Dessert Person: Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence: A Baking Book

Best cookbook I’ve ever owned.
I read a lot of reviews before I bought this book. Another reviewer said that the reviews by people who got a free copy were fake because it had only been out for a month or so. Well, I got this book less than 7 weeks ago (I paid for it myself) and I’ve made over a dozen recipes (!) since then, and ~5 of them multiple times.I’ve been joking that it’s the best book I’ve ever owned and with each recipe, that declaration is less of a joke…. it’s just that amazing.The almond poppyseed cake is the one I’ve made the most, and I will say I add more powdered sugar to the glaze so it sets thicker. But mostly I’ve made everything by the book. The recipe matrix at the front of the book really *is* amazing, but my favorite part of the book is the recipe descriptions. They are so well written.I’ve made the following recipes: brioche + brioche pigs in a blanket, almond poppyseed bundt cake, kabocha turmeric tea cake, seedy maple breakfast muffins (I call them Birdseed Muffins), the oat pecan brittle cookies, chocolate chip cookies, focaccia, malted brownies, rough puff pastry, palmiers, buttered pie dough, creamy greens & baked eggs pie, skillet buckwheat blueberry pancake, classic birthday cake, cream cheese frosting, miso buttermilk biscuits, and rice pudding cake with mango caramel. My favorites have been the almond poppyseed cake. seriously, it’s SO good…. I’ve given whole ones to loved ones as well as slices of it, and everyone who tries it is obsessed with it. I had to buy some sturdy cake rounds & boxes because I know I will be giving this cake to so many people this year! Okay, back to the list of standouts— I also loved the pecan oat brittle cookies (quite a few steps but one of the best cookies I’ve ever had), the rice pudding cake with mango caramel (one of the best desserts I’ve had since my last trip to France a few years ago- I cooked it and baked it a bit longer than the recipe), the brioche pigs in a blanket, and the buckwheat blueberry skillet pancake. Only a few were so-so, and no total flops (at least not yet— I’m more of a beginner at baking so I’m sure I’ll encounter some flops at some point). Most recipes do take at least a few hours from start to finish, but she often calls for ingredients to rest in the fridge at different points, so that contributes to a lot of the time. Some are pretty quick and easy though! It’s fun to try new techniques because her instructions are usually very thorough. And I like the ability to plan out making different parts of a recipe across a few days. After getting the book I discovered I her YouTube channel where she makes different recipes from the book, it’s been awesome to use as a reference for the recipes I also made. Trust the reviews from the people who got the book for free for their reviews. This really is good enough that you will want to make recipes from it as often as possible. There are so many more recipes I’m excited to try- the flourless wave cake, tarte tropezienne, carrot cake, thrice baked rye cookies, gateau basque, clam and fennel pizza….. every recipe looks incredible. I’m just sad I didn’t know about it until ~4 months after it was released!!!! Honestly, I could probably write a few thousand more words about why I love this cookbook but instead I am going to go make another recipe from the book (her lemon tart!).Update: in the time it took amazon to approve my review, I made another recipe (which was technically three recipes?)- the lemon tart. Sweet tart dough, lemon curd, then the lemon tart recipe itself. It’s amazing and another standout. I love the layer of jam in between the tart shell and curd! And I love how tart the lemon curd is. Another win!!!

The Best Ever!
This cookbook is the bomb! I have baked two recipes and both turned out better than I expected. Everyone raved how they were absolutely delicious. I also love her helpful tips for success. They really help you become a better baker.

Some are challenging – but sooo worth it. DELISH!
I love this book! Some of the recipes might be considered challenging – but that’s what I love about them. There’s a basic technique section at the end is full of step-by-step photos which is helpful. I tried the most complicated recipe in the book and it was a complete success. I was literally shocked when it look just like the photo. OMG – so delicious. (the Gateau Basque)A lot of the recipes may seem familiar, but Claire adds a twist that creates a newness about them – gives them their own flavor profile. For me, this one is “a keeper”. It’s something I turn to when I want to either challenge myself, or create something a little different.

I’ve been baking Claire’s youtube recipes for a while now so I wanted to buy her book. I baked the carrot cake yesterday and oh my goodness the cake is amazing so moist so rich so perfect. I cannot wait to make more stuff from this book

I love this book. Like almost everybody purchasing the book, I’m a fan of Claire’s from her work with BA. I appreciate the metric ingredient measurements, diverse range of recipes and thorough method and tips. Despite being called Dessert Person, it does have a couple of bread and savoury recipes, which are welcome (some people seem to be taking issue with this). I’ve made one recipe (maple walnut buns) and it was a success – I’ll be making many more! She’s just started a YouTube channel for videos of recipes from the book – such a helpful accompaniment to the pictures.

Chiunque conosca la testata giornalistica di cucina “bon appétit” avrà indiscutibilmente fatto la conoscenza di Claire Saffitz e della sua serie di video “Gourmet Makes”, nella quale Claire realizza “da zero” e migliora gli snack americani – e talvolta italiani – più popolari. L’autrice rientra facilmente nella categoria di una persona precisa, emotiva e incoraggiante, tratti che sono facilmente riconoscibili nel libro stesso e nella sua prefazione: prima del ricettario ogni strumento, ingrediente e preparazione “base” trova accanto a sé una sua descrizione e in ogni ricetta vengono indicati pedissequamente i tempi, gli ingredienti e le preparazioni; l’autrice incoraggia il novizio a non impazzire davanti ad una ricetta non riuscita, ma di continuare a provare. Il libro, ovviamente, non deve essere considerato come un manuale di alta pasticceria, ma un periodo di formazione cartaceo che segue i vostri ritmi e non pretende grandi sacrifici o sforzi.Vorrei anche sottolineare che questo libro non è nemmeno un ricettario, ma bensì una guida che insegna con la pratica: infatti, ha l’obbiettivo di convertire chi si ritiene una persona specializzata solo nella cucina “classica” anche alla pasticceria, senza escludere i neofiti. «There are no “just cook” out there, only bakers who haven’t yet been converted». Non aspettatevi nulla di incredibilmente complesso, tra le pagine sono presenti ricette e dolci che ispirano un’atmosfera calda e casalinga, nulla di gourmet che serva ad affascinare i vostri ospiti, ma che permetta ai vostri famigliari di concedersi un piacevole momento di dolcezza alla fine del pasto.Nonostante l’acquisto sia scaturito da un vivo sentimento di simpatia nei confronti dell’autrice, mi sono trovato davanti agli occhi un manuale che punta all’evoluzione del lettore, il quale viene metodicamente portato a seguire le ricette più semplici che in futuro gli saranno necessarie per quelle più complesse, e che poi lo porterà a sperimentare individualmente.Nel caso in cui l’inglese non sia un ostacolo, vi consiglio vivamente l’acquisto di questo manuale e ricettario al cui interno presenta anche un “matrix” (matrice) che categorizza la difficoltà delle ricette e il tempo necessario per completarle.Ogni ricetta, oltre al titolo, indica la stagione consigliata per preparare il vostro dolce, il tempo totale di preparazione e la sua difficoltà; l’attrezzatura necessaria – o indispensabile – e gli ingredienti; infine, dopo la descrizione dettagliata di ogni passaggio, sono presenti dei brevi consigli in cui viene indicato dove e come il “pasticcere” può fare qualche variazione.