Table of Contents
Satisfy your hidden pastry chef self with my favorite Dessert and Baking Cookbooks. This personally curated selection of cookbooks may not make the New York Times Best Seller List, but they are secret gems that will elevate your baking skills. From classic favorites to one-of-a-kind desserts, you will embark on a delicious, sweet adventure that will fulfill any craving. Whether you’re a seasoned pastry chef or just starting, this guide hopefully will be your go-to resource for creating crowd pleasing desserts that will leave a lasting impression.
These cooks can make a well-received gift for your best friends, your mother or even your boss! Everybody deserves a few sweet treats from time to time!
All books mentioned are largely available on Amazon.com and various brick and mortar bookstores. I don’t mention the retail price as prices change daily.
🧁Cakespy presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life by Jessie Oleson
If you are unsure what dessert to make today, during the holidays or for a gathering with friends, Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life is here to save you. The 70-recipe book is organized in seven chapters each of which is dedicated to a specific sweet-treat category. You move from Breakfast to Cookies, to Cakes, Pies, Chills, Seasonal and one for the “Sweet Nothings”.
Start your day with a Birthday Cake French Toast or Twice-Fried Doughnuts, then make some Rainbow Cookies. If you are in the mood for a cake, why you don’t try the Cakes Bakes in Jars? If pies are calling you, bake the Brownie Pie. On Thanksgiving Day, make the Leftover Cranberry Sauce Bar Cookies. And for one-of-a-kind treat, go for the Candy Salad.
Now you have it all and your life will indeed be full with sugar and joy!
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🍨Mexican Ice Cream: Beloved Recipes and Stories by Fany Gerson
Mexico is the birthplace of vanilla and chocolate, and therefore, the country has a rich ice cream tradition. If you are an Ice Cream fanatic, consider this book as your mini Mexican Ice Cream encyclopedia. In 173 pages, five chapters and 67 recipes, you will learn everything you need to know to make your own! Are sorbets your favorites? Then you can make the Pineapple-Herb Sorbet or the Oaxacan Lime Sorbet. Move to Classical Mexican Ice Creams chapter, you have 17 different options. You can try the Avocado Ice Cream, White Corn Ice Cream or the impressive Rose Petal Ice Cream.
From the Modern Mexican Ice Cream chapter make the Tres Leches Ice Cream or if you are brave the Tamarind-Chile Sorbet with Grasshoppers! If you like your Ice Cream boozy, the following Spicy and Boozy Flavors chapter won’t disappoint you. With 12 recipes you have plenty of options. The Tropical Margarita Sorbet is probably my favorite but there is also a Deviled Mango Sorbet. The last chapter is about Cones, Toppings, and Sauces. Learn to make Sugar Cones and you can’t go wrong with a Goat’s Milk Caramel.
What is your favorite? As the popular saying claims “the best ice cream is the one you like the best”.
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🥟Madeleines: Elegant French Tea Cakes to Bake and Share by Barbara Feldman Morse
The widely acclaimed French pastry and Marcel Proust childhood favorite, the Madeleine is not as intimidating to make as you may think. In her book Madeleines: Elegant French Tea Cakes to Bake and Share, the author names Madeleines as tea cakes. It is not clear what the Madeleines are: mini cakes or soft cookies? It does not matter.
This book will satisfy your sweet tooth for Madeleines of any time or shape from the Classic French and Banana Pecan to Snowball Madeleines, Maple Syrup Madeleines and even Peaches & Cream Madeleines. You will find savory as well like the Buttery Cornbread, Chipotle Madeleines with Green Chilis and even with Caramelized Onion and Asiago Cheese.
The 175-page book is a Madeleines treasure and contains 74 appetizing recipes that you will really be willing to make.
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Try our flourless Pumpkin Spice Almond Madeleines recipe here
🍰Paleo Sweets and Treats: Seasonally Inspired Desserts that Let You Have Your Cake and Your Paleo Lifestyle, Too by Heather Connell
If you are a Paleo diet fanatic, this dessert book is for you. The paleo lifestyle approved sugary treats, are divided into five exclusive chapters four of which are dedicated to the four seasons and the final for all-year treats.
During spring, make desserts with fresh flavors utilizing local vegetables and fruits like rhubarb, apricots, and strawberries. I picked the Honey Mint Rhubarb Sorbet and the Mini Lemon Cheesecakes with Raspberries to make. Moving into the summer, try a fresh Blueberry and Blackberry Crumble or a Peach Tart. Autumn is celebrated with sweet and savory flavors like the Apple Spice Cakie Cookies, Carrot-Apple Whoopie Pies, or the Pumpkin Truffle.
Winter calls for warm flavors so the Orange Pomegranate Cupcakes with Orange Cream or the Salted Dark Chocolate-Dipped Clementines are the perfect fit. Finally, for your favorite treats that you can enjoy the entire year, you can’t go wrong with Graham Crackers or a Vanilla Spiced Custard Pie.
This paleo diet focused book provides resources on how to stock your paleo baking pantry, grain-free flours, natural sweeteners, coconut milks as well as tips on how to make seasonally.
This 176-page book with 83 recipes is indeed for everybody to enjoy!
Click here to buy the book
A paleo diet inspired recipe? Try our Dark Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
🍞Tartine Bread: Artisan Bread Cookbook, Best Bread Recipes, Sourdough Book by Chad Robertson
A must have book about bread is the Tartine Bread, written by Chad Robertson, the co-owner of the Tartine bakery in San Francisco. The book features more than 50 sweet and savory recipes for bread and baked goods from Day-Old Bread, Basic Country Bread with variations, Semolina and Whole-Wheat Breads, Baguettes and Brioches. You will also find out about the signature baked French Toast, Croissants, Bostock, Baba with Prosecco Poached Nectarines, Trouble Affogato and Summer Pudding. You will find savory recipes like Kale Caesar, Pea Bruschetta, Panade, and more. Recipes are presented like stories and are paired with black and white and colorful photos. But no matter savory or sweet, there is only one protagonist in each recipe: Bread.
Fact: Only the Basic Country Bread recipe and its variations takes an entire chapter and pages 42-103!
This book is an ode to bread. Give up your gluten free diet for good and will give your buttery croissant another chance!
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🍚The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, edited by Darra Goldstein
Literary my desserts bible. From descriptions of pasties and sweetbreads to baking techniques and obscure sugar history, the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets is the quintessential reference book to sweet treats everything. Written for the geeky baker and pastry chef afficionado, it provides insightful information, resources, and in-depth knowledge from layer cakes to zabaglione and from blancmange to sour cream, measurement techniques and artificial sweeteners to name a few! This amazing guide comprises a total of 888 pages that makes it an encyclopedia of sugary goods and world-famous desserts!
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Did you make this? Capture a snapshot of your dessert and share it with us on Instagram by tagging @theistravels or using the hashtag #wedesserts. We can’t wait to admire your creation!
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