Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes

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 G teau Victoire, Black Currant Tea Cr me Br l e, 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, souffl s, 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 Gel e 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.

David Lebovitz is a pastry chef, author, and creator of the award-winning food blog www.davidlebovitz.com. Trained as a baker in France and Belgium, he worked for twelve years in the pastry department at the famed Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California. Room for Dessert, his first book, was an International Association of Culinary Professionals award nominee. He is also the author of The Sweet Life in Paris and The Perfect Scoop. David writes, blogs, and leads culinary tours from his home in Paris, France.