The Desserts of New York:

by Yasmin Newman

The Desserts of New York is the realization of Yasmin Newman's dream to eat her way around New York. In this hybrid recipe-book-meets-travel-journal, Yasmin's mission takes her through the city's vibrant neighborhoods, where a plethora of colorful characters and quintessential New York moments add life to her experience. The 50 recipes that accompany tales of Yasmin's adventure are takes on the city's best desserts – from the number one-voted old-school Jewish chocolate babka to Dominque Ansel's cult favorite, the cronut.

Chapters cover Doughnuts, Cookies and Bars; Pastries, Buns and Bites; Cakes, Pies and Puddings; and Created and Plated, and within each chapter readers are offered a guide to the top places to find these types of desserts, along with a brief description of the venue. Think Eat Pray Love meets edgy New York, and prepare yourself for one deliciously cool ride.

240 pages, Hardcover

Published July 18, 2017

About the author

Yasmin Newmanis a food and travel writer, photographer and presenter, as well as the author of two critically acclaimed cookbooks. In The Desserts of New York (And How to Eat Them All), she packs up her family for a food lover’s adventure in one of the world’s most iconic cities. In 7000 Islands, she shares all the personal memories, cultural insights and beloved recipes that have made the book a global favourite. Born to a Filipino mother and Australian father, Yasmin lives with her young family on the Central Coast, just north of Sydney, and travels regularly to the Philippines.

Reviews

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is infuriating. The title and the format would seem to indicate some kind of survey of New York sweets, but by her own admission she only covered places in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and only a small selection at that: They're all upscale or hipster haunts, nothing that hasn't been covered 1,000 times by other books and blogs already. She also only focused on Western sweets, which means a great deal of the culinary diversity of New York was ignored.

It's also not really a list of the best places or a real travelogue; the sections where she talks about herself and her travels are thin as hell, mere introductions to the recipes that populate the book. It feels like what she really wanted to do was write a cookbook but needed a gimmick, so it was pitched as a "I explored the sweets of New York" and it pretends to be that in some places but really doesn't explore the city in depth. Instead we get a bunch of clichéd lines and travel tips about the city, in a tone that treats the city as some kind of exotic wonder that's been undiscovered by the outside world. Who the hell is the audience for this book anyway? It seems like the kind of book a New Yorker would want to check out (as I did) to find new places, but they're more likely to walk away insulted without learning about any desserts they didn't already know about, since she ends up mentioning the same locations over and over and over again.

But this isn't really a travel guide, it's a cookbook, right? Full of recipes for classic New York desserts? Nope. She mentions some classic and not-so-classic desserts, and then for 90% of them she prints her own recipe, her own "take" on the dish. So if you were looking for "classic" New York cheesecake or babka you're going to come away disappointed. You'd be better off grabbing a copy of BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts.

Oh, and she not only calls a black and white cookie overrated, but says that's how most New Yorkers feel. Who exactly has she been talking to with this blasphemy?

[Rae (Rachel) Lipkin-Bajor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay maybe I don’t like this book because I thought I was gonna learn something but I really didn’t. I know A LOT about dessert in NYC. But what really got me was the layout of the book. It was confusing, the recipes were ok but also seemed confusing like why make a dessert when you can buy it and you’re telling me where to get it? I don’t know that’s just my opinion.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so readable, for someone such as me who reads recipe book! Yasmin made me want to pack a bag and head to New York right away. I would have liked photos of all the recipes in the book.

[BooksIHated · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why does she have recipes there?! I wanted to read about different restaurants of New York and what desserts they have to offer. I wanted a lot of accompanying pictures of - you guessed it - DESSERTS! Instead she has many random pictures of people in parks, libraries etc.. Like, who cares? And by the way, did tgose people give her permission to be placed in a book? I wouldn't want to appear in some rando's lousy book. Show me desserts!

I expected thorough comparisons of creams, fillings, textures, cake batters. I expected her to tell me things like "This is a great place to go if you like your desserts creamy and not to sweet", "This is a place that serves cakes with aromatic herbs". And more pictures of food! My God, this book should be called "Random people and places of New York who had the misfortune to get in front of my camera and some random recipes (infuriatingly without pictures this time) for larger page count".

It's a travesty she even got published. This drivel belongs on some forgettable blog.

EDIT: Pages 66-80 seem to be in GERMAN. For the American edition (as far as I'm aware, that's the only edition available. Did an editor even look at tgis before printing?

And a note to the author: "rockabilly" is a style, not a type of a person. Is she completely uneducated?

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great desserts and recipes. This book brought back great memories of my trips to NYC!

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and fun to read

[BookTrib.com]

Food writer Yasmin Newman had a dream to eat her way around New York City (don’t we all?). In this book, she brings readers along on her journey to try the very best desserts that the Big Apple has to offer—everything from the classic black and white cookie to the cronut. For our full review (and for more mouth watering reading recommendations) click here! https://booktrib.com/2017/07/cook-way...