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What's for Dessert: Simple Recipes for Dessert People: A Baking Book Spiral-bound – November 8, 2022
- Print length368 pages
- PublisherClarkson Potter; Rebound
- Publication dateNovember 8, 2022
- Reading age16 years and up
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Product details
- ASIN : B0D7WFKQN9
- Publisher : Clarkson Potter; Rebound (November 8, 2022)
- Spiral-bound : 368 pages
- Reading age : 16 years and up
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,372,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
![Claire Saffitz](https://cdn.statically.io/img/m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61nE7l01EcL._SY600_.jpg)
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
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers say the author takes a lot of care to explain basic techniques. They also find the recipes great for beginners and the time/difficulty matrix. Readers describe the content as beautiful, interesting, and full of amazing advice. They praise the writing style as great and excellent.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the recipes in the book great for beginners, with easy-to-understand instructions. They also say the book is full of pictures and dessert ideas.
"...The instructions are clear and straightforward and I watched the YouTube videos to visualize the procedure before I get started...." Read more
"...Her second book has easier recipes and more supplementary and useful information like Can I make ahead, substitute or omit specific ingredients...." Read more
"...They are great recipes and they turn out great and are very well explained. She raises the bar on how cook books should be written" Read more
"...Wide variation of recipes great for any season and none are very technical or difficult...." Read more
Customers find the book beautiful, interesting, and good to learn from. They also mention that it provides great basics and advice on expanding on those basics.
"...Her second book has easier recipes and more supplementary and useful information like Can I make ahead, substitute or omit specific ingredients...." Read more
"...This recipe book is full of amazing advice and great basics and how to expand on those basics. Very much am looking forward to create each recipe!..." Read more
"Beautiful book, recipes, photos...buy it!" Read more
"...This is clearly intentional, but to my eye, it’s depressing, and I am not experiencing the joy I would have hoped when leafing through this new work...." Read more
Customers find the book's complexity level to be high. They mention that the author takes a lot of care to explain basic techniques, the proper order, and why and what to look for. They also appreciate the well-written and clear recipes and great instructional photos.
"...It’s very easy to make but the flavor is complex because of the fennel, olive oil, lemon zest, and black berries...." Read more
"...She takes a lot of care to explain basic techniques, the proper order and why and what to look out for...." Read more
"...They are great recipes and they turn out great and are very well explained. She raises the bar on how cook books should be written" Read more
"...baking from this book, but my impression overall is that the recipes are a bit... fussy...." Read more
Customers find the writing style excellent, with great taste and balance when it comes to creating desserts. They also say the recipes are unusual and less cloyingly sweet. Readers also mention that the writer’s voice is present and reassuring.
"...The olive oil has a special flavor that got carried out perfectly by the lemon juice and zest, and with every bite the blackberries inside and on..." Read more
"...This is worth it if you like desserts that are seasonal and overall less cloyingly sweet. And genuinely want to learn techniques that she employs...." Read more
"...Overall, recipes are unusual, the writer’s voice present and reassuring, and, despite the challenges noted here, I look forward to working with this..." Read more
"...doesn’t like things to be obnoxiously sweet, she has such great taste and balance when it comes to creating desserts. She’s truly gifted...." Read more
Reviews with images
![This book is more approachable than the first book, Dessert Person](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/transparent-pixel._V192234675_.gif)
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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First of all, this book includes 100 wonderful recipes and they are at an easier level in general. In the book D.P., there are quite a few recipes that needed food processor or a stand mixer, and some of the recipes can be quite challenging. For example, some recipes may take 5 hours to prepare, and with different equipments involved. sometimes with little ones to care for in the house, it’s hard to devote so many hours to make a dessert that’s too time consuming. I have never made the pancake in the DP book because I just can’t spend an hour and a half in preparing for pancakes besides breakfast.
Secondly, this new book WFD, only requires hand mixer as the equipment. Even though I would still use my stand mixer for some recipes, it’s not a must have. It’s also nice knowing I don’t have to turn the whole kitchen upside down to make a dessert on a rainy day. However I do enjoy the DP book still for some challenging recipes at times.
So far I have made 2 desserts from this book: blueberry buckle and tiramisuy icebox cake, they both turned out great. The instructions are clear and straightforward and I watched the YouTube videos to visualize the procedure before I get started. I would also read the instructions a few times before I started making the dessert, just to make sure I didn’t have to run to the grocery store in the midst of making the dessert and to make sure I fully understand how each step was done.
Thirdly, this book has a special section talking about how things work, like how to cream butter and how to watch for the cream when it’s being whipped. I truly enjoyed learning “why” besides simply learning “how” when I make things. I have learned so much from Claire and I feel I got more intuition in making desserts now.
Lastly, I really love the way Claire’s recipes are, they are not loaded with sugar like the desserts I got from grocery stores. Instead, her desserts are loaded with complex flavor that supports the theme of the dessert. For example, I just tried the Lemon bunt cake recipe lately and the olive oil in the cake just totally carried out the fragrance of the lemon and the olive oil itself. The glaze on the cake made a crunchy outer layer of the cake and the olive oil made the cake sooo moist! I never liked store bought lemon cakes but this Lemon bunt cake I made is almost gone in one day!!!! I also made the marbled cake with sprinkles on it, and the icing had “tangzhong” in it (it’s a mixture of flour milk and sugar cooked slowly on stove top), and that made the icing tastes like marshmallow. I always thought tangzhong is for bread only but to put it in the icing of the cake is just a genius trick. Claire really got a great taste and she’s so talented in developing such a wonderful book. I never liked desserts before I got her books, but now I look forward to make at least one dessert every week for my family and friends. My friends started calling me dessert queen because they loved the desserts I made so much, and I give total credit to Claire.
Update: I have made quite a few recipes since then and they all turned out great. I like to make dessert for a big gathering and it’s always a big hit. The desserts are not super sweet like the ones you get in a bakery shop, but they are filled with complex flavors.
There’s a fennel & olive oil cake, with black berries in the cake that’s really great. It’s very easy to make but the flavor is complex because of the fennel, olive oil, lemon zest, and black berries. The olive oil has a special flavor that got carried out perfectly by the lemon juice and zest, and with every bite the blackberries inside and on top of the cake gave out a different texture and fruity taste to the cake. After I finished eating the piece I can taste the subtle flavors of fennel in my mouth, which is a decent flavor. The body of the cake is so soft and light that reminds me of Nothing Bunt Cake, but a lot less sweet than their version. There’s also the banana toffee pudding being my favorite, and you can check it out on Claire’s YouTube channel, it’s definitely worth a try, and you’ll see why it’s my and many of my friends favorite recipe.
Please let me know if my review is helpful and I will update my review when I try more recipes.
![Customer image](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/transparent-pixel._V192234675_.gif)
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2023
First of all, this book includes 100 wonderful recipes and they are at an easier level in general. In the book D.P., there are quite a few recipes that needed food processor or a stand mixer, and some of the recipes can be quite challenging. For example, some recipes may take 5 hours to prepare, and with different equipments involved. sometimes with little ones to care for in the house, it’s hard to devote so many hours to make a dessert that’s too time consuming. I have never made the pancake in the DP book because I just can’t spend an hour and a half in preparing for pancakes besides breakfast.
Secondly, this new book WFD, only requires hand mixer as the equipment. Even though I would still use my stand mixer for some recipes, it’s not a must have. It’s also nice knowing I don’t have to turn the whole kitchen upside down to make a dessert on a rainy day. However I do enjoy the DP book still for some challenging recipes at times.
So far I have made 2 desserts from this book: blueberry buckle and tiramisuy icebox cake, they both turned out great. The instructions are clear and straightforward and I watched the YouTube videos to visualize the procedure before I get started. I would also read the instructions a few times before I started making the dessert, just to make sure I didn’t have to run to the grocery store in the midst of making the dessert and to make sure I fully understand how each step was done.
Thirdly, this book has a special section talking about how things work, like how to cream butter and how to watch for the cream when it’s being whipped. I truly enjoyed learning “why” besides simply learning “how” when I make things. I have learned so much from Claire and I feel I got more intuition in making desserts now.
Lastly, I really love the way Claire’s recipes are, they are not loaded with sugar like the desserts I got from grocery stores. Instead, her desserts are loaded with complex flavor that supports the theme of the dessert. For example, I just tried the Lemon bunt cake recipe lately and the olive oil in the cake just totally carried out the fragrance of the lemon and the olive oil itself. The glaze on the cake made a crunchy outer layer of the cake and the olive oil made the cake sooo moist! I never liked store bought lemon cakes but this Lemon bunt cake I made is almost gone in one day!!!! I also made the marbled cake with sprinkles on it, and the icing had “tangzhong” in it (it’s a mixture of flour milk and sugar cooked slowly on stove top), and that made the icing tastes like marshmallow. I always thought tangzhong is for bread only but to put it in the icing of the cake is just a genius trick. Claire really got a great taste and she’s so talented in developing such a wonderful book. I never liked desserts before I got her books, but now I look forward to make at least one dessert every week for my family and friends. My friends started calling me dessert queen because they loved the desserts I made so much, and I give total credit to Claire.
Update: I have made quite a few recipes since then and they all turned out great. I like to make dessert for a big gathering and it’s always a big hit. The desserts are not super sweet like the ones you get in a bakery shop, but they are filled with complex flavors.
There’s a fennel & olive oil cake, with black berries in the cake that’s really great. It’s very easy to make but the flavor is complex because of the fennel, olive oil, lemon zest, and black berries. The olive oil has a special flavor that got carried out perfectly by the lemon juice and zest, and with every bite the blackberries inside and on top of the cake gave out a different texture and fruity taste to the cake. After I finished eating the piece I can taste the subtle flavors of fennel in my mouth, which is a decent flavor. The body of the cake is so soft and light that reminds me of Nothing Bunt Cake, but a lot less sweet than their version. There’s also the banana toffee pudding being my favorite, and you can check it out on Claire’s YouTube channel, it’s definitely worth a try, and you’ll see why it’s my and many of my friends favorite recipe.
Please let me know if my review is helpful and I will update my review when I try more recipes.
![Customer image](https://cdn.statically.io/img/m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61ajUwOH+jL._SY88.jpg)
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