Genius Desserts

Drawing from her James Beard Award-nominated Genius Recipes column and powered by the cooking wisdom and generosity of the Food52 community, creative director Kristen Miglore has unearthed the most game-changing dessert recipes from beloved cookbook authors, chef, and bakers--collecting them all in this indispensable guide. Featuring iconic desserts spanning the last century: Maida Heatter's East 62nd Street Lemon Cake, Francois Payard's Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies, and Nancy Silverton's Butterscotch Budino, as well as little-known gems like a comforting Peach Cobbler with Hot Sugar Crust from Renee Erickson and the imaginative Parsnip Cake with Blood Orange Buttercream from Lucky Peach, along with genius tips, riffs, and mini-recipes, and the lively stories behind each one. The genius of this collection is that Kristen has scouted out and rigorously tested recipes from the most trusted dessert experts, finding more than 100 of their standouts. Each recipe shines in a different way and teaches you something new, whether it's how to use unconventional ingredients (like Sunset's whole orange cake), how to make the most of brilliant methods (roasted sugar from Stella Parks), or how to embrace stunning simplicity (Dorie Greenspan's three-ingredient cookies). With James Ransom's vivid photographs throughout, Genius Desserts is destined to become every baker's go-to reference for the very best desserts from the smartest teachers of our time--for all the dinner parties, potlucks, bake sales, and late-night snacks in between.