A few years ago, I made a chocolate whiskey torte, which I brought to neighborhood pot luck. The dessert was a big hit and a friend of mine commented that she wished she had the skills to make such a dessert. She steadfastly refused to believe me when I told her that the recipe took only fifteen minutes to make, and did not require any special skills.
The secret to my “to-die for” chocolate torte? Start with a great recipe coupled with good quality ingredients and you can’t go wrong.

One of my favorite recipe sources is epicurious.com. This is the web site of Gourmet Magazine, Self, Parade and Bon Appetit. The beauty of this site is that the readers can rate the recipes they have tried. The same approach is used for the web site of the Food Network, foodtv.com. While I do use both sites to find great desserts, I have to say that I find the ratings from Epicurious to be more accurate and reliable. I only try recipes that have been rated four “forks” by the readers, and like to know that at least 6 or more people have tried the recipe. In choosing these recipes, I have yet to find one I did not enjoy.

Want lighter desserts? You can choose the “Healthy” section of Epicurious to select your recipe, or use the advanced search function. Cooking Light, once only accessible to AOL subscribers is now available (cookinglight.com) to the public; these recipes are also rated.

Where else can you find great dessert recipes? I look for great cookbooks that either feature desserts exclusively, or which include wonderful desserts. Here are some of my picks for these cookbooks:

King Arthur Flour ranks high on my list of wonderful dessert cookbooks. Two noteworthy books are the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion and The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion. Although not every single recipe in these books in a star, there are many memorable ones that have gone into my permanent collection. Check out all of the biscotti recipes in the Cookie Companion book, along with the Magic in the Middle (chocolate filled with peanut butter), and their Salty Oatmeal. I have to tell you that the Salty Oatmeal is my single favorite cookie recipe of all time. I have also just purchased King Arthur’s Whole Grain Baking book, and that also looks promising for those seeking to put more healthy ingredients into their diets.

Another favorite dessert cookbook of mine is Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax. This book, written in 1994, by the late Sax is one that is one of my absolute favorites. The book features recipes that are fairly easy to master, with wonderful anecdotes about the origin of these dessert recipes from around the world. “Margaret’s Apple Cake” is memorable, and is the single best coffee cake I have ever tasted. Ditto for the Cornmeal Biscotti; I make biscotti continually, and this is my favorite recipe of all time.

The moral of the story is…why use a mediocre cookbook or recipe when there are so many great ones available at our fingertips? Start cooking with a great recipe and you’ll have a fabulous dessert to serve every time. I’ll share more of my dessert cookbook picks in future articles.