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Ready for Dessert

My Best Recipes [A Baking Book]

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Paperback
7.51"W x 10.01"H x 0.94"D   | 36 oz | 14 per carton
On sale Sep 18, 2012 | 304 Pages | 9781607743651

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Pastry chef David Lebovitz is known for creating desserts with bold and high-impact flavor, not fussy, complicated presentations. Lucky for us, this translates into showstopping sweets that bakers of all skill levels can master. In Ready for Dessert, elegant finales such as Gâteau Victoire, Black Currant Tea Crème Brûlée, and Anise-Orange Ice Cream Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce are as easy to prepare as comfort foods such as Plum-Blueberry Upside-Down Cake, Creamy Rice Pudding, and Cheesecake Brownies.
 
With his unique brand of humor—and a fondness for desserts with “screaming chocolate intensity”—David serves up a tantalizing array of more than 170 recipes for cakes, pies, tarts, crisps, cobblers, custards, soufflés, puddings, ice creams, sherbets, sorbets, cookies, candies, dessert sauces, fruit preserves, and even homemade liqueurs. David reveals his three favorites: a deeply spiced Fresh Ginger Cake; the bracing and beautiful Champagne Gelée with Kumquats, Grapefruits, and Blood Oranges; and his chunky and chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. His trademark friendly guidance, as well as suggestions, storage advice, flavor variations, and tips will help ensure success every time.
 
Accompanied with stunning photos by award-winning photographer Maren Caruso, this new compilation of David’s best recipes to date will inspire you to pull out your sugar bin and get baking or churn up a batch of homemade ice cream. So if you’re ready for dessert (and who isn’t?), you’ll be happy to have this collection of sweet indulgences on your kitchen shelf—and your guests will be overjoyed, too.
© Romain Pellas
DAVID LEBOVITZ has been a professional cook and baker for most of his life; he spent nearly thirteen years at Chez Panisse until he left the restaurant business in 1999 to write books. He moved to Paris in 2004 and turned davidlebovitz.com into a phenomenally popular blog. He is the author of six books, including The Perfect ScoopReady for DessertThe Great Book of Chocolate, and a memoir called The Sweet Life in Paris, and he was named one of the Top Five Pastry Chefs in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle. David has also been featured in Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Cook’s Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Saveur, Travel + Leisure, and more. View titles by David Lebovitz
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Praise for Ready for Dessert

“If you’re looking for a new best friend in the kitchen, one that’ll stay a best friend for life, Ready for Dessert might just be the one for you.”—Epicurious

“Flipping through our copy, we were entranced by fudgy smudges on the plate under his banana cake, seduced by the simplicity of his red-wine raspberry sorbet, curious about the impression his chocolate chip cookies made on Parisians, and desperate to taste his best-ever brownies.”—Bon Appetit

“You’ll want to make everything in this book.”—The Washington Post

“Dessert Genius David Lebovitz’s Opus.”—Condé Nast

“The man worked as a pastry chef at Chez Panisse then moved to Paris. Need I say more?”—TheKitchn

Ready for Dessert promises visceral satisfaction starting with the cover, which invites you to drag a greedy finger through a cake's thick chocolate icing.”—Associated Press

“I have a sweet tooth for Lebovitz, a terrific writer and dessert whiz who has updated his favorite recipes for this lavish book. If you bake, do yourself a favor and buy this book.”—Houston Chronicle

“With a bloggers tone and a skilled baker’s sensibility, pastry chef David Lebovitz shares his deliciously simple yet refined recipes in his latest cookbook Ready for Dessert. Sprinkled with endearing anecdotes, each recipe reveals Lebovitz’ compulsion with chocolate and seasonality. . . . a great book for beginners and experts alike.”—Los Angeles Times

“An absolutely gorgeous book filled with pages upon pages of recipes and photos that will motivate you to get in the kitchen and start baking.”—SeriousEats

“Bring any of David’s desserts forward at the close of a meal, and you’ll have a hard time remaining humble under showers of praise. But what I especially like about David’s book, aside from the results his recipes promise, is David himself—that he and his desserts are so approachable, relaxed, and friendly.”—Deborah Madison, author of Seasonal Fruit Desserts from Orchard, Farm, and Market

“If you already know David and love his simple, straightforward style and his full-flavored desserts, you’ll be delighted to see his favorites polished and brought up to the moment.This collection brings you the best of his best and hours of sweet pleasure.”—Dorie Greenspan, author of Baking: From My Home to Yours

“David has put into his fantastic new book all of the ingredients that make him so great: 1 part talented pastry chef + 1 part comic + 1 part great writer.”—Elizabeth Falkner, chef/owner of Citizen Cake and Orson and author of Demolition Desserts

“Given its breadth, depth, and accessibility, readers with a passion for baking will be hard pressed to find a better guide to desserts this year.”Publishers Weekly, starred review

“David Lebovitz’s Ready for Dessert is a must. . . . His header notes are chatty, his directions thorough and supportive and his take on the sweet side of life inspired and inspiring.”—BookPage

About

Pastry chef David Lebovitz is known for creating desserts with bold and high-impact flavor, not fussy, complicated presentations. Lucky for us, this translates into showstopping sweets that bakers of all skill levels can master. In Ready for Dessert, elegant finales such as Gâteau Victoire, Black Currant Tea Crème Brûlée, and Anise-Orange Ice Cream Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce are as easy to prepare as comfort foods such as Plum-Blueberry Upside-Down Cake, Creamy Rice Pudding, and Cheesecake Brownies.
 
With his unique brand of humor—and a fondness for desserts with “screaming chocolate intensity”—David serves up a tantalizing array of more than 170 recipes for cakes, pies, tarts, crisps, cobblers, custards, soufflés, puddings, ice creams, sherbets, sorbets, cookies, candies, dessert sauces, fruit preserves, and even homemade liqueurs. David reveals his three favorites: a deeply spiced Fresh Ginger Cake; the bracing and beautiful Champagne Gelée with Kumquats, Grapefruits, and Blood Oranges; and his chunky and chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. His trademark friendly guidance, as well as suggestions, storage advice, flavor variations, and tips will help ensure success every time.
 
Accompanied with stunning photos by award-winning photographer Maren Caruso, this new compilation of David’s best recipes to date will inspire you to pull out your sugar bin and get baking or churn up a batch of homemade ice cream. So if you’re ready for dessert (and who isn’t?), you’ll be happy to have this collection of sweet indulgences on your kitchen shelf—and your guests will be overjoyed, too.

Creators

© Romain Pellas
DAVID LEBOVITZ has been a professional cook and baker for most of his life; he spent nearly thirteen years at Chez Panisse until he left the restaurant business in 1999 to write books. He moved to Paris in 2004 and turned davidlebovitz.com into a phenomenally popular blog. He is the author of six books, including The Perfect ScoopReady for DessertThe Great Book of Chocolate, and a memoir called The Sweet Life in Paris, and he was named one of the Top Five Pastry Chefs in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle. David has also been featured in Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Cook’s Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Saveur, Travel + Leisure, and more. View titles by David Lebovitz

Excerpt

Praise

Praise for Ready for Dessert

“If you’re looking for a new best friend in the kitchen, one that’ll stay a best friend for life, Ready for Dessert might just be the one for you.”—Epicurious

“Flipping through our copy, we were entranced by fudgy smudges on the plate under his banana cake, seduced by the simplicity of his red-wine raspberry sorbet, curious about the impression his chocolate chip cookies made on Parisians, and desperate to taste his best-ever brownies.”—Bon Appetit

“You’ll want to make everything in this book.”—The Washington Post

“Dessert Genius David Lebovitz’s Opus.”—Condé Nast

“The man worked as a pastry chef at Chez Panisse then moved to Paris. Need I say more?”—TheKitchn

Ready for Dessert promises visceral satisfaction starting with the cover, which invites you to drag a greedy finger through a cake's thick chocolate icing.”—Associated Press

“I have a sweet tooth for Lebovitz, a terrific writer and dessert whiz who has updated his favorite recipes for this lavish book. If you bake, do yourself a favor and buy this book.”—Houston Chronicle

“With a bloggers tone and a skilled baker’s sensibility, pastry chef David Lebovitz shares his deliciously simple yet refined recipes in his latest cookbook Ready for Dessert. Sprinkled with endearing anecdotes, each recipe reveals Lebovitz’ compulsion with chocolate and seasonality. . . . a great book for beginners and experts alike.”—Los Angeles Times

“An absolutely gorgeous book filled with pages upon pages of recipes and photos that will motivate you to get in the kitchen and start baking.”—SeriousEats

“Bring any of David’s desserts forward at the close of a meal, and you’ll have a hard time remaining humble under showers of praise. But what I especially like about David’s book, aside from the results his recipes promise, is David himself—that he and his desserts are so approachable, relaxed, and friendly.”—Deborah Madison, author of Seasonal Fruit Desserts from Orchard, Farm, and Market

“If you already know David and love his simple, straightforward style and his full-flavored desserts, you’ll be delighted to see his favorites polished and brought up to the moment.This collection brings you the best of his best and hours of sweet pleasure.”—Dorie Greenspan, author of Baking: From My Home to Yours

“David has put into his fantastic new book all of the ingredients that make him so great: 1 part talented pastry chef + 1 part comic + 1 part great writer.”—Elizabeth Falkner, chef/owner of Citizen Cake and Orson and author of Demolition Desserts

“Given its breadth, depth, and accessibility, readers with a passion for baking will be hard pressed to find a better guide to desserts this year.”Publishers Weekly, starred review

“David Lebovitz’s Ready for Dessert is a must. . . . His header notes are chatty, his directions thorough and supportive and his take on the sweet side of life inspired and inspiring.”—BookPage
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