Dessert Course: Lessons in the Whys and Hows of Baking

by Benjamin Delwiche

Becoming the baker of your dreams is easy—all it takes is a healthy appetite for learning and pinch of persistence!

You don’t need a pantry full of specialty ingredients and equipment to become a great baker. You’ll quickly learn in Dessert Course that mastering a few foundational skills and understanding the whys and hows of baking science is all you need.

Benjamin Delwiche, AKA Benjamin the Baker, is a math teacher by day and renegade social media baking scientist by night. His approach to baking is inspired by his approach to teaching—he’s committed to breaking down the mystery of baking success so his audience, like his students, can become stronger and more knowledgeable.

First, you’ll learn how to break down a recipe, the essential mixing methods, and even how to re-formulate any recipe to make it work to your advantage. Let’s say you want to make chocolate chip cookies but you only have a few tablespoons of flour left—using Ben’s Baker’s Percentages technique, you’ll be able to figure out how many cookies you can make. The second half of the book showcases over 30 core recipes with variations—each one includes a flow chart so you can bake your own adventure. You’ll be able to visually understand what makes a chewy chocolate chip cookie vs a crispy one and what it will take to get to your desired destination. 

Above all else, this book is a celebration of the art and science of the ingredients, the recipes, and the concepts that make a baked good both technically successful and undeniably delicious.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Food, Cooking

304 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 2025

Reviews

[Miss✧Pickypants ᓚᘏᗢ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cool cookbook for baking nerds who want to understand the how and why principles of baking. This would also be a great book for fledgling bakers to learn the fundamentals of baking. What I especially liked were the pictures that showed how differences in technique can impact the final baked product.

I did wish there were more pictures of the finished baked dishes, these were very sparse. The other thing that I didn't appreciate was the vast majority of recipe instructions refer the reader to steps outlined in the start of the book (e.g., follow the creaming method outlined on page 36) which has you flipping the pages back and forth. Each recipe had its own full page and there was ample room to include the referenced missing steps. From a teaching perspective I understand why the recipes were presented in this way but it isn't very practical when trying to follow the recipes.

Nevertheless it is still a very good cookbook to learn from.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Benjamin Delwiche, full-time math teacher and part-time baker, has designed a book for older children but excellent for anyone. As you can guess from the subtitle, Delwiche turns baking into very useful math and science lessons. What a great idea! At the same time, Delwiche has baking lessons adults will love, too. For example, he introduces 10 different mixing methods. Who knew there were 10? Not me!

Delwiche delivers yummy recipes ranging from cookies to pies to cakes to sweet breads to sauces. With splashy photos of not just the recipes but the tools, Delwiche has produced one of the best cookbooks for young people ever! They’ll come for the recipes and stay for the math and techniques. I’m an old lady, and I loved Delwiche and his cookbook, too. Five sugary stars!

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and DK in exchange for an honest review.

[Courtney H · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those cookbooks that’s more helpful to bake your way through the entire thing rather than picking out individual recipes you want to try.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic cookbook! This is a perfect cookbook for beginners. It is very thorough with the tips for baking. The photos show you examples of recipes that are cooked incorrectly and how to properly cook them. You can learn how to make almost anything you want to bake from this. I would highly recommend this! Special Thank You to to Benjamin Delwiche, DK Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Rafy Ansari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! It teaches you the fundamentals of baking and is a must have for anyone looking to get into baking.

[Jacinda Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid baking book that went over how modifying the ratio of ingredients and mixing techniques change the final texture of baked goods. I liked the comparison photos, but I wish that there were labelled photos of the recipes in the book / more labels on the photos in general. I would have liked to see brief descriptions of the recipe variations and how they differ. I found myself googling a lot to see what the finished recipe would look like or even to get a brief description on what the dessert was. Also, I found that most of the emphasis was on the texture of the baked good, and I wish it went more in-depth about the flavor. It would have been amazing if it went over how to incorporate flavorings into dessert (I'm thinking for example, how to add matcha or strawberries into a dessert and modify the ratio of the other ingredients to keep the ending consistency somewhat the same, but I'm probably just asking for too much). I think overall, it was a good introductory book, but I wish it went into the topics more in depth and had better visuals.

[Cherryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

** Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review **

As someone who values precision, efficiency, and a deep understanding of processes, Dessert Course: Lessons in the Whys and Hows of Baking by Benjamin Delwiche was an absolute revelation. This isn't just another cookbook; it's a masterclass in the science of baking, meticulously explaining the "why" behind every "how." Delwiche, with his background as a math teacher, brings a refreshing, logical rigor to the often-intuitive art of baking. I found his clear explanations of how different ingredients and methods impact the final product to be incredibly insightful, elevating my understanding far beyond mere recipe following.

What truly sets this book apart is its utility for bakers across the spectrum – from novices seeking to demystify complex techniques to seasoned pros looking to refine their craft. The inclusion of recipes with thoughtful variations, alongside visual flowcharts that illustrate how to achieve specific textures, demonstrates a profound commitment to truly educating the reader. While a few more photos for every recipe would have been a nice addition, and I occasionally yearned for even deeper dives into flavor modifications, these are minor considerations. Ultimately, for anyone who appreciates a systematic, well-explained approach to mastering a skill, Dessert Course is an indispensable guide that transforms baking from a set of instructions into a truly understood and controllable process. Highly recommended for those who love to learn as much as they love to bake.

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dessert Course focuses on the science behind baking. They show the different ways to make similar recipes through the modification of ingredients to achieve different textured treats. I would like to see more modifications of flavor components. For example how to add in new flavors without compromising the texture of the treats. The recipes go over what certain mixing methods result in and show pictures of the process.

The Sections are
How to Use this Book
Tools Used
Measuring and Scaling
Mixing Methods
The Recipes

Each recipe has mixing methods, yield, time (prep, inactive, bake), special equipment, ingredients, methods, modification recipes, and a flow chart for modifications. The pictures provided show how different techniques and ingredients alter the result.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Darcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ran across this author while scrolling on instagram, thought what he talked about baking was interesting and saw that he had this book. My library had it, so I requested it despite feeling very confident in my baking abilities.

If you are a beginner baking this is a great book to have, worth the investment in purchasing it in hardcover. The book is laid out very well, has easy basic recipes that are a great place to start and he explained why things are done they way they are, even shows examples of the best result and 2 others, under/over of using different ingredients for different outcomes. The pages are thick, lots of pictures and very easy to read.

I did pick up a couple of tips and want to try a couple of recipes. So even if you are confident in your skills, this one is worth checking out.

[Estrella · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Thorough, Well-Thought Baking book

At first, I recognized him putting video shorts on YouTube on the how's and why's showing ingredients used makes a difference for a recipe.
This baking desserts and bread book is comprehensive, detailed and gives you a clear understanding what works on baking different results on baked goods. I love the how's and why's, illustrated baked goods, a list of Ingredients and how each amount affects the appearance and flavor of baked goods.
This book is for every bakery of every level from beginners to advanced. It's a nice book to have in your kitchen library.
It will give you knowledge, awareness on becoming a better intuitive, inquisitive ( observant) and creative baker.
Practice makes it perfect. Perfect food reference for recipe developers too.

[Lisa H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get this book...

Especially if you like math. Written by a part time baker, full time math teacher, this book takes a look at baking with precision and math and logic. A recipe is just a formula and Ben tweaks the recipes to see what works best and gives you the hows and the whys. I would get this book for the tip on how to properly blind bake a pie crust alone. How could I have not known this method? I really like all the variations on shortbread and peanut butter cookies.

Metric and cups, measured in both grams and cups, the recipes have both and I feel that's the only way to go. I especially liked the 3 versions on a sheet pan photos.
Highly recommend.

[Craig C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to experiment with their baking. Ben does a great job of explaining the science (Alton Brown would be proud) and also showing the various options that make the difference between a basic roll to a fancy brioche. From cookies to frostings, sauces, and ganache; from pies to cakes and yeasted breads this is a great learning tool that has all the basic recipes and suggestions on how to tweak a baked good to your own idea of perfection.

Highly recommended to anyone that likes to figure out how to make the perfect pastry and likes to experiment in the kitchen.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another content creator, another cookbook. This one stands out from others as it specializes in baking. The author (also a math teacher) does a good job of explaining and showing the difference in baking results via ingredients and methods. The recipes are well written and don’t require any “special ingredients”. You might not be familiar with milk powder or toasted milk powder, but you’ll find it at most grocery stores and the author explains how to toast it. This would be a 5 star cookbook if it actually contained photos of all recipes (it falls WAY short of that).

[Katie O’Shaughnessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cook book is very technical and while it makes my brain hurt a little, it explains all the times my desserts didn’t come out as I hoped! Benjamin lists each possible outcome of a dessert and tells you exactly how to achieve that outcome, and explains why each ingredient/process changes the result.
I feel like another level of the baking world has been made accessible to me through this book!

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting perspectives on how to classify baked items based on techniques.

[Stephanie Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and fascinating book about the science behind baking!

[Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really clear breakdown on baking basics!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! More detail than I have bandwidth for just now, but everything is here, clearly explained.

[Sam Albala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Proteins / acid / base / moisture content / flavor formation

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the approach, amazing for baking nerds like me!