A definitive collection by a young Michelin-starred chef who is passionate about puddings. Phil Vickery - one of the most highly regarded young chefs in Britain - is particularly celebrated for his fabulous puddings. Puddings are his personal passion. As he says in his introduction, "I have cooked, eaten and prepared thousands of puddings and desserts in my twenty-three of cooking professionally, and I can truthfully say that no other section of the modern kitchen inspires me so much. Desserts are comforting, satisfying, and deeply enjoyable. I just want to take the fear out of puddings and to show why it is that puddings are so wonderful to cook, and eat." Though he is a chef Phil Vickery's style of cooking is much closer to good, simple home cooking than to restaurant food. Proof Of The Pudding is a collection of 200 unfussy recipes, all of which are easily achievable at home. Phil Vickery covers the whole range of sweet cooking and draws on various culinary traditions, including British and Continental. His book is at once comprehensive and authoritative. It touches on the history of desserts and puddings, their ingredients, processes and techniques. Every sort of pudding is represented here, including flans and tarts, sponge puddings, milk and cream puddings, meringues, mousses and cheesecakes, souffles, fruit purees and compotes, and sweet breads. The design of Proof Of The Pudding is luxurious and contemporary, and the colours - sugar-almond pink, eggy yellows, creamy whites and chocolatey browns - evoke the visual pleasures of puddings.