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


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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In her first cookbook, Bon Appétit and YouTube star of the show Gourmet Makes offers wisdom, problem-solving strategies, and more than 100 meticulously tested, creative, and inspiring recipes.

IACP AWARD WINNER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review Bon Appétit • NPR • The Atlanta Journal-Constitution SalonEpicurious

“There are no ‘just cooks’ out there, only bakers who haven't yet been converted. I am a dessert person, and we are all dessert people.”—Claire Saffitz

Claire Saffitz is a baking hero for a new generation. In
Dessert Person, fans will find Claire’s signature spin on sweet and savory recipes like Babkallah (a babka-Challah mashup), Apple and Concord Grape Crumble Pie, Strawberry-Cornmeal Layer Cake, Crispy Mushroom Galette, and Malted Forever Brownies. She outlines the problems and solutions for each recipe—like what to do if your pie dough for Sour Cherry Pie cracks (patch it with dough or a quiche flour paste!)—as well as practical do’s and don’ts, skill level, prep and bake time, step-by-step photography, and foundational know-how. With her trademark warmth and superpower ability to explain anything baking related, Claire is ready to make everyone a dessert person.
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From the Publisher

Dessert Person, books on dessert, books on cooking, cooking books, baking books, claire saffitz

Dessert Person, books on dessert, books on cooking, cooking books, baking books, claire saffitz

Dessert Person, books on dessert, books on cooking, cooking books, baking books, claire saffitz

Dessert Person, books on dessert, books on cooking, cooking books, baking books, claire saffitz

Dessert Person, books on dessert, books on cooking, cooking books, baking books, claire saffitz

Dessert Person, books on dessert, books on cooking, cooking books, baking books, claire saffitz

Dessert Person, books on dessert, books on cooking, cooking books, baking books, claire saffitz

Dessert Person, books on dessert, books on cooking, cooking books, baking books, claire saffitz

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is a wonderful book for experienced bakers—there are plenty of surprises and challenges—and an ideal one for beginners. Look at the Recipe Matrix, choose an easy recipe that doesn’t take much time, follow Claire’s directions, and chalk up your first win. If you’re not already a dessert person, Claire will make you one.”—Dorie Greenspan, author of Dorie’s Cookies and Everyday Dorie 

“Claire Saffitz is a skillful and imaginative baker with a knack for writing beautiful recipes. Her gorgeous book will unleash the inner dessert person in a novice and inspire those who know their way around a pastry kitchen. It certainly has a place on my shelf.”
—Claudia Fleming, chef and author of The Last Course

“ I’ve always been a fan of Claire’s work at
Bon Appétit, and I am most definitely a dessert person, so this book really appeals to me. Her recipes all have modern twists of flavor, but at their core they are the familiar bakes we always want to get into the kitchen for.”—Claire Ptak, Violet Cakes director
 
"Claire’s easier take on the French galette des rois will win over those who want to make one with less fuss, and have more fun doing it. If anyone can turn you into a dessert person, it’s Claire. You’ll want to make everything in this book, as I do.”
—David Lebovitz, author My Paris Kitchen and Drinking French

“If you know Claire (and how could you not?), gourmet Doritos and Skittles may come to mind, but she’s got so much more up her flour-dusted sleeve. From the subtle flavors of a pear and chestnut cake to miso-spiked buttermilk biscuits,
Dessert Person is Claire’s personal dissertation on baking.”—Stella Parks, author of BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts

“ As a lover of all-things-dessert, I instantly identified the same in Claire—a sister in search for creative, delicious ingredients rooted in classic baking technique. She has that rare combination of creative generosity crossed with baking-professor that the very best authors can convey in a book, and it will make this one a classic.”
—Elisabeth Prueitt, founder, Tartine

“Dessert is last in a meal but first in many people’s hearts. It also, beneath the sweetness, requires a sophisticated mix of time management, architectural thinking, visual seduction, and unexpected restraint. As these recipes prove, Claire Saffitz has all of that, and more.”
—Questlove
 
“Does any chef have a more reassuring and trustworthy voice than Claire Saffitz? Equal parts tireless, hyper-organized technician and empathic cheerleader, Claire presents one of the most convincing arguments I've ever read for diving into the world of baking. If anybody can fell the wall that divides home cooks and home bakers, it's Claire, with her thoroughly modern yet classically elegant desserts.”
—Natasha Pickowicz, Pastry Chef

“Exceptional . . . This should become a go-to reference for any home baker.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)

About the Author

Claire Saffitz is the host of Bon Appétit's Gourmet Makes and Baking School, both on YouTube and iTunes, and contributes stories and recipes to the print magazine. After graduating from Harvard University, Saffitz received a master's degree in culinary history from McGill in Montreal and then studied pastry in Paris at École Grégoire Ferrandi. She lives in New York City.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08479CCHP
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Clarkson Potter (October 20, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 20, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 653104 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 363 pages
  • Customer Reviews:

About the author

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Claire Saffitz
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Claire Saffitz is a freelance recipe developer and video host. Previously, she was Senior Food Editor at Bon Appétit magazine, where she worked for five years in the test kitchen. She is currently the host of the series Gourmet Makes on the Bon Appétit YouTube channel, where she uses her classical pastry knowledge to reverse engineer popular snack foods and candy.

Claire was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri and now lives in New York City. She graduated with honors from Harvard University in 2009, studied classic French cuisine and pastry at École Grégoire Ferrandi in Paris in 2012, and completed her Masters degree in History at McGill University in 2014, where she focused on culinary History in the Early Modern Era.

Her first cookbook, Dessert Person, published by Clarkson Potter, debuts in October 2020. Dessert Person is a celebration of baking and pastry and all things sweet. But to Claire, being a self-described "dessert person" is also an attitude; it’s about embracing cooking and eating as fundamental sources of pleasure. This book empowers reluctant home bakers to bake with more confidence and approach food with greater joy, because anyone can be a dessert person -- even people who think they’re not.

Customer reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
8,272 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the recipes clear, easy to follow, and visually pleasing. They also say the flavors are super delicious and the book provides lots of guidance and recipes for all skill levels. Readers also mention the visual indicators are helpful when baking.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

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237 customers mention "Recipe accuracy"219 positive18 negative

Customers find the recipes in the book clear and easy to follow. They also appreciate the author's explanations of how and why things are done the way they are. Readers also mention that the desserts are visually pleasing and taste nice even if burnt.

"...I like Claire(the author)’s way of explaining things and not being too wordy, and I love her for being so simple yet being so articulate about every..." Read more

"...Why? Because the recipes are so unique, and because I've grown to trust Claire's tastes, which seem to be similar to my own – sweet but not too sweet..." Read more

"A very thoughtful approach to writing cookbooks, easy to follow and great results time after time! Also the selection of recipes is amazing!!!" Read more

"...Everything is delicious and easy to make without using a bunch of premade things which turn you into an assembler and not a baker...." Read more

65 customers mention "Flavor"62 positive3 negative

Customers find the recipes in the book super delicious and perfect for autumn baking. They also appreciate the quality and thoroughness of the recipes.

"...tart pie that can stay its shape after being cut, but the flavor is still great...." Read more

"...The halvah blondies are unique and savory and delicious. The rhubarb cake is perfectly sweet and sour...." Read more

"...She is really the Maida Heatter of our generation. Everything is delicious and easy to make without using a bunch of premade things which turn you..." Read more

"...And I love how tart the lemon curd is. Another win!!!" Read more

51 customers mention "Content"51 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's content inspiring, thoughtful, and extensive. They also say the recipes are rated by difficulty, with lots of guidance and detailed instructions. Readers also mention the visual indicators are helpful when baking.

"...What I really love about the book is that it covers a wide variety of desserts from different regions of the world, like St. Louis butter cake, some..." Read more

"A very thoughtful approach to writing cookbooks, easy to follow and great results time after time! Also the selection of recipes is amazing!!!" Read more

"Most cookbooks are boring and not good. This book has a good variety of the simple classics, the complex classics like croissants, and some out-of-..." Read more

"...There is a very handy matrix for the recipes organized through a time chart, which is a unique and useful feature for this cookbook...." Read more

Best cookbook I’ve ever owned.
5 out of 5 stars
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!!!
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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2021
The directions are very clear and straightforward, and the ingredients are easy to find. I have very little experience in baking yet I baked a few things which I would feel comfortable to give out to family and friends.

However there are times that the results are not as good as expected, and I learned that I need to follow all the steps thoroughly and the goal is still achievable. I am currently challenging myself to bake stuff that are “moderately” difficult according to the book, 3/5, with 5 being the very challenging level.

Some recipes are very involved and took me many hours to work on, but the outcome is very rewarding. I still can’t make a lemon tart pie that can stay its shape after being cut, but the flavor is still great. I spent almost five hours on the babka recipe yesterday but it is literally the best bread I have had for a while.

I bought a food processor and a Kitchen Aid mixer after I got this book. There are many many recipes in the book that needs these tools. There are desert that you can make without them, but they are mostly very basic (seedy breakfast muffins, pancakes, banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, etc). Don’t get me wrong, they are still great deserts, but this book can take you much further than that. If you are satisfied with those store mixes, and don’t like to get into much details, this book may not be a good choice for you.

The author has a YouTube channel for this book that everyone can follow, if you are not sure about this book you can check out the video and get a feel of what you are getting into.

I like Claire(the author)’s way of explaining things and not being too wordy, and I love her for being so simple yet being so articulate about every recipe.

My husband’s only complaint about this book is he’s getting chubbier because he can’t stop eating the dessert I made. Lol.

Update: I still love this book after 2 years. I have tried many more recipes since 2020, and there are still many more to try out. What I really love about the book is that it covers a wide variety of desserts from different regions of the world, like St. Louis butter cake, some Jewish recipes, some Italian recipes, and French recipes. I never failed any recipe I tried, because they are all tested by Claire before she put them in the book. The book holds up well after frequent use. I only wish the font could be bigger because even with my 20/20 vision sometimes I have to get really close to the book to make sure I’m reading it right. But I understand with all the instructions every recipe contains it’s hard to make the font bigger.
Customer image
5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, it’s a great book if you enjoy to challenge yourself a bit
Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2021
The directions are very clear and straightforward, and the ingredients are easy to find. I have very little experience in baking yet I baked a few things which I would feel comfortable to give out to family and friends.

However there are times that the results are not as good as expected, and I learned that I need to follow all the steps thoroughly and the goal is still achievable. I am currently challenging myself to bake stuff that are “moderately” difficult according to the book, 3/5, with 5 being the very challenging level.

Some recipes are very involved and took me many hours to work on, but the outcome is very rewarding. I still can’t make a lemon tart pie that can stay its shape after being cut, but the flavor is still great. I spent almost five hours on the babka recipe yesterday but it is literally the best bread I have had for a while.

I bought a food processor and a Kitchen Aid mixer after I got this book. There are many many recipes in the book that needs these tools. There are desert that you can make without them, but they are mostly very basic (seedy breakfast muffins, pancakes, banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, etc). Don’t get me wrong, they are still great deserts, but this book can take you much further than that. If you are satisfied with those store mixes, and don’t like to get into much details, this book may not be a good choice for you.

The author has a YouTube channel for this book that everyone can follow, if you are not sure about this book you can check out the video and get a feel of what you are getting into.

I like Claire(the author)’s way of explaining things and not being too wordy, and I love her for being so simple yet being so articulate about every recipe.

My husband’s only complaint about this book is he’s getting chubbier because he can’t stop eating the dessert I made. Lol.

Update: I still love this book after 2 years. I have tried many more recipes since 2020, and there are still many more to try out. What I really love about the book is that it covers a wide variety of desserts from different regions of the world, like St. Louis butter cake, some Jewish recipes, some Italian recipes, and French recipes. I never failed any recipe I tried, because they are all tested by Claire before she put them in the book. The book holds up well after frequent use. I only wish the font could be bigger because even with my 20/20 vision sometimes I have to get really close to the book to make sure I’m reading it right. But I understand with all the instructions every recipe contains it’s hard to make the font bigger.
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55 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2024
I love this cookbook. It's unlike any other cookbook I've owned in that I want to make nearly everything in it. Why? Because the recipes are so unique, and because I've grown to trust Claire's tastes, which seem to be similar to my own – sweet but not too sweet, and plenty of fruit. I purchased this cookbook only a couple of months ago and have already made around a dozen recipes from it, two of them twice. The least interesting one for me was the chocolate chip cookies, but no surprises there. (I would have loved, actually, if she had given chocolate chip cookies some kind of fruity twist.)

Even recipes I wasn't so sure about have turned out amazing. The halvah blondies are unique and savory and delicious. The rhubarb cake is perfectly sweet and sour.

For anyone thinking of buying this book, the biggest things I'd say to look out for are that her time estimates don't seem to include mise en place (a big deal if you're measuring nearly twenty ingredients, like in the seedy blueberry muffins), and I don't always agree with her difficulty estimates either. The mango rice pudding cake, for example, calls for making both rice pudding and a caramel, and a caramel isn't easy until you know what you're doing. She rates it a 2 out of 5, whereas I'd rate it a 3. There are also a couple of typos (like the brownie recipe's water measurement, which is accurate by volume but not by weight), but it doesn't seem to be frequent.

There are a few recipes in here that I never plan to touch, such as the fruit cake that takes two months. But for the most part, I'm baking from this book obsessively, and her YouTube channel contains so much helpful instruction
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2024
A very thoughtful approach to writing cookbooks, easy to follow and great results time after time! Also the selection of recipes is amazing!!!
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2024
One of my absolutely favorite things about Claire Saffitz is that her recipes don't require any special equipment. Just a bowl, a pan, and whatever you're baking it in or on. She is really the Maida Heatter of our generation. Everything is delicious and easy to make without using a bunch of premade things which turn you into an assembler and not a baker. She deserves all the success she gets. I will say that this book is better than the other one in my opinion but go ahead and have them both.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Carrie bryant
5.0 out of 5 stars Baking book
Reviewed in Canada on July 22, 2024
Excellent like her other books
Pictures of everything which is very important in a cook book!!!
Great book
Ximena
5.0 out of 5 stars Deli
Reviewed in Mexico on October 9, 2023
Todas las recetas son deliciosas, explica super bien el procedimiento y los detalles importantes a cuidar, las recetas son un poco más complicadas pero vale 100% la pena
One person found this helpful
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nathalia valentim
5.0 out of 5 stars perfeito! todas receitas dão certo
Reviewed in Brazil on November 24, 2022
tudo certo! livro sensacional, vale cada centavo
Fredric Thulin
5.0 out of 5 stars Mycket nöjd med leverans och produkt 🙏
Reviewed in Sweden on March 31, 2023
Mycket nöjd med leverans och produkt 🙏
catherine york
5.0 out of 5 stars Must-have guide to the art of dessert making
Reviewed in France on January 11, 2023
Claire Saffitz has written a fabulous book about baking and pastry-making with clear easy-to-follow steps. She helpfully grades the recipes so that beginner bakers can choose easier recipes to start off with and move up to more technically challenging preparations as their ability and confidence improves. But even seasoned baker's will find recipes to whet their appetite such as the Breton Kouign Aman or even the deceptively complex foccacia.
The photography complements the writing which is clear and precise as befits a recipe book of this calibre.
I really recommend this cookery book as an indispensable addition to any personal collection.

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