ready for dessert all over again
David Lebovitz made a name for himself as a pastry chef in some of the top restaurants in America, including Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse. When he left, he started writing about food and creating recipes on his website, which became the first food blog. Several years later, he moved to Paris, while his blog increased in popularity. He wrote cookbooks, he wrote about living in France, he wrote about everything. For 25 years, he kept learning and writing and testing recipes, and now he’s revisited his original cookbook, Ready for Dessert, and updated every recipe for today’s cooks (and eaters).
Lebovitz doesn’t create bakes that are overly decorated or pretentious. He focuses on the best ingredients he can find, whether that’s a good chocolate, fresh fruit from the farmer’s market, or farm-fresh eggs. But he also understands that not every baker has unlimited funds, so he gives tips for saving money too. He focuses his recipes on flavor and texture, whether that’s for his New York Cheesecake, Cherry-Almond Cobbler, Meyer Lemon Sorbet, Chocolate Pots de Creme, or Sesame-Orange Almond Tuiles.
The best part of this cookbook (aside from 125 dessert recipes that are packed with flavor) are the stories that come along with each recipe. The stories are short, but they’re about real life in Paris, they’re about travels around Europe, and the origins of these recipes. Lebovitz learned about truffles from a professional course taught at the Valrhona chocolate factory, he got the recipe for his Racines cake off the wall of a men’s room in Paris, he learned to make Robert’s Ultimate Brownies from Robert Steinberg, who cofounded Scharffen Berger bean-to-bar chocolate makers who changed the chocolate industry. Not many bloggers have stories like these about their recipes.
There is a wide variety of dessert recipes in this book, from cakes and cookies to fruit desserts, ice creams, custards and souffles, and even candies. And of course, there is that all-important chapter of basic recipes, like pie dough, sauces, pate a choux puffs, frangipane, pastry cream, and jams. Then there are several pages dedicated to caramelization, include photos of the entire process, which I love. Anyone who has ever watched a baking show on television knows how a caramel can turn on you, so having these guidelines from a master pastry chef will come in handy to give instruction and confidence in this trickly ingredient.
Reading through this cookbook makes me want to bake my way through it. There are so many delicious recipes here that I want to try, some that are favorites (Chocolate Crackled Cookies) and some that I’ve never heard of before (Marjolaine, a French cake with layers of praline, dark chocolate, and meringue). There are recipes for every taste and skill level, and learning even a handful of them would make you the favorite baker of your friends with good taste. My one grumble about this cookbook is that there are not photos of all the recipes. I just want to drink in all the beautiful photography, and there are a lot of tempting photos, but not of everything.
This is a cookbook I will keep on a nearby shelf and pull out from time to time. Sometimes I will use it to bake another tasty treat. Sometimes I will pull it out and read it like a novel. I love the feeling of being in Paris, but without having to worry about airport parking. I can stay home and visit Lebovitz’s France, and then make a cake or ice cream or truffles based on the warm feeling I get from reading about the recipe. Ready for Dessert is iconic, and the updated recipes are on point for today’s bakers.
Ten Speed Press provided me with a free copy of Ready for Dessert, Revised, with many thanks, but the opinions are my own.
