Of all Trotter’s books, this newest volume in the series produced out of Charlie Trotter’s Chicago restaurant is the most attractive and accessible to the home cook. Despite the celebrated chef’s continuing call for items such as satsuma oranges and Meyer lemons, unavailable to all but the most determined shopper, plenty of these recipes make smashing ends to meals. Whole-wheat carrot cake can stand on its own without the lovely but nonessential additions of black walnut praline and carrot sorbet. Blackstrap molasses, seldom seen outside health food stores, figures in several of Trotter’s desserts, notably as a flavoring in an idiosyncratic pecan pie with a novel curry crust. Cooks burdened with excess primrose petals can toss them into sauce for rosewater creme caramel topped with black pepper cookies. Trotter’s reinterpretation of German chocolate cake produces multiple layers formed into upright triangular slices that challenge any pastry chef’s skills. - Mark Knoblauch