Review - Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes by David Lebovitz

When I tried a couple of David Lebovitz’s recipes earlier this year for the first time, I became an instant fan.
   After making and absolutely loving his Red Wine-Raspberry Sorbet recipe, which appeared in Bon Appetit magazine, I felt compelled to buy the renowned pastry chef’s latest cookbook: Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes.
   While I’ve only had time to try one other recipe from this book, No-Machine Banana Ice Cream (to die for), I will no doubt be trying more.
   This cookbook is full of just the kind of recipes you’d expect from a chef who took his baking training and France and Belgium and now lives in Paris: Desserts that are culinary classics, but have a lovely twist to them.
   As a fellow food blogger once said: “All of David’s desserts are magical.”
   David writes that the book was 30 years in the making: It’s a culmination of years of baking professionally and at home.
   The recipes range in difficulty. Some look easy to make, while others are harder mostly due to many ingredients and steps of preparation.
   I would recommend this cookbook for people who currently bake and are looking for some interesting recipes to try.
   They will certainly find them Ready for Dessert: There are more than 170 recipes for cakes, pies, tarts, crisps, cobblers, custards, soufflés, puddings, ice cream, sherbets, sorbets, cookies, candies, dessert sauces and fruit preserves.
   The book has baking basics, such as chocolate chip cookies, brownies and gingersnaps, to recipes with names such as Chocolate Pave, Marjolaine, Gateau Victoire, Cherry Gateau Basque, Sesame-Orange Almond Tuiles, Chocolate-Port Truffles and Frozen Caramel Mousse with Sherry-Glazed Pears.
   At the beginning of each recipe, David has an often-amusing story about how its creation came about.
   Here are some recipes I have my eye on to try:
- Irish Coffee Cupcakes
- Nectarine-Raspberry Upside-Down Gingerbread
- Bahamian Rum Cake
- Banana Butterscotch Cream Pie
- Champagne Gelee with Kumquats, Grapefruits and Blood Oranges
- Watermelon-Sake Sorbet
- Simple Cherry Sorbet