Food52 Genius Desserts: 100 Recipes That Will Change the Way You Bake

by Kristen Miglore

In this follow-up to the IACP award-winning, New York Times best-selling cookbook Genius Recipes, Food52 is back with the most beloved and talked-about desserts of our time (and the under-the-radar gems that will soon join their ranks)--in a collection that will make you a local legend, and a smarter baker to boot.

IACP AWARD WINNER - Featured as one of the best and most anticipated fall cookbooks by the New York Times, Eater, Epicurious, The Kitchn, Kitchen Arts & Letters, Delish, Mercury News, Sweet Paul, and PopSugar.

Drawing from her James Beard Award-nominated Genius Recipes column and powered by the cooking wisdom and generosity of the Food52 community, creative director Kristen Miglore set out to unearth the most game-changing dessert recipes from beloved cookbook authors, chefs, and bakers--and collect them all in one indispensable guide.

This led her to iconic desserts spanning the last century: Maida Heatter's East 62nd Street Lemon Cake, Fran�ois Payard's Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies, and Nancy Silverton's Butterscotch Budino. But it also turned up little-known gems: a comforting Peach Cobbler with Hot Sugar Crust from Renee Erickson and an imaginative Parsnip Cake with Blood Orange Buttercream from Lucky Peach, along with genius tips, riffs, and mini-recipes, and the lively stories behind each one.

The genius of this collection is that Kristen has scouted out and rigorously tested recipes from the most trusted dessert experts, finding over 100 of their standouts. Each recipe shines in a different way and teaches you something new, whether it's how to use unconventional ingredients (like Sunset's whole orange cake), how to make the most of brilliant methods (roasted sugar from Stella Parks), or how to embrace stunning simplicity (Dorie Greenspan's three-ingredient cookies). With photographer James Ransom's riveting images throughout, Genius Desserts is destined to become every baker's go-to reference for the very best desserts from the smartest teachers of our time--for all the dinner parties, potlucks, bake sales, and late-night snacks in between.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Culinary, Food and Drink

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2018

Reviews

[The Candid Cover (Olivia & Lori) · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love desserts and are looking for some recipes that are tried, tested, and true, then Food52 Genius Desserts is one that you should try. The writing is straight forward and the book contains many helpful ideas to create perfect desserts. This is one book that I will be putting on my gift-giving list this year.

Full review on The Candid Cover

[roxi Net · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've reviewed other Food52 cookbooks, thought they were great, and this one is no exception. I laughed a bit more with this cookbook ('heating' vs 'preheating' the oven, a photo of 'your hands' as a tool) and it got me excited about searching out different/funky shaped molds for cakes. To be fair, I am NOT a baker, but I like the outcome! I was excited to see "how to make mint chocolate chip cookies' which I have not made in eons and a brownie recipe (it's hard to find a 'plain and simple' one!). The book is beautifully laid out, great photos, and easy to follow numbered instructions. I need those numbers :)

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a few recipes that sound a bit odd (parsley cake? really?) but everything looks so good that I'd give it all a try. These recipes seem simple enough to not be intimidating but still interesting enough to be appealing. All the pictures are definitely a big help along with the included tips for certain recipes and ingredients. I definitely want to try the blackberry cobbler and the olive oil cake.

[Daisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

You could possibly get rid of all your other dessert cookbooks and just use this one. It's comprehensive, charming, full of tips, and the photographs are gorgeous. Everything is so tempting, I even want to try recipes I never thought I'd try. So it's opening my mind to new things and it's got the classics you'll always want to whip up.

Some of my favorites:
Fregolotta
Atlantic Beach Pie
East 62nd Street Lemon Cake

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully photographed and accompanied by just enough narrative to provide spice, this cookbook promised a lot. So, it should be no surprise that it failed to change the way I bake. To date, I have tried four recipes and have found each to be.............. OK. Interesting hacks abound, but not enough to really move this off of my bookshelf of to-be-donated at the next library sale pile. I'd pick this up at the library and check it out before purchasing.

[Anna Catherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I actually read Genius Desserts from cover to cover. Okay, I skimmed some of the recipes, but I read every one of the descriptions and tips.
It's an interesting book, and it reads like a very nice, pretty food blog, with substantial reasons as to how the recipes were made, and why they're genius.
Since I got it from the library, I unfortunately didn't have time to make all the recipes that looked good to me. I will say, the peanut butter cookies I tried first were delicious, and the Atlantic Beach Pie really is tasty, easy, and very ingenious, with its three-ingredient crust using, of all things, saltines(!), its three-ingredient filling, and plain whipped cream topping.
One thing I found interesting and of note is the number of gluten-free and/or vegan recipes. While by no means dominant, they are sprinkled throughout generously. Gave me some good ideas for what to bake for people I know who follow those diets.

[Juli Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm new to the Food52 party, but SO glad I've arrived. This is an exceptional dessert cookbook. The wide variety of flavor profiles, methods, and involvement is a huge boon among dessert cookbooks, which are often repetitive and highly baking-oriented. As someone who is not wild about chocolate, I fully appreciate the scarcity of chocolate desserts in this book. There are so many innovations and voices in these pages. I would definitely consider purchasing this cookbook.

[Mina-Louise]

Such a beautiful and high quality cookbook. It's been a long time since a cookbook impressed me, but this one did. Haven't noticed any especially hard to get ingredients which is always a plus.

[Donna Sandidge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this cookbook! I enjoy reading cookbooks and this one was a real treat. The recipes have been unique and fun to bake. It is a good looking book, too!

[Mbgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most creative mixes and interesting bevy of sugar-center recipes. Love this book

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like to check cookbooks out from the library to see if it's a cookbook worth buying. This one is! In addition to the recipes, there are lots of "genius" tips to use when you bake.

[Shelley Sackier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who hasn't sat staring at a loaf of bread on their kitchen counter and uttered the words, "How do I turn that into dessert?" right? And who doesn't swoon at the phrases, "No bake," "Super-fluffy," and "Four ingredients?"

Exactly. I can hear a rousing round of, "Amen, sister," coming at me from the other side of the screen.

Food52's newest community-driven cookbook, Genius Desserts, is pretty much truth in advertising. I have had a longtime love affair with the online cooking column founded by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, who seem to sniff out the most enticing, intoxicating, and success-promising recipes. And with this particular batch, they are all piloted by that one thing that nearly universally brings us to our knees--our sweet tooth.

The names of the recipes alone have been given such great consideration with their mouth-watering finesse that surely, you too, will find yourself licking the pictures with the hope that Meme's Blackberry Batter Cobbler, or Rum-Scented Marble Cake, or even New-Fashioned Apple Cider Doughnuts will be some newly unveiled version of 'scratch-n-taste' photography. Seriously, am I the only one?

Most noteworthy, this book teaches you something. Repeatedly. It is not just a fresh take on an old riff. It offers countless examples of using ingredients in new ways, with new techniques. It is novel and surprising. It is engaging and stimulating. It is DELISH. Period.

Must I remind anyone out here that this is the beginning of the cray cray baking season? Don't come to the table with what everyone has secretly bet you were going to make. Amaze them with a little something that will have them sitting up and taking notice. And will likely have them offering you one of their kidneys if you promise to make again.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I own about a thousand cookbooks and get books from the library before I buy them. This is one that I won’t buy, but not because it doesn’t have good recipes, it does, but because most of them are available online or in other cookbooks. These are recipes from the masters (Alice Medrich and Maida Heatter and Dorie Greenspan, for example), and you’ll find many desserts that are in other cookbooks. These are tried and true desserts you can trust. The book is divided by type of dessert and includes good, detailed directions as well as hints that beginning and even practicing bakers will appreciate. There is a short narrative with each recipe that explains where the recipe came from and why it’s included. Yes, there are a few unusual desserts that most people may find beyond their preview, but most of the desserts are accessible to any home baker. The peanut butter sandies are amazing!

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've checked out some of the other Food52 cookbooks, so when I saw this one I all about desserts I was interested. There are some odd recipes like parsley cake that looks like you're eating a grass cake, but there are plenty of others that look amazing. I was surprised to see that the recipe on the cover for the gorgeous chocolate cake is a vegan recipe. The recipes in here really run the gamut of desserts from simpler cookies and bars to more complex cakes and pies. There is also a good introduction with tips for baking and "genius tools" that give info on tools that unexpectedly really help with baking. And throughout the book there are "genius tips" from how to crack eggshells more cleanly to "the most important rule in pie dough." Overall, a very thorough dessert cookbook from the well-established Food52.

[Critterbee❇ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book a few weeks ago, and decided to make a few of the recipes before reviewing.

I have been pleased with Food52 cookbooks in the past, and this was no exception. This lovely book is packed with rich, earthy, luscious photographs of gorgeous desserts, meticulous recipe instructions, and inventive, appealing flavour combinations.

The genius tips that appear with some of the recipes are really helpful, While the recipes might seem a bit intimidating, do not worry - the directions are clear and exact, and provide accurate results.

Exceptional recipes (so far) include the Rhubarb Buckle and Pistachio Millionaire's Shortbread with Coriander Butterscotch.

*eARC Netgalley*

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually with cookbooks, I consider myself lucky if there are 5-10 recipes that I mark as wanting to try. (Less than that means it's not worth picking up!)

With this book, I didn't mark any... because I would have marked up the whole book. There were only probably 5 I wasn't interested in trying.

I have only made 1 so far, but there are so many more in this volume that I intend to make. And there are lots of good advice and valuable tips in the book as well. Definitely a keeper.

[Mairzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great cookbook filled with recipes I want to make from some of my favorite bakers. Each recipe is clearly written and the photographs are gorgeous. I have read a lot of cookbooks this year all of which I have borrowed from the library and this is the only one I wish I owned. On to my Christmas list it goes.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my I loved this! So many wonderful recipes by a large number of different chefs. I found quite a few things to make that would be quite interesting. Many of the recipes were involved, it depends on how badly you want to try this out. There pictures were also a decent amount as well. All in all I would totally buy this book. Well worth the money.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've already sent a link to this on amazon for my oldest to get me for the holidays. WOW!! An amazing cookbook of varied desserts. I've made a bunch of them and it's still checked out on my library card. >love<

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to make many things from this book, but the library is demanding it back and we are coming off of two weeks of birthdays and food-related celebrations, so I couldn't face any more desserts. I'll be coming back to this one!

[Onceinabluemoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice mix of my favorite food group! A collection of recipes from many tried and true bakers, I have made several of these recipes over the years.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent cookbook for desserts. The pictures alone will make you drool. . . .

[Margaret Gerberding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting tips and baking ideas in this book. I want to try a few of the recipes!

[Deborah Cleaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as intriguing as I had hoped it would be.

[Aasinathena · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book for the year 2019 is a sweet yet incredible read !! have lots of projects lined up with this book !

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing collection of super easy and super wonderful desserts. I plan to buy this one!

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some very original recipes in this one. I will be trying several of them.

[Erin Stuhlsatz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the idea - recipes from all over that are genius for one reason or another. We made a couple, and were inspired by a couple more!

[Alev]

28. Aralik 2019 - Sayfa 152: Vanilla Bean Rice Pudding yaptım. Sut yerine half&half kullandım.

[Alexa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only a handful of OK recipes.

Flipped through so many library cookbooks today.