Claire Saffitz - Whats for Dessert : Simple Recipes for Dessert People

Copyright 2022 by Claire Saffitz

Photographs copyright 2022 by Jenny Huang

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

ISBN9781984826985

Ebook ISBN9781984826992

Photographer: Jenny Huang

Food Stylist: Tyna Hoang

Prop Stylist: Nicole Louie

Editor: Raquel Pelzel

Editorial Assistant: Bianca Cruz

Print Designer: Mia Johnson

Print Production Editor: Joyce Wong

Print Production Manager: Jessica Heim

Compositors: Merri Ann Morrell and Hannah Hunt

Copy Editor: Kate Slate

Indexer: Elizabeth Parson

Marketer: Allison Renzulli

Publicist: Erica Gelbard

Ebook Production Manager: Eric Sailer

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Contents

Recipe Matrix

DIFFICULTY: 1 (VERY EASY)

TOTAL TIME: 5 MIN

TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR

TOTAL TIME: 1.5 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 2 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 2.5 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 3.5 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 4 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 6 HOURS

DIFFICULTY: 2 (EASY)

TOTAL TIME: 5 MIN

TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR

TOTAL TIME: 1.5 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 2 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 2.5 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 3 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 3.5 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 4 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 6 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 12 HOURS +

DIFFICULTY: 3 (MODERATE)

TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR

TOTAL TIME: 1.5 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 2 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 3 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 3.5 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 4 HOURS

TOTAL TIME: 6 HOURS

Introduction

Whats for dessert?

Its a nightly refrain in our house. Without fail, as soon as dinner is done and before the plates are cleared, I turn and ask my husband, Harris, this question with a mix of eagerness and excitement. When Im deep in recipe-testing mode, theres a certain tongue-in-cheekiness to the question, since we might already have a cake or pastry sitting on the countertop. But on other nights, the answer is open-ended. Dessert could be a piece of cookie dough pulled from the freezer and baked, or a spoonful of hot fudge or caramel sauce scooped from a jar in the fridge. Absent any of these options, we get creative. Harris might schmear a little chocolate-hazelnut spread over a graham cracker or whip up a glass of chocolate milk. Or, we simply dip out to our corner bodega for an ice cream bar. Whatever dessert is, I have to have it, and savoring it is a ritual Harris and I always look forward to sharing.

Asking whats for dessert? is more than a nightly routine, its a personal exercise. It prompts me to imagine all the ways I can bestow myself and those around me with (edible) pleasures and comforts. Conceiving an answer and bringing it to life are acts of self-care and care for others. During the pandemic, when many of our normal sources of enjoyment disappeared, the question took on new import. I found myself at home thinking of new and creative ways I could add a little sweetness to daily lifeliterally.

Historically, dessert to me has always meant something baked, but this book expands that definition. Here I embrace a wide variety of desserts, from those cooked on the stovetop to those chilled in the freezer or refrigerator, as well as those served large-format and individually, free-form and composed. Whether youre into flambs, souffls, or simple loaf cakes, theres a happiness-inducing dessert here for everyone. In celebrating this vast and beautiful spectrum, this book offers over 100 different answers to that all-important question: Whats for dessert?

I hope that the breadth of recipes in this book inspires you to discover new ways of being a dessert person (or to become one, if youre not already), but I know this wont happen unless you actually want to prepare the recipes at home in your own kitchen. With that in mind, I take into account home bakers time, space, and budget limitations in an effort to make each recipe as approachable as possible. None requires a stand mixer and only about half require a hand mixer, meaning a great number are makeable entirely by hand.

Like many people, I experienced a degree of burnout in the kitchen after preparing so many meals at home in the early months of the pandemic. This diminished ambition became an asset while I was developing the recipes for this book. It drove me to employ store-bought ingredients both thoughtfully and strategically, and to focus on simple, make-ahead recipes with wide margins of errorwhat Harris calls cooks desserts. Not only can every person find a dessert here to suit their tastes, they can find one to match the time and energy they want to invest as well (see Recipe Matrix on ).

Though none of the recipes in this book rises to the occasion of a project, they range in difficulty level from 1 (Very Easy) to 3 (Moderate). The very easy ones, like my Honey-Roasted Apple Cake (, for more on this approach and a more detailed breakdown of the difficulty ratings.) If youre a beginner, rest assured: No dessert in this book is out of your reach.

I developed each and every recipe with approachability in mind, taking into account home bakers time, space, and budget limitations. None of the recipes requires a stand mixer, about half require a hand mixer, and a great number are makeable entirely by hand.

For inspiration and to broaden my dessert horizons, I turned to cookbooks by lauded pastry chefs and authors such as Claudia Fleming, Gale Gand, Gina DePalma, Emily Luchetti, Karen DeMasco, Dorie Greenspan, and Flo Braker. These works helped me get to know the canons of classic American and European desserts and planted the seeds that became many of the retro-leaning recipes here, like Banana-Sesame Cream Tart (). I also explored the charming and homespun world of community cookbooks, including ones my mom has had on her shelf for years, to learn more about the history of home desserts (these spiral-bound recipe collections, written and compiled by local organizations like church groups and rotary clubs, are gemslook for them in used bookstores and on eBay and Etsy). These sources inspired me to create recipes that feel at times humble and homey and at other times a little fancy, but always fun, joyful, and a touch whimsical.

While this book features many different kinds of desserts, there's a timeless quality to how a great number of them look and taste. In many cases, I dont mess with beloved classics that need no updating, so I provide faithful versions of Crme Brle (). No matter the specific recipe, youll find the clear imprint of my style throughout: lots of fruit, no fussy decoration, clear flavors, and multiple textures.