Ready for Dessert, Revised: My Best Recipes [A Baking Book]

by David Lebovitz

Pastry chef David Lebovitz is known for creating desserts with bold and high-impact flavor, not fussy, complicated presentations. Lucky for us, this translates into showstopping sweets that bakers of all skill levels can master. In Ready for Dessert, elegant finales such as Gâteau Victoire, Black Currant Tea Crème Brûlée, and Anise-Orange Ice Cream Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce are as easy to prepare as comfort foods such as Plum-Blueberry Upside-Down Cake, Creamy Rice Pudding, and Cheesecake Brownies.
 
With his unique brand of humor—and a fondness for desserts with “screaming chocolate intensity”—David serves up a tantalizing array of more than 170 recipes for cakes, pies, tarts, crisps, cobblers, custards, soufflés, puddings, ice creams, sherbets, sorbets, cookies, candies, dessert sauces, fruit preserves, and even homemade liqueurs. David reveals his three a deeply spiced Fresh Ginger Cake; the bracing and beautiful Champagne Gelée with Kumquats, Grapefruits, and Blood Oranges; and his chunky and chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. His trademark friendly guidance, as well as suggestions, storage advice, flavor variations, and tips will help ensure success every time.
 
Accompanied with stunning photos by award-winning photographer Maren Caruso, this new compilation of David’s best recipes to date will inspire you to pull out your sugar bin and get baking or churn up a batch of homemade ice cream. So if you’re ready for dessert (and who isn’t?), you’ll be happy to have this collection of sweet indulgences on your kitchen shelf—and your guests will be overjoyed, too.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

Published September 30, 2025

About the author

David Lebovitz is a sought-after cooking instructor with an award-winning food blog (davidlebovitz.com). Trained as a pastry chef in France and Belgium, David worked at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California for twelve years. He now lives in Paris, France, where he leads culinary tours of the city.

Reviews

[Miss✧Pickypants ᓚᘏᗢ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This revised edition from OG food blogger David Lebovitz is for everyone who loves a good dessert. Based in Paris, the author shares wonderful stories in his headnotes and holds your hand to guide you through his very well-written and detailed recipes. The story in the apricot-marzipan tart headnote was as delightful as the recipe.

Inside you will find bakes (cookies, pies and cakes) but also egg-based indulgences (like pudding, custard and soufflé), candies and a most excellent chapter on frozen desserts. The inclusion of all the approachable ice cream, sherbet and sorbet recipes was an unexpected treat.

The only thing that would have made the book better would have been to include more pictures of the heavenly sounding desserts. I was actually surprised at the sparseness of the photos, but that shouldn't dissuade you from picking up this book.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Lebovitz made a name for himself as a pastry chef in some of the top restaurants in America, including Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse. When he left, he started writing about food and creating recipes on his website, which became the first food blog. Several years later, he moved to Paris, while his blog increased in popularity. He wrote cookbooks, he wrote about living in France, he wrote about everything. For 25 years, he kept learning and writing and testing recipes, and now he’s revisited his original cookbook, Ready for Dessert, and updated every recipe for today’s cooks (and eaters).

Lebovitz doesn’t create bakes that are overly decorated or pretentious. He focuses on the best ingredients he can find, whether that’s a good chocolate, fresh fruit from the farmer’s market, or farm-fresh eggs. But he also understands that not every baker has unlimited funds, so he gives tips for saving money too. He focuses his recipes on flavor and texture, whether that’s for his New York Cheesecake, Cherry-Almond Cobbler, Meyer Lemon Sorbet, Chocolate Pots de Creme, or Sesame-Orange Almond Tuiles.

The best part of this cookbook (aside from 125 dessert recipes that are packed with flavor) are the stories that come along with each recipe. The stories are short, but they’re about real life in Paris, they’re about travels around Europe, and the origins of these recipes. Lebovitz learned about truffles from a professional course taught at the Valrhona chocolate factory, he got the recipe for his Racines cake off the wall of a men’s room in Paris, he learned to make Robert’s Ultimate Brownies from Robert Steinberg, who cofounded Scharffen Berger bean-to-bar chocolate makers who changed the chocolate industry. Not many bloggers have stories like these about their recipes.

There is a wide variety of dessert recipes in this book, from cakes and cookies to fruit desserts, ice creams, custards and souffles, and even candies. And of course, there is that all-important chapter of basic recipes, like pie dough, sauces, pate a choux puffs, frangipane, pastry cream, and jams. Then there are several pages dedicated to caramelization, include photos of the entire process, which I love. Anyone who has ever watched a baking show on television knows how a caramel can turn on you, so having these guidelines from a master pastry chef will come in handy to give instruction and confidence in this trickly ingredient.

Reading through this cookbook makes me want to bake my way through it. There are so many delicious recipes here that I want to try, some that are favorites (Chocolate Crackled Cookies) and some that I’ve never heard of before (Marjolaine, a French cake with layers of praline, dark chocolate, and meringue). There are recipes for every taste and skill level, and learning even a handful of them would make you the favorite baker of your friends with good taste. My one grumble about this cookbook is that there are not photos of all the recipes. I just want to drink in all the beautiful photography, and there are a lot of tempting photos, but not of everything.

This is a cookbook I will keep on a nearby shelf and pull out from time to time. Sometimes I will use it to bake another tasty treat. Sometimes I will pull it out and read it like a novel. I love the feeling of being in Paris, but without having to worry about airport parking. I can stay home and visit Lebovitz’s France, and then make a cake or ice cream or truffles based on the warm feeling I get from reading about the recipe. Ready for Dessert is iconic, and the updated recipes are on point for today’s bakers.

Ten Speed Press provided me with a free copy of Ready for Dessert, Revised, with many thanks, but the opinions are my own.

[Amy Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Lebovitz has long been a favorite dessert/pastry chef, and I've enjoyed his writing since way back in 1999 when he started what would turn out to be the very first food blog. His instructions are always clear, he's good about mentioning substitutions without sacrificing the quality of the finished product, and his perspective as an American living in France adds a little je ne sais quoi to his writing.

This title is a revamp of his 2010 book by the same name, but it feels fresh and new. Lebovitz starts off with a chapter on cakes, including classic chocolate and cheesecake offerings but also more unusual desserts such as marjolaine (cake layered with praline, meringue, and chocolate) and nectarine-raspberry upside-down gingerbread. Fruit-based sweets ran the gamut from baked favorites like tarts, cobblers, pies, and financiers to pavlovas and a tropical fruit soup. Creamy desserts include a variety of creme brulees, souffles, and puddings, as well as French desserts such as pots de creme and ile de flottante. Readers looking for frozen desserts can try their hand at ice creams, sorbets, and gelatos, or step it up with ice cream-filled profiteroles and a baked Alaska. Cookie recipes range from American favorites like chocolate chip and black and white cookies to European-inspired treats like Zimtsterne and Palets Bretons. For cooks wanting to add a little something homemade to a storebought dessert, the last chapter features sauces, jams, and other accompaniments, as well as basics such as pie crusts and other doughs.

All recipes include weight measurements in both ounces and grams, as well as suggestions for variations, serving and storing.

*Thank you to Edelweiss for the advance review copy.

[Annmarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ready for Dessert
By David Lebovitz

The cover page of Ready for Dessert clues us in with its subtitle – My Best Recipes ! Well, I’m always ready for dessert and I am very interested in a chef’s “best recipes” !
The chapters begin with a straightforward introduction in which the author shares his background and talks about his inspiration for this book.
The ingredients section shouldn’t be skipped with information about types of ingredients and why they are important in recipes. So useful.
Same with the equipment section that comes next. It gives very detailed information about what we should have on hand and why.

The following six chapters are easy to understand and follow and include A LOT of recipes making this book well worth the price:
cakes - 30 recipes
pies, tarts, and fruit desserts - 32 recipes
Custards, souffles, and puddings -15 recipes
frozen desserts – 31 recipes
cookies and candies - 31 recipes
basics, sauces and preserves 35 recipes

That last one was a little different from the others as it provided recipes for dessert basics like tart dough, pie dough, galette dough etc ; sauces like sabayon, caramel, chocolate and fruit sauces; and candied fruits and marmalades. All recipes that are adaptable to your own baking whims.
Most recipes have photos, all have US and Metric measurements, give servings number and are made with readily available ingredients. The book lies completely flat when open – a plus. Great holiday gift.
Ten Speed Press provided me with a free copy of this book; the opinions are my own.

[Brenda Dickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this revised edition of Ready for Dessert; My Best Recipes by renowned pastry chef, David Lebovitz, are all of the jewels in the crown. Included in the book is an excellent introduction that includes ingredients and equipment. The recipes are very clear with simple directions and a photo of the finished dessert is included with each one. I made the Devil's Food Cake (my favorite) and it was absolute perfection!
This is a beautiful book with great writing and wonderful photography. I highly recommend this book for a beginning baker/dessert maker or a pro.
Ten Speed Press provided me with a free copy of this book; the opinions are my own.

[Kristen Barenthaler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm more of a salty dessert girl, and even I am ready for these recipes! Decadent, delicious, beautiful, and bright. These treats will have you begging for more.

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ir was a good read.