Sweet Enough by Alison Roman

By Despina Mina

It’s all about the sweet treats in this edition of Cibare and perfectly timed it is too, as Alison Roman has just released her third book, ‘Sweet Enough’. Although she’s a trained pastry chef, this is her first cookbook focussing on the sweet stuff and the tag line is “Desserts for people who don’t do desserts’. Hello? This is me. Well sort of. I’m that person who always says, I can cook, but I can’t bake. It’s important to know that my success rate with baking is at 50%. I have made a babka that made my toes curl with pleasure from every mouthful. Ricotta and date filled atayefs that were all snapped up before I could count to ten. I’ve made my own ricotta for a delicious cheesecake, but I’ve also had several attempts at sourdough bread that burnt the bottom of my Le Crueset and made me want to throw it out the window. I baked a cake that had the appearance of success, but as soon as I removed it from the tin it collapsed in a puddle with one spectator saying “Christ, it looks like vomit!”. So yeah, 50/50…

With this in mind, never let it be said that I don’t love a challenge - after taking a leisurely flick through the book, I land on cinnamon rolls and bring out my old Kenwood mixer. It’s a two-day event; making the dough and leaving it to rise for up to 24 hours in the fridge, rolling the dough into cinnamon roll shapes and proofing again before baking. The first issue I had was that it didn’t rise like I’d expected it to, I wasn’t even sure how much it was supposed to rise! I also didn’t notice much of a rise on the second proof - alarm bells started ringing, was this going to be yet another of my epic fails? I’ve come this far, can’t turn back now. The instructions tell me to pour maple syrup in the base of the tin and then sit the raw rolls on top so that when they’re cooking, they get all sticky and delicious. I pop them in the oven and wait with bated breath. 10 minutes in and I see the syrup seeping out of the base of my tin and the rolls are starting to get a tan. 20 minutes in and the syrup is dripping off the baking tray and the rolls are starting to fill out and touch each other. 30 minutes in and the rolls start to actually look like something I could be proud of. At 40 minutes, I remove them from the oven and brush more syrup over the top of the rolls to glaze. I then spend the next 40 minutes on my hands and knees with my head in the oven, trying to scrub off the burnt syrup. The joy.

So, how did they taste? Because the dough didn’t rise very much, the texture remained quite heavy. The maple syrup not only provides the rolls with a delicious sticky base, it also creates an irresistible light crust over the surface. The flavour of the rolls was excellent and despite the lack of rise, it was still a great treat to have with my cup of tea. Would I try this again? I would if I knew how to rectify the mistakes.

Score: 7/10

To counterbalance my go hard or go home philosophy above, I also wanted to try the absolutely simplest of recipes and it’s one I can always get on board with - the fruit cocktail. Alison makes many suggestions for good combinations but also recommends picking anywhere between two to five different fruits in one drink and rather than pouring in a plethora of booze, just pick one. As a Negroni fan, I have a bottle of red vermouth stashed away so I mixed this in with blackberries and raspberries.

How did it taste? Lip-smackingly gorgeous!

Would I try this again? I already have. Score: 10/10

I’m really enjoying this book; the range of recipes means that you can pick something to suit any level of skill. The photography shows off the dishes in a way that makes them look playful and mouth-wateringly delicious, but not intimidatingly refined. Because of this, I felt encouraged to just give it all a go. I’m planning on making the tomato tart next... I’ll keep you posted on my 50/50 success rate.