Desserts Illustrated: The Ultimate Guide to All Things Sweet 600+ Recipes

by America's Test Kitchen

Finesse the final course with confidence using this must-have companion for making dessert magic with 117 types of sweets and 500+ foolproof recipes.

Part cookbook, part handbook, Desserts Illustrated is the last word on the last (but definitely not least) course. In it, America's Test Kitchen far expands on previous explorations of the world of sweets, teaching all types of candies, custards, frozen treats, and fruit desserts in addition to a bounty of baked goods, and upping the ante on flavor. With 500+ recipes, you'll find modern desserts for bakers and nonbakers like Pear Crisp with Miso and Almonds and Ginger-Turmeric Frozen Yogurt living next to the classics like Shortbread and Sour Cream Coffee Cake. 
 
An innovative book structure organizes desserts within a tasty taxonomy: Find 117 types of desserts. Discover what ingredients and mixing methods turn out all your favorite subcategories of sweets like Chewy versus Crispy versus Cakey Drop Cookies. Take a deep dive into desserts you may not know like Pudding Cakes. See how the stages of caramel turn into soft Pralines to crunchy Chocolate-Toffee Bark. 
 
Learning transferable techniques makes you feel like a pastry chef: Once you’ve tempered eggs you can make any custard, pudding, or cream pie. Manipulate brownie batter for chewy, fudgy, or cakey squares—whatever you like. 
 
The only dessert book you'll ever need: This modern classic incorporates in-depth info on techniques new and timeless, lots of stunning dessert photos and informative illustrations, tutorials to make more challenging recipes easy to follow, and new recipes with fantastic flavor.

With this forever dessert companion, you can impress for company—or quickly whip up something to satisfy a Tuesday sweet tooth.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

584 pages, Hardcover

Published October 11, 2022

About the author

America's Test Kitchen, based in a brand new state-of-the-art 60,000 sq. ft. facility with over 15,000 sq. ft. of test kitchens and studio space, in Boston's Seaport District, is dedicated to finding the very best recipes for home cooks. Over 50 full-time (admittedly obsessive) test cooks spend their days testing recipes 30, 40, up to 100 times, tweaking every variable until they understand how and why recipes work. They also test cookware and supermarket ingredients so viewers can bypass marketing hype and buy the best quality products. As the home of Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, and publisher of more than one dozen cookbooks each year, America's Test Kitchen has earned the respect of the publishing industry, the culinary world, and millions of home cooks. America's Test Kitchen the television show launched in 2001, and the company added a second television program, Cook's Country, in 2008.

Discover, learn, and expand your cooking repertoire with Julia Collin Davison, Bridget Lancaster, Jack Bishop, Dan Souza, Lisa McManus, Tucker Shaw, Bryan Roof, and our fabulous team of test cooks!

Learn more at https://www.americastestkitchen.com/.

Reviews

[Amos · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many desserts, so little time!!

5 Morbidly Obese Stars

[Constant Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

4/5:
This is a great 600+ recipe book. The deserts look extremely good, the photography in here being top quality. I loved how they went in depth into the cooking science that happened during the baking process. Overall, I recommend this book!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of recipes. I got this from my library but intend to buy my own copy

[Dray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thorough compendium of all manner of desserts, although most are classical. Good educational resource. Allowed me to become clearer on semifredos and such. Recommended.

[Honest Mabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

just buy it

I need this in print ugh it’s amazing and I love the break down images they offer it’s amazing. Absolutely.

[Emily]

Enjoying looking through this book. I like it better than The Illustrated Step-by-Step Cookbook which was similar in feel. This doesn’t have step-by-step pictures for most things, but has clear pictures and explanations. As with other ATK cookbooks, I appreciate that they explain why they do a thing a certain way and what else they tried that didn’t work as well. Looking forward to trying some of their methods. I don’t think it’s a must-buy for me, but an excellent library resource to dip in and out of.