Alleged vegetable plagiarism aside, which one’s better?
What a fuss over a couple of cookbooks. And given my checkered cooking past, how surprising that I own them both.
While I’ve found the coverage entertaining, I’m also a sucker for a good comparative analysis. The emotion has grown tiresome; let’s take a look at both books and examine the differences and similarities.
Cover
Deceptively Delicious – winking, ponytailed woman holding a plate of brownies
The Sneaky Chef – winking woman in chef’s hat, holding a carrot behind her back
I didn’t even think about the commonalities here until I looked at both books, side by side. I still don’t think they’re significant. The woman on the cover of Deceptively Delicious is the main image. The woman on the cover of The Sneaky Chef is simply one of several images, including photos of three of the dishes and a photo of the author.
Subtitle
Deceptively Delicious – “Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food”
The Sneaky Chef – “Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals”
I didn’t think about the commonalities here either, and again, I don’t think they’re significant.
Purees
Deceptively Delicious – named by main ingredient, no combinations (blueberry, raspberry, strawberry combined only in terms of preparation)
The Sneaky Chef – named by color and by ingredient
What I’ve made from Deceptively Delicious – Broccoli Puree, Carrot Puree, Cauliflower Puree, Red Pepper Puree, Sweet Potato Puree
What I’ve made from The Sneaky Chef – Purple Puree, Orange Puree (with carrots only), Green Puree, White Puree, Better Breading
I like the variety and simplicity of the purees in Deceptively Delicious, and the prep/cook instructions are helpful without being unnecessarily complicated. Many of the purees in The Sneaky Chef include multiple ingredients, which increased the prep time for me. The instructions for pureeing are repetitive in both books.
Recipes
There’s a fair amount of commonalities among the recipes between the two books. However, none of these items are particularly unique, and in many cases, it’s fairly intuitive – even to a novice like me – which purees would most easily be incorporated into each recipe. Also, the purees could be incorporated into your own recipes – with the exception of the baked goods, where specific ingredients and proportions can make or break a recipe.
What I’ve made from Deceptively Delicious – Pancakes, Gingerbread Spice Cake, Carrot Cake Muffins
Pancakes: We simply added sweet potato puree to our usual waffle mix. The kids were no wiser.
Gingerbread Spice Cake: Looked good and tasted delicious. Very moist, but not overly so. No vegetable flavor at all (uses carrot and broccoli purees). A big hit with kids and adults.
Carrot Cake Muffins: I modified the recipe a bit (omitted prunes and didn’t have orange juice handy). Looked good. Texture was a bit spongy – not as moist as I’d hoped, but they were still a big hit. Next time I’ll use all the ingredients called for and try the frosting too.
What I’ve made from The Sneaky Chef – Health-by-Chocolate Cookies, Hi-Fi Fish Sticks, Crunchy Chicken Tenders, Crunchy Corn Chips (Cinnamon-Sugar Chip Variation), No-Doc Guac, Maxed-Out Meatloaf
Health-by-Chocolate Cookies: Dark brown, thanks to the cocoa, but had a disconcerting green tinge. Too moist; didn’t keep well. Tasted great though – no hint of spinach.
Hi-Fi Fish Sticks/Crunchy Chicken Tenders: Dipped in egg/Orange Puree mixture, then rolled in Better Breading. These were a huge hit with the kids, and I was pleased to be able to serve fish that was actually happily eaten.
Crunchy Corn Chips (Cinnamon-Sugar Chip Variation): Preparation was really messy, and the flavors just didn’t work – corn tortillas, olive oil, and cinnamon-sugar. I’d rather pay for a bag of baked chips.
No-Doc Guac: Given my newfound love for guacamole, I was thrilled to try this one. It actually works, and it fooled both adults and kids.
Maxed-Out Meatloaf: The recipe called for Green Puree; I’d try it with Orange Puree instead, or a combination of the two. The Green Puree was more obvious than I’d have liked.
Conclusions
At our house, we don’t make many recipes that are conducive to adding purees. Steamed or grilled vegetables, baked potatoes or couscous or rice, and lean meat, marinated and grilled or sauteed (sometimes with pasta) – that’s our standard meal. We don’t make a lot of those kid-friendly meals like tacos or sloppy joes, and the kids typically don’t balk at eating vegetables or fruit – main dishes are where our challenges lie.
So I’m more inclined toward incorporating purees in baked goods, and as I noted above, that’s where the recipes are really crucial. I was thrilled with the Gingerbread Spice Cake in particular, and I plan to try a few more of the muffin recipes from both books.
I prefer cooking with Deceptively Delicious for a few reasons:
1. More recipes for baked goods. Specifically, I’m interested in the Blueberry Oatmeal Bars, Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes, Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes, Applesauce Muffins, Banana Bread, Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins, Coffee Cake, and Blueberry Lemon Muffins. Given my success with the first two baked goods recipes I’ve tried, I’m encouraged to keep going.
2. Simpler purees. I like that each puree has one ingredient. Yes, that means I’ve got to keep more plastic bags in my freezer, but it minimizes the number of variables in each recipe, allowing me to customize accordingly if necessary. And as I noted above, the prep time is shorter with the single-ingredient purees.
3. Aesthetics and semantics. I’m an admitted addict to retro artwork, not to mention pink and green. The photos – one for each recipe, not just a sampling – are beautiful. And the recipe names are purely descriptive, which I appreciate. I’ve always hated ordering restaurant menu items that have names that are supposed to be cutesy or snappy (but are just plain silly), and I feel the same way about silly recipe names.
4. Book design. Deceptively Delicious lies flat on my counter. Enough said.
November 5th, 2007 at 5:45 am
thanks for the comparison-i don’t have either book and had not seen anyone else compare them. good to know.
November 5th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Great (and very scientific) comparison. Very informative – now I must try some of the baking recipes in DD.
And I tell ya, point number 4 on preference for Deceptively Delicious is a huge selling point for me – book design makes a huge difference.
November 5th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Wow. This is awesome.
And very scientific of you!
November 5th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
I made the PB Banana muffins last night and they were delish! No added fat other than the peanut butter and an egg white. My kids loved them – big thumbs up!
November 5th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
I absolutely loved the baked treat recipes in Deceptively Delicious. I thought every recipe I have tried so far has turned out well, and everyone in my house (and the neighbors and friends we have given things to) has eaten them without noticing anything odd. I have been using baby food for some of the purees because I am just that lazy/busy/stressed out.
November 5th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Wow. Great review. I will have to check out the Deceptively Delicious book. I like the concept – especially considering my kid had bread and cheese for dinner tonight. And for lunch earlier today. Despite the fact that I had made a nice vegetable stew.
November 5th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
I thought the couscous recipe in Deceptively delicious was pretty good, a new twist on something we eat all the time. I’ve made several things and I’d say we like about half of them. After reading this, I think I’ll go do some more baking.
November 6th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Thanks for the reviews. I saw The Sneaky Chef girl on the Today show and felt bad for her bc they kept bringing up the controversy. But, I’m much more into baking, so I’d probably get DD anyway.
November 6th, 2007 at 11:54 am
Where are all the dissenters? I don’t have either book – although I think you have sold me on DD – but I can’t believe how peaceful these comments are relative to the news this has gotten.