Barbara Schieving

nonfiction, instant pot cookery
includes some helpful tips for successful instant pot desserts, but not really recipes that I care for overmuch.

Sections:

* Quick breads and breakfasts (use a bundt pan and lots of drizzly sauce on top to make up for unbrowned cakes, cook time 25-35 minutes)
* Cheesecakes (no thanks, though mildly intrigued by the Japanese cheesecake = cross between cheesecake and angel food cake)
* Lava cakes (break out those ramekins, and be prepared to separate a lot of egg whites/yolks)
* Cakes (top with cream, drizzle, etc.; cook times vary 20-45 minutes)
* Pies (with crumb crust, or else just the pie filling to put into a baked crust)
* Fruit desserts (small selection of adaptable recipes, but nothing outstanding)
* Custards and puddings (including a coconut flan)
* Sauces, etc.… (meer)

Yes there are sweets that are easily made in the IP, but not as many different kinds as one might think. Too many recipes in this book stretch my willingness to consider them Instant Pot recipes. The authors show how to do this and that but sometimes the stovetop would be easier.

Why would anyone make a pie in an Instant Pot? The whole point of a pie is to bake in a hot, dry oven so that the crust separates into flakes. Instant Pot cooking is moist cooking and so the pies here have cookie crusts. I would be thrown out of the house if I tried that. Some pies use an oven baked pie crust with the pie filling made in the IP. These are virtually the same as stovetop preparations and I would not bring out the IP for something that takes 10 minutes on the stove. The monkey bread looks like steamed bread, with no browning except from cinnamon.

On the other hand, custards and cheesecake recipes look great, as do lava and bundt cakes. The Banana Boat description not clear and there is no photo so I don't know what dessert is intended.

To use this book you need to read whole recipe first to be sure you don’t need the oven, stovetop or broiler to complete it. The sauces and garnishes recipes at the end are not necessarily made with the IP or, if they are, the recipe is almost the same as the stovetop one. The strawberry trifle recipe, for example, uses the IP sauté setting like a stovetop and is not an IP recipe at all

I found the TIP at the end of each recipe to be unneeded. The information could have been easily incorporated into the main recipe. Some TIPs are as banal as "this recipe can be doubled or tripled".

I am still on my "find the best dulce de leche" kick and I do not understand why this book presents yet another "caramelize a can of condensed milk" form. Proper dulce del leche is made from milk and sugar. The TIP here says that cooking the recipe in a large glass jar will also work but will take longer, but does not suggest a jar size or give a hint as to how long it will take. Given how much trouble it is to restart the IP after you have finished the cycle, this is an unfortunate omission.

Overall it's an OK book but there are so many Instant Pot recipe books and web pages, I wonder if we need even more. If you discount the pies and all of the stovetop recipes, this book is very thin.

I received a review copy of "Instantly Sweet: 75 Desserts and Sweet Treats from Your Instant Pot or Other Electric Pressure Cooker" by Barbara Schieving and Marci Buttars (Quarto Publishing Group) through NetGalley.com.… (meer)