In this debut collection of 65 signature dessert recipes, star pastry chef Falkner, owner of Citizen Cake, Citizen Cupcake, and Orson in San Francisco, breaks down classic desserts and reconstructs them flavor by flavor, with stunning results. Full color.

Presents a range of recipes for full meals and quick snacks that can be prepared with limited time and resources, in a volume that also shares the author's imaginative approach to classic comfort foods.

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.

A collection of 125 chef-worthy global recipes presented in international dinner menus, drawn from renowned chef Cindy Pawlcyn's informal gatherings. It's no secret that legions of fans flock to Cindy Pawlcyn's restaurants for her globally influenced signature dishes. What is not so well known is that Cindy has turned her passions for cooking and travel into a popular supper club, where she creates an adventurous menu celebrating a different international cuisine each week. Cindy's Supper Club has become a destination event, presenting a world tasting tour on a plate. Cindy's Supper Club serves up twenty-five complete menus inspired by Cindy's dinners and featuring more than 125 recipes from the world's greatest food destinations, including Hawaii, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Austria, Belgium, England, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Russia, Georgia, Ethiopia, Morocco, South Africa, Lebanon, Turkey, China, Japan, Korea, India, and Thailand. "I have had the great pleasure of watching my friend Cindy Pawlcyn shape the Napa Valley into a world-class culinary empire. I am constantly amazed at how she creates her dishes and the final extraordinary flavors that hit the plate. Buy this book as fast as you can. You are in for a wonderful surprise." MICHAEL CHIARELLO, chef-owner of Bottega Ristorante and author of Bottega

From the sacred fudge served to India's gods to the ephemeral baklava of Istanbul's harems, the towering sugar creations of Renaissance Italy, and the exotically scented macarons of twenty-first century Paris, the world's confectionary arts have not only mirrored social, technological, and political revolutions, they have also, in many ways, been in their vanguard. Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert captures the stories of sweet makers past and present from India, the Middle East, Italy, France, Vienna, and the United States, as author Michael Krondl meets with confectioners around the globe, savoring and exploring the dessert icons of each tradition. Readers will be tantalized by the rich history of each region's unforgettable desserts and tempted to try their own hand at a time-honored recipe. A fascinating and rewarding read for any lover of sugar, butter, and cream, Sweet Invention embraces the pleasures of dessert while unveiling the secular, metaphysical, and even sexual uses that societies have found for it.

“Edifying from every point of view--historical, cultural, and culinary.” —David Tanis, author of A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes It’s a culinary catalyst, an agent of change, a gastronomic rock star. Ubiquitous in the world’s most fabulous cuisines, butter is boss. Here, it finally gets its due. After traveling across three continents to stalk the modern story of butter, award-winning food writer and former pastry chef Elaine Khosrova serves up a story as rich, textured, and culturally relevant as butter itself. From its humble agrarian origins to its present-day artisanal glory, butter has a fascinating story to tell, and Khosrova is the perfect person to tell it. With tales about the ancient butter bogs of Ireland, the pleasure dairies of France, and the sacred butter sculptures of Tibet, Khosrova details butter’s role in history, politics, economics, nutrition, and even spirituality and art. Readers will also find the essential collection of core butter recipes, including beurre manié, croissants, pâte brisée, and the only buttercream frosting anyone will ever need, as well as practical how-tos for making various types of butter at home--or shopping for the best. “A fascinating, tasty read . . . And what a bonus to have a collection of essential classic butter recipes included.” —David Tanis, author of A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes “Following the path blazed by Margaret Visser in Much Depends on Dinner, Elaine Khosrova makes much of butter and the ruminants whose milk man churns. You will revel in dairy physics. And you may never eat margarine again.” —John T. Edge, author of The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South “Butter proves that close study can reveal rich history, lore, and practical information. All that and charm too.” —Mimi Sheraton, author of 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die “Irresistible and fascinating . . . This is one of those definitive books on a subject that every cook should have.” —Elisabeth Prueitt, co-owner of Tartine Bakery “The history of one of the most delectable ingredients throughout our many cultures and geography over time is wonderfully churned and emulsified in Khosrova’s Butter . . . Delightful storytelling.” —Elizabeth Falkner, author of Demolition Desserts: Recipes from Citizen Cake

Claude has an intuitive faith in something splendid and feels at odds with his contemporaries. The war offers him the opportunity to forget his farm and his marriage of compromise; he enlists and discovers that he has lacked. But while war demands altruism, its essence is destructive