David Lebovitz is a pastry chef, author, and creator of the award-winning food blog www.davidlebovitz.com. Trained as a baker in France and Belgium, he worked for twelve years in the pastry department at the famed Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California. Room for Dessert, his first book, was an International Association of Culinary Professionals award nominee. He is also the author of The Sweet Life in Paris and The Perfect Scoop. David writes, blogs, and leads culinary tours from his home in Paris, France.
"Lebovitz's chatty, down-to-earth tone is sure to steady any
rattled nerves as you turn the oven on and get the measuring cups
out. And for seasoned cooks and bakers, Lebovitz's recipes are
classics worth revisiting."
—Epicurious.com, The Best Cookbooks of 2010: Best Dessert
“David Lebovitz, blogging phenom and former pastry chef at Chez
Panisse has written several cookbooks, but this might be his best
yet. It's a compilation of all his favorites--from ice cream to
cookies to cake and fruit desserts. You will also enjoy the notes
with each recipe that tell stories, share tips and often produce
giggles. Why? You've read his blog, and probably tried his recipes
for free. Now it's time to pay the man!”
—Cooking with Amy, Top Cookbooks 2010, 12/18/10
“If there's one person you can trust to write a good recipe, it's
David. My copy of Ready for Dessert is already dogeared and
vandalized with all manner of sweet ingredients. His chocolate chip
cookies are my go-to and his ice creams, for which he is
well-known, are all outstanding. The man worked as as a pastry chef
at Chez Panisse then moved to Paris. Need I say more?”
—TheKitchn.com, Favorite Baking Books of 2010, 12/16/10
“And finally, I want to mention a book from earlier in the year,
highly recommended if you’re looking for a sweets book: Ready For
Dessert: My Best Recipes by David Lebovitz who writes the excellent
and popular blog, “Living the Sweet Life in Paris” at
DavidLebovitz.com. This is a compendium of his favorite recipes
that he’s reworked and rewritten. As ever, superb and
recommended.”
—Michael Ruhlman, Books for the Holidays, 12/13/10
“You'll want to make everything in this book.”
—Washington Post's Top Cookbooks of 2010, 11/30/10
"An elegantly-composed collection of classics and contemporary
riffs, former Chez Panisse pastry chef David Lebovitz's (The
Perfect Scoop) latest effort hits the sweet spot. Artfully
balancing accessible recipes for novices (the simple
four-ingredient Chocolate Orbit Cake, the three-ingredient Peaches
in Red Wine and Pistachio, Almond and Dried Cherry Bark) with
ambitious-but -worth-it desserts like Banana Cake with Mocha
Frosting and Salted Candied Peanuts and White Nectarine Sorbet with
Blackberries in Five-Spice Cookie Cups, Lebovitz truly has
something for everyone. Can't-miss combinations like
Guinness-Gingerbread Cupcakes, Cherry-Almond Cobbler, and
Orange-Almond Bread Pudding are sure to inspire a trip to the
market, and riffs on classics like a French apple galette (updated
here with frangipane, a rich almond pastry cream) and a lush Fresh
Ginger Cake will appeal to bakers whose bookshelves are already
groaning with cookbooks. The inclusion of Coconut Layer Cake,
Vanilla Ice Cream, Meyer Lemon Sorbet, Chocolate Chocolate-Chip
Cookies, and Gingersnaps (including a fat-free variety) shows that
Lebovitz also knows when not to mess with a good thing. Given its
breadth, depth, and accessibility, readers with a passion for
baking will be hard pressed to find a better guide to desserts this
year. Photos. (May)"
—Publishers Weekly, Web-Exclusive Reviews, STARRED REVIEW,
6/14/10
"Each section is more of a collection of surprises than a tour of
the usual baking suspects you might find in a greatest hits sort of
book by another author (cheesecake, muffins, angel cake etc.).
There are unusual flavour combinations as well as intriguing
takes on classic desserts."
—Cookbooker.com, 6/2/10
"Lebovitz brings his writing to life with wit and humor and offers
expert advice on everything from cake to cutting boards. Plus, his
recipes have that irresistible combination of simplicity and
elegance."
—Portland Oregonian, 6/1/10
“Life is short, always eat dessert first.” If you’re a follower of
that profound precept or just the owner of an active sweet tooth,
David Lebovitz’s Ready for Dessert is a must. . . . His header
notes are chatty, his directions thorough and supportive and his
take on the sweet side of life inspired and inspiring."
—BookPage, Cookbook of the Month, May 2010
"Here's what I love about this book. Lebovitz has gathered a
selection of 170 recipes that is both complete and eclectic,
including classics and innovations. David's voice is candid,
sometimes conspiratorial, often funny, and always enabling. It's
the same authentic voice that has made his blog one of the most
popular food sites on the web. Enjoy the sweetness."
—The City Cook, 5/27/10
"Ready for Dessert promises visceral satisfaction starting with the
cover, which invites you to drag a greedy finger through a cake's
thick chocolate icing."
—Associated Press, 5/17/10
"You know the real reason I love David Lebovitz so much and tell
you about him over and over again? Because he's a baking god.
David's new book, Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes is his best
yet. . . . Now, I know that we'll have this book in our house for
decades, until the spine falls apart and we have to put it together
with duct tape. I'm never letting go of this baking book because
every single recipe works. It is one of the few baking books I will
keep forever in our home. This is my baking bible now. You should
buy it too."
—Gluten-Free Girl, 5/11/10
"This is recipe writing at its best my friends."
—In Jennie's Kitchen, 5/4/10
" I have a sweet tooth for Lebovitz, a terrific writer and dessert
whiz who has updated his favorite recipes for this lavish book. If
you bake, do yourself a favor and buy this book."
—Houston Chronicle, 5/4/10
"Lebovitz has outdone himself with his latest recipe collection,
offering readers the very best of his best."
—FineCooking.com, 5/3/10
"If you're looking for a new best friend in the kitchen, one
that'll stay a best friend for life, Ready for Dessert might just
be the one for you."
—Epicurious.com, 4/30/10
"Part of David's genius is the way he delivers the goods. He's
clench-your-legs hilarious but with a strong foundation of serious
culinary knowledge. A rare gem in the ever-growing field of food
writers — if you haven't gotten to know his books yet, start with
this one."
—Apartment Therapy's TheKitchn.com, 4/29/10
"With a bloggers tone and a skilled baker’s sensibility, pastry
chef David Lebovitz shares his deliciously simple yet refined
recipes in his latest cookbook Ready for Dessert. Sprinkled with
endearing anecdotes, each recipe reveals Lebovitz’ compulsion with
chocolate and seasonality. There’s a charming unfussiness about the
book, which includes recipes like the flourless chocolate orbit
cake, which was previously named the chocolate idiot cake for it’s
easy-to-execute recipe. There are also some more involved
recipes—like the kiwifruit, pineapple and toasted coconut baked
alaska—making it a great book for beginners and experts alike."
—Los Angeles Times, 4/28/10
"Flipping through our copy, we were entranced by fudgy smudges on
the plate under his banana cake, seduced by the simplicity of his
red-wine raspberry sorbet, curious about the impression his
chocolate chip cookies made on Parisians, and desperate to taste
his best-ever brownies."
—BonAppetit.com, 4/26/10
"This is the Lebovitz book that has it all: an elite selection of
cakes, fruit desserts, custards, frozen desserts, cookies and
candies that encompass all the techniques you’ll ever need to make
dessert. The large-format color photos are ridiculously seductive
and the design and tone of the book make you believe that your
fresh ginger cake, banana butterscotch cream pie or tangy lemon
frozen yogurt will taste as luscious as they look here. Based on my
experience with Lebovitz’s recipes, they will."
—Patricia Unterman, San Francisco Examiner, 4/23/10
"I think these just might be my new favorite chocolate chip cookie,
sorry Thomas Keller but Lebovitz's cookies have got yours
beat."
—SeriousEats.com, 4/19/10
"This is the Slinky of cookbooks. I've been paging back and forth,
back and forth, mesmerized, spurred on each time I land on a
silvery endpaper. It's an enticing, beautiful book with charm and
know-how. But this book is not for a coffee table; I'd put it on a
pedestal. . . . This book; buy it and bake the living daylights out
of it."
—AOL Slashfood.com Cookbook Spotlight, 4/16/10
"An absolutely gorgeous book filled with pages upon pages of
recipes and photos that will motivate you to get in the kitchen and
start baking."
—SeriousEats.com Cook the Book, 4/12/10
"It's a good sign for a new cookbook when the food-lovers at the
table keep passing it around. . . David Lebovitz is one of a
handful of authors whose books are pure gifts in the kitchen. . . .
But the proof is in the pudding -- in this case, that includes
coconut tapioca, orange-almond bread pudding, and kumquat sticky
toffee -- and I find his recipes both unintimidating to prepare and
impressive to eat."
—Amazon.com Al Dente blog, 4/12/10
"This book is the perfect Starter Lebovitz, if you ask me; for
those of you who’ve heard about him or read his blog and laughed at
his jokes and comments but didn’t know which of his cookbooks to
buy first. With this, he’s retested everything, added weights and
pretty pretty photographs so you get a little taste of everything
he does well without having to clear out an entire bookshelf to
accommodate his awesomeness. (Though he’d like me to let you know
that he does not mind one bit if you do that too.)"
—smittenkitchen.com, 4/12/10
"My copy of Lebovitz's book is already stained (with coffee) from
just looking at it. It's the best type of food porn available: high
production values (great recipes and gorgeous photography by Maren
Caruso); a cast of stars (Chocolate Orbit Cake, Kumquat Sticky
Toffee Pudding, Apple-Quince Tarte Tatin) that are hot, but not out
of reach; and a writer who supplies, if not a story line, then
enough anecdotes to keep me interested (The Racine's Cake recipe
was, after all, found written on a men's room wall). It's one sexy
book."
—Bay Area Bites, KQED.org, 4/9/10
"His headnotes are as bon-vivant engaging as his Tweets and blog.
He proves that it is possible to bake and laugh at the same time.
But more importantly, you’ll find that his best recipes are, in
fact, your favorites as well. Lebovitz is solidly among the
pantheon of modern bakers."
—Washington Post, All-We-Can-Eat, 4/15/10
"Dessert Genius David Lebovitz's Opus."
—Condé Nast Traveler, 4/5/10
"A gorgeous new offering full of homey (Cherry-Almond Cobbler) and
haute (Pistachio-Cardamom Cake) recipes."
—Ladies' Home Journal, LHJ.com, Ladies' Lounge blog, 4/3/10
“Bring any of David’s desserts forward at the close of a meal, and
you’ll have a hard time remaining humble under showers of praise.
But what I especially like about David’s book, aside from the
results his recipes promise, is David himself—that he and his
desserts are so approachable, relaxed, and friendly.”
—Deborah Madison, author of Seasonal Fruit Desserts from Orchard,
Farm, and Market
“David’s recipes are always delicious and, even more importantly,
fun and approachable. They’re the kind of recipes you make in a
pair of comfortable sweatpants and a T-shirt. And by comfortable
sweatpants, we mean the kind with an elastic waistband so you can
eat more than just one slice of the heavenly Banana Cake with Mocha
Frosting and Salted Candied Peanuts. David is our dessert idol and
Ready for Dessert is our guidebook.”
—Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, pastry chefs and owners of Baked
and authors of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
“If you already know David and love his simple, straightforward
style and his full-flavored desserts, you’ll be delighted to see
his favorites polished and brought up to the moment. And if
you’re just discovering David’s recipes, all I can say is ‘Lucky
you!’ This collection brings you the best of his best and hours of
sweet pleasure.”
—Dorie Greenspan, author of Baking: From My Home to Yours
“David has put into his fantastic new book all of the ingredients
that make him so great: 1 part talented pastry chef + 1 part comic
+ 1 part great writer. I’m excited to try his best-of recipe
collection!”
—Elizabeth Falkner, chef/owner of Citizen Cake and Orson and author
of Demolition Desserts
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