Serves: 5

It is easy to understand the skyrocketing success of smoothies. These fruit-filled delights are not only inherently flavorful, they provide significant health benefits as well. As tasty and healthful as your favorite smoothie may be, though, from time to time you may crave something a bit more luxurious and self-indulgent. The unadorned fruity flavors of a standard smoothie simply will not satisfy your sweet tooth. To successfully yield to these repressed impulses, you need not resort to a mouthful of cookies or a candy bar. Discover in these pages how a smoothie can be reinvented as a sinfully rich and satisfyingly sweet indulgence. Get ready for an exhilarating experience. Peaches blended with a delectable caramel sauce, bananas melded with creamy coffee gelato, and juicy pineapple combined with rum and coconut ice cream are just a few examples of the temptations that await you. You'll be amazed at how simply adding a few irresistibly rich ingredients to a humble smoothie can result in an opulent treat. Rejoice! Such sinfully delicious terms as "sumptuous," "creamy," and "richly flavored" can now be added back to the smoothie lover's vocabulary.

SINFUL SMOOTHIES appropriately begins with "The Cream of the Crop" (see Smoothie Basics). In that section, you will discover the secrets of selecting and preparing the best fruits for the ultimate sinful smoothie. To become more familiar with the equipment you will need, "Not for the Faint of Heart: Making a Sinful Smoothie" (see Smoothie Basics), will prove very useful. That section concentrates on the essential tools needed to transform your kitchen into a wickedly efficient source of ravishing treats. You will also discover a host of helpful techniques that will enable you to elevate every sinful smoothie masterpiece you prepare to the absolute pinnacle of frosty seduction.

Three chapters are devoted to mouthwatering smoothie recipes. For example, you'll be tempted by the more than forty recipes in the first of these chapters, "Sumptuous Delights: Just Enough Sweetness in a Glass." These delectable smoothies are not quite as decadent as some found later in the book, but they are made with enough rich ingredients to satisfy most cravings you may have for something that's naughty. Two of my favorite creations are Jitterbug Smoothie, made with espresso, hazelnut-flavored syrup, banana, and chocolate ice cream and Raspberry Clementine Euphoria, made with juicy clementines, raspberries, and Godiva White Chocolate Raspberry ice cream. Both are a fantasy come true.

The next chapter, "Ultimate Indulgences: Make Mine Thick and Rich," contains more than forty recipes that are clearly over-the-top. Each one is a celebration of luscious ingredients that will leave you begging for more. Imagine sipping a strawful of Banana and Macadamia Praline Seduction, comprised of banana, Chocolate Sauce, coarsely chopped macadamia nut praline, and Almond Joy ice cream. Another heart-stopper is Pineapple, Banana, and Praline Temptation, made with Praline Sauce, banana, pineapple, and pralines and cream ice cream.

The frosty creations in chapter "Happy Hour Smoothies: Cocktails That Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth," are made with traditional smoothie ingredients bolstered by your favorite alcoholic libation and some seductively sweet additions. You'll find that these wonderful creations not only serve as a perfect pre- or postmeal cocktail, but when accented with an edible garnish can also grace an elegant dessert plate. If you've never indulged in a Bananas Foster smoothie, you are in for a delectable surprise. This sinful delight contains bananas, rum, crème de banana liqueur, and vanilla ice cream. One of my favorite happy hour smoothies is Heather's Dream Smoothie, made with Sambuca liqueur, peaches, vanilla ice cream, and, of course, three coffee beans for good luck.

Chapter "Sinful Sauces and Toppings: Beyond Chocolate Fudge," contains a fabulous array of recipes for sassy sauces to endow any smoothie with a more sensual taste, as well as toppings and fillings to add crunch and rich flavor.

Finally, chapter "Great Garnishes: Go to the Head of the Glass," contains recipes for edible garnishes that will enable you to present any of your favorite sinful smoothie creations in a visually striking and impressive manner.

The recipes featured in this book will convince you that smoothies can easily be transformed from frosty and fruity to feisty. Whether you indulge in one of these sensuous delights alone, share it with family and friends, or sip it with a special someone, you're due for some excitement in a glass.

From SINFUL SMOOTHIES: more than 130 dessert smoothies & other indulgences. Copyright © 2004 Donna Pliner Rodnitzky. All Rights Reserved.

More Recipes from the Cook'n Sinful Smoothies Cookbook:
_1 Introduction
_2 The Cream of the Crop: How to Select, Prepare, and Store Fresh Fruit
_3 Not for the Faint of Heart: Making a Sinful Smoothie
_4 International Conversion Chart