Claire Saffitz - Whats for Dessert: Simple Recipes for Dessert People: A Baking Book

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I want to thank my husband, Harris, for providing unwavering and impassioned support, inspiration, and encouragementalways, but especially throughout the process of writing this book and Dessert Person as well. I could not have done either without you. I also want to thank my family: Mom, Dad, Emily, Jane, Don, Nick, my niece and nephew, and my in-laws, Ross and Morisa. You have all nurtured me, bolstered me, and provided much-needed (and much-appreciated) perspective.

My heartfelt thanks also goes out to:

My literary agent, David Black, a great friend and most trusted resource, for his guidance and reassurance, as well as Ayla Zuraw-Friedland and Rachel Ludwig at the David Black Agency, for their hard work and assistance.

The team at Clarkson Potter: My editor, Raquel Pelzel, for her patience, understanding, and guidance; Stephanie Huntwork, for her artistic input and support; Mia Johnson, for designing such a beautiful book and sharing in my vision; Francis Lam, for his thoughtful encouragement; Joyce Wong, for her incredible attention to detail and commitment throughout the editing process; and Bianca Cruz, for her superb assistance with practically every aspect of this project.

My creative team: Photographer Jenny Huang for the extraordinary talent and dedication she brought to conceiving and executing the exceptional images in this book, with assistance from Shri Prasham Parameshwaran; food stylist Tyna Hoang, along with Alyssa Kondracki and Veronica Martinez, for their superlative food styling and tireless work throughout our shoot; and prop stylist Nicole Louie, with assistance from Camila Guerrero, for bringing boundless creativity and supreme organization to building the world of Whats for Dessert .

My video crew: Vincent Cross, Cal Robertson, and Michael Guggino. You all supported me through this process with humor, understanding, and encouragement. I am so appreciative of your friendship and the work youve put into helping me build the Dessert Person YouTube channel.

My friends, especially Emily Graff, for her compassionate advice and patient listening, and Sue Li, for always inspiring me. Albert Husmillo, for assisting me with the utmost attention and care, and for being such a joy to work with. My neighbors, Brant and Anne Marie Janeway, for their enthusiastic feedback. My recipe testers, for volunteering their time and energies and helping me to make the recipes as good as they could be.

All the Dessert People out there who bake from Dessert Person, watch my videos on YouTube, and support my work: This book is for you, too.

Lastly: Maya, Felix, and Archiewhat would I do without you!

A special acknowledgment to the following brands for loaning us props to help make the photography in What's for Dessert beautiful and unique.

• Lily Juliet: Tapas Bowls in Celadon ()

• Caspari: Dress Stewart Tartan Die-Cut Placemat ()

• Areaware: Steven Bukowski Terrace Candle Holder ()

Claire Saffitz is the New York Times bestselling author of Dessert Person and host of the cookbook companion YouTube series Dessert Person. She lives in and out of New York City with her husband, cats, and chickens.

Other Essential Techniques

FOLDING A MIXTURE

Folding is a gentle mixing method typically employed to preserve the volume of an airy component like beaten egg whites or whipped cream while incorporating it into another preparation, like a souffl base or mousse, in order to lighten it. It works best when the components are similar in texture, but if theyre notfor example, melted chocolate and beaten egg whites for chocolate moussethe denser component is quickly mixed with a portion of the lighter one to lighten it before the two are folded together. Folding can also be used to incorporate flour when you want to minimize gluten development.

1. COMBINE, SCRAPE, AND LIFT: Working in a wide bowl with plenty of room to maneuver, combine the two components and, holding the bowl with one hand, use the other hand to draw a large flexible spatula down the side of the bowl and along the bottom so its underneath the mixture, then bring it upward through the mixture while simultaneously turning the spatula over. The idea is to mix the components gently by lifting whats sitting on the bottom of the bowl and bringing it to the top.

2. ROTATE AND REPEAT: Rotate the bowl slightly and repeat the motion, this time drawing the spatula down through the center of the mixture, along the bottom, then back up again, turning it over with a flick of the wrist as you reach the surface. Continue to fold, using this motion and rotating the bowl each time, until the end point noted in the recipe.

CREAMING BUTTER AND SUGAR

While its possible to cream butter and sugar to a moderate degree by hand with a wooden spoon or flexible spatula (and lots of persistence and elbow grease), its so much easier to achieve thorough creaming with an electric mixer. The mixture should be pale, fluffy, and voluminous. The beating action forces sharp-edged sugar crystals to cut into the soft butter, which creates tons of tiny air pockets and dissolves some of the sugar. Those tiny air pockets carry over into batters and doughs and expand in the hot oven during baking, which is why creaming lends lift to cakes and cookies (called mechanical leavening).

1. COMBINE THE SUGAR AND BUTTER: Make sure the butter is at room temperature but not warm. It should have a waxy, malleable texture and not look shiny or greasy. In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat with a hand mixer on low speed just until the mixture is smooth. (You can also combine the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low.)

2. BEAT THE MIXTURE, SCRAPING DOWN THE SIDES, UNTIL LIGHT AND FLUFFY: Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and continue to beat, pausing often to thoroughly scrape down the sides of the bowl, until the mixture is very pale, voluminous, and fluffy. Depending on the quantities of butter and sugar, this could take upwards of 5 minutes with a hand mixer (and a minute or two less with a stand mixer). It is possible to overbeat the butter and sugar, which would cause the mixture to deflate, so no need to go beyond the point of light and fluffy.

FORMING LOGS OF COOKIE DOUGH

Shaping cookie dough into tight, compact cylinders allows you to slice and bake dozens of uniform coin-shaped cookies efficiently and with very few scraps.

1. SQUEEZE THE DOUGH INTO A ROUGH LOG: Place a rectangular piece of parchment paper on the work surface and place all (or a portion, depending on the recipe) of the dough on top. Squeeze the cookie dough with your hands to form it into a rough log running across the center of the parchment, taking care to squeeze out any air pockets [A], .

2. PRESS THE DOUGH INTO THE PARCHMENT: Fold the edge of parchment paper thats farthest from you over the dough. Hold the parchment paper in place with one hand, then, with your other, rest the flat edge of a bench scraper on top of the parchment and push it toward the dough at a downward angle [B], . This will compress the dough inside the parchment into a round shape. Repeat this motion across the length of the dough, trying not to tear the parchment, until you have a tight, even cylinder.

3. WRAP THE LOG IN PLASTIC AND COMPACT AGAIN: Roll up the log in the parchment paper as snugly as possible, then wrap the entire log tightly in plastic, leaving a bit of overhang on both ends. Firmly twist the ends of the plastic wrap (along with any overhanging parchment), further compressing the dough into a cylinder and flattening the ends [C, D], . Refrigerate the dough until its firm and sliceable.