• Chocolate sesame tart with grapefruit

  • Ishie1013 on October 30, 2023

    Quite nice, though the pie crust took a while to get right. It is on the side of bitter. The grapefruit combined with 60% chocolate means this may not be a crowd pleaser. On the other hand, it's incredibly rich and might honestly do well by being cut into truffle like pieces. The chocolate filling is very dense, but doesn't really fill up to the tops of the crust. I trimmed mine to the top to get it to look right. Probably won't make again, but was glad I tried it.

• Blood orange old-fashioned donuts

  • dbuhler on February 02, 2026

    This was my first time making an old-fashioned cake donut, and these turned out great! I am at high altitude and I didn't change any of the ingredients and they worked out just fine for me. Although I much prefer yeasted doughnuts, I would definitely make this recipe again as they were quite delicious.

• Grapefruit and Meyer lemon Bundt cake

  • Rutabaga on December 26, 2016

    This cake has a beautiful fragrant lemon taste, but is still pretty rich (the six eggs probably have something to do with that). Unfortunately, I was reminded of why it's been so long since I've baked a bundt cake - my silicone bundt pan is terrible. After about an hour and a half in the oven, the inner part was barely set, while the outer edge was turning quite dark. Fortunately, it turned out OK, but I need a new bundt pan before attempting this again.

  • bwhip on December 04, 2018

    This cake is really delicious, just lovely. Great citrus flavor from the Meyer lemons and grapefruit, and the texture and crumb are very nice. The glaze really puts it over the top. I'm glad I put a sheet pan under my bundt pan, as it did overflow a bit (the recipe makes a large bowl of batter!). Ours took about 70 minutes to bake completely.

  • TrishaCP on March 12, 2021

    This has a great crumb and a great flavor. The Bundt pan needs to be greased very well- the bottom of my cake stuck moderately badly (nothing that couldn’t be repaired though).

• Preserved lemon ice cream

  • EmilyR on April 08, 2019

    This is a great lemon ice cream with a twist. I love preserved lemons and if you do, too, this is one to try. I was a little unclear on whether or not the preserved lemons were to be rinsed or not (I did rinse mine, which are homemade) so I could better gauge how much salt would be added.

  • dinnermints on June 20, 2021

    Delicious and unique; tastes rather like lemon cheesecake. I tried serving it with a little sprinkling of salt & found that to be too salty, but without the extra sprinkle is perfect.

• Rangpur lime bars with saffron

  • nadiam1000 on December 28, 2016

    Used Bearss limes from our tree and made the crust 50% thicker, since I enjoy the shortbread base. I am not sure the saffron adds much and I would make these again even if I did not have the saffron. The directions were very clear and the bars came out perfectly with a good balance of sweet and tart and a perfect texture.

• Browned-butter date blondies

  • dbuhler on January 17, 2025

    These are delicious! I baked these in a 9-in square pan and they were very thick. I baked for about 45 minutes because I was worried they weren't done because they were still gooey in the middle. The recipe called for two teaspoons of salt and I couldn't find anywhere in the book noting if she uses table salt or kosher salt, but in her other books she uses kosher salt so that's what I used for this recipe. I may add a little bit more salt next time. The combination of mixing used here was especially delicious! Next time (and there will be a next time) I might consider baking in a 10x10 pan, so they can be thick, but not as thick as they were in the 9x9 pan.

• Spiced rhubarb compote

  • Babycarrot on July 02, 2023

    Oh my. A wonderful compote. Made a couple substitutions. Vanilla extract for bean as my local co-op is pricing them at $10.99 for one bean! Also subbed jarred ginger paste for fresh ginger root. Cooked this closer to the 15 min mark to ensure thickness. I also didn’t keep this on high heat the whole time and did turn the temp down towards the mid way mark. I loved the warmth the ginger and star anise brought to the tart rhubarb. Mine wasn’t as pink because we don’t have forced rhubarb here. Do yourself a favor and make the sumac and rhubarb cake from Snacking Cakes and throw some of this rhubarb compote on it. Is great also with yogurt, oatmeal, and strangely enough brie on toast.

  • BachranBears on March 27, 2025

    My go-to rhubarb sauce recipe. Subbed lemon zest for orange, used good vanilla extract instead of a vanilla bean.

• Food52

  2017 Piglet Community Pick: But don't expect your usual apple pie or any old croissant; Yossy blends alternative flours, spices, and fruit with ease.

  Full review

• Eat the Love

  If you are more of a fruit dessert person (versus those folks who love chocolate and caramel) do yourself a favor and pick up Sweeter Off the Vine by Yossy Arefi.

  Full review

• Baking Bites

  ...the book is divided by season, the seasons are further divided by fruit type...Each recipe is designed to really showcase the fruit...

  Full review

• Joy the Baker

  ...is fruit forward, bold in flavor, and approachable in feeling. From the baker extraordinaire behind the beautiful blog Apt. 2B Baking.

  Full review

• David Lebovitz

  ...dedicated to using fruit year-round...full of the kinds of desserts I like a lot, fruit-forward, bursting with berries, cherries, citrus, and more.

  Full review

• Food52

  Interview with author, video trailer, and recipe from the book.

  Full review