Cookbook Excitement: Modern Art Desserts

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this cookbook! Back in 2009, I wrote a piece about pastry chef Caitlin Williams Freeman and the amazing work she was doing at The Blue Bottle Cafe, which is located at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art. That piece was, and remains, one of my most popular posts. People can't seem to get enough of Caitlin's wonderful art-inspired desserts! And, now, with the release of her cookbook, Modern Art Desserts, you can find out exactly how she goes about converting famous works of art into gorgeous, edible desserts! Along with step-by-step instructions on how to create her most famous cakes, the Mondrian Cake and her trio of Thiebaud cakes, you will find recipes inspired by the works of Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Henri Matisse, Jeff Koons, Francesca Woodman, Roy Lichtenstein, and Richard Avedon, among others. Each recipe includes an image of the dessert, along with a photo of it's artistic inspiration, so that you get a real sense of the whole process.

Caitlin Williams Freeman is one of the true dessert art innovators. You can find out more about her cookbook by watching the video above. To order Modern Art Desserts: Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Confections, and Frozen Treats Based on Iconic Works of Art, click here. ~Erin

{Cookbook photos by Clay McLachlan}

Cookbook Excitement: Bake It Like You Mean It

Pastry chef and author, Gesine Bullock-Prado, is a woman after my own heart. Her cookbooks are always filled with recipes that are not only delicious, but visually exciting as well. Her new cookbook, Bake It Like You Mean It, is no exception. The book is completely devoted to unique, graphic, and beautiful cakes! Each chapter centers around a different kind of cake technique. You know those sweet and colorful rainbow cakes that have been popping up everywhere over the last few years? Have you ever wanted to make one of those, but have been just too intimidated to try it? Well, Gesine will show you exactly how to do it! In fact, her new book specializes in just these sorts of eye popping desserts. The kind that, when cut, reveal intricate layers of patterns and designs, such as hearts, checkerboards, helixes, and stripes. For more info on Gesine’s new book, click here. [Photos by Tina Rupp]

The Mixing Bowl: Crème brûlée by Marina Ekroos

This is the first ever “proud mama” style post that I ever written here on dessert girl. It concerns the hugely talented photographer Marina Ekroos and her new cookbook, Silmänruokaa (Visual Recipes). You may remember that a couple of years ago Marina contributed a Mixing Bowl recipe for chocolate macarons that was one of our most popular posts! Well, as it turns out, making those macarons really inspired and encouraged Marina to do more recipes and continue working on her concept of single shot recipes. For those of you who are not familiar with Marina’s work, her photographs capture the development of a recipe (ingredients, process, finished product) in a single frame, so that you get a complete recipe in one image. How cool is that? She now has an entire cookbook filled with gorgeous photos, including the macaron recipe that she created for dg, and I couldn’t be prouder! It was such a treat for me to see a dessert girl recipe in a real live book and I’m so happy to hear that Marina’s experience here was a good one. The finished product is really lovely and even though the recipes are in Finnish, I would still recommend checking it out. The photographs alone make it a great coffee table book.

To help celebrate this momentous occasion, Marina is back, sharing with us her delicious recipe for crème brûlée (see image at the top of this post), which is also featured in her book. I'm so excited that someone is finally tackling crème brûlée for this site! There is something so fun about a dessert that you have to crack open. Who doesn’t love the feeling of whacking the hard, caramelized top of a crème brûlée with a spoon? It’s such a satisfying feeling, almost as if you are excavating a cave wall, on a search for buried treasure. It’s also a great dessert for this time of year. Quite wintery and wonderful! And the perfect way to impress your friends this holiday season.

You can find the complete crème brûlée recipe after the jump. For purchasing info on the cookbook, along with information on how to buy limited edition prints from the book, click here. Thanks, Marina! ~Erin

PIE: A Hand Drawn Almanac

I love illustrated recipes. If you read this blog on a regular basis, you probably love them, too! And if you love illustrated recipes as much as I do, you’re also going to adore this new illustrated pie book from artist Elizabeth Graeber and Emily Hilliard, who writes the blog Nothing-in-the-House. The two recently joined forces to produce this fun, almanac-style book that provides different recipes for every month of the year. So, in January, you’ll find a recipe for Dark Chocolate and Vanilla-Bourbon Caramel Pie, which is a perfect dessert for those chilly winter nights, and, in July, summery berry tarts are featured. Each recipe is accompanied by stories and delightful drawings that celebrate the history of this classic dessert. PIE: A Hand Drawn Almanac is available at a discounted preorder rate of $13 via etsy. All preorders come specially packaged in a pastry bag and baker’s twine. After December 1st, the book will be available for $15 online and at various local shops in and around Washington DC. {Thanks, Emily!} ~Erin

Cookbook Excitement: Baked Elements

Wednesday was the best . . . day . . . EVER! Why was it the best day EVER? Well, I’ll tell you. Because the angels over at Stewart, Tabori & Chang sent a copy of the new Baked cookbook, Baked Elements, right to my door! I’ve been a fan of this Brooklyn-based bakery since before I could talk (okay, really since they released their first cookbook back in 2008) and every time they release another book, I nearly pee my pants in anticipation. And, I have to say, the new book does not disappoint.

Good Morning Sunshine Bars

This time around Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito have given us a cookbook based around the concept of “our favorite ingredients.” What makes their Top Ten? Peanut Butter, Lemon and Lime, Caramel, Booze, Pumpkin, Malted Milk Powder, Cinnamon, Cheese, Chocolate, and Banana. All of which just so happen to be my favorite ingredients as well! Divided by ingredient, there are 10 sections to the book, making it easy to find and select a recipe. Interested in making a banana dessert? Just flip to the banana section and drool away! Personally, I don’t know even where to begin. There are so many recipes that I want to make. I may have to start with the Easy Candy Bar Tart, though. Caramel, walnuts, dark chocolate. I took one look at the accompanying photo and thought, Holy shit! That said, the Bourbon Milk Shake is also calling my name and, as I am a huge fan of bananas, I can’t wait to sink my teeth into the Banana Cake featured on the cover. (Btw, the Peanut Butter and Banana Creme Pie in their last book was divine). With photos by the talented Tina Rupp and 75 mouth watering recipes to choose from, I think this cookbook will be keeping me happy for decades to come . . . or at least until they release another book. To find out when the fabulous Baked boys will be at a Williams Sonoma near you, click here. You can purchase Baked Elements: Our Ten Favorite Ingredients online, right here.

Simple Chocolate Whiskey Tart

Candy Bar Tart

Bourbon, Vanilla, and Chocolate Milk Shake

Cookbook Excitement: Pie it Forward

I just received my copy of Pie it Forward by Gesine Bullock-Prado and the word "excited" doesn't even begin to cover my current emotional state. I love this book! It's been in my possession for all of 15 minutes and it's already my new favorite cookbook. It has everything I want in a cookbook: creative recipes and new, inspiring versions of the old classics. Among the recipes that captured my attention are the Spingerle Pear Tart, the Butterscotch Meringue Pie, and the Velvet Elvis Pie, just to name a few. She even throws in some savory pie recipes, to balance off all the sweets. Really, there are so many potentials in this book that I don't know where to begin. Of course, some of the credit for my cookbook crush has to go to photographer Tina Rupp, who also snapped the photos for the Baked cookbooks (my favorite cookbooks in the known universe). Tina is definitely one of the best food photographers around and her images always make my mouth water! Anyhoo, I know that the real test of a great cookbook comes when you actually make one of the recipes, but, until then, I'll be spending my days dreaming of the Yuzu-Ginger Rice Pudding Meringue Pie in my future! Did I mention that I'm excited?? To purchase your very own copy of Pie it Forward, click here.

Chocolate Fleur de Sel Caramel Tart

Strawberry Love Pie

Springerle Pear Tart

Wild Blueberry Pie

Poached Pear Tart

The Recipe Project

The Recipe Project, a collaboration between the band One Ring Zero and some of today’s hottest chefs, is at once funny, interesting, and completely unexpected. It asks the question, if chefs are the new rock stars, why not set their recipes to music? And that is exactly what is does. Chefs including David Chang, Chris Cosentino, Tom Colicchio, and Mario Batali provide the recipes and One Ring Zero performs the music, singing the recipes word for word over a wide ranging musical genres. There is a rap version of Brains and Eggs by Chris Cosentino, a pop edition of Peanut Butter Brunettes by Chandra Moskowitz, and a Mario Batali spaghetti recipe that is set to polka music. There really is something for every musical taste (no pun intended)! Also included are interviews and essays by chefs and food writers on how music (and food) has influenced their work and lives. You can check out an operatic version of Peanut Butter Brunettes (the only dessert recipe in the book) below. You can hear a sample of the original, along with more info on the project, by visiting the Recipe Project website, right here. To order the book online, click here.

Cookbook Excitement: Miette

Omg, omg. Okay, that’s a little annoying, but seriously…OMG! One of my most favorite bakeries ever, Miette, is releasing a cookbook on June 22nd! I have a sneaking suspicion that my Baked obsession is going to turn into a Miette obsession sometime in the next few months. Right now, there are only a few images  available, but I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy, so that I can see what other photos are included inside.  Their baked goods are always so lovely to look at, not to mention all together yummy. If you haven't tried anything from their shop, I would highly recommend the toffee and the macarons, which are available by mail order. To preorder Miette: Recipes from San Francisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop, click here.

Have a great (long) weekend! ~Erin

Homemade is Best by Ikea

Hel-lo gorgeous! That's what I thought when I first saw the photos from Ikea's new baking book Hembakat är Bäst (Homemade is Best). These beautiful images, taken by photographer Carl Kleiner and styled by Evelina Bratell, were inspired by high fashion and Japanese minimalism are Ikea's attempt to break from traditional food photography by focusing on the ingredients, instead of the finished product. The 140-page coffee table book contains 30 classic Swedish baking recipes, including Schackrutor, which Petra Borner was so kind to make us last year. The only bummer in all this is that Hembakat är Bäst is apparently only available in Ikea stores in Sweden and only for a limited time. Ikea, you're such a tease! If you'd like to see more from this colorful and interesting cookbook, Ikea's advertising agency is featuring pics on it's Web site, right here. Also, click here to view images on photographer Carl Kleiner's Web site.

Blast From the Past: Cakes Men Like

Sometimes it’s the little things that just make my day. I came across the silliest and corniest cover for this little cake booklet from 1953 and instantly became obsessed with it. It's so hilariously awful and so perfectly vintage, I knew that I had to find out more! Turns out these babies were printed in the early fifties for either GM or Western Electric employees. Cakes Men Like is actually part of a series of "how to please your man" cookbooks. Some of the other titles include Pies Men Like, Desserts Men Like, Meat . . . Men Like. Men, men, men! Man, I am sooo glad that I did not have to put up with that crap and am able to laugh about it now.

I don't know how well they researched these cakes, though. Apparently, they think that midcentury men like pink cakes. Would Don Draper request a pink cake from Betty? Does Betty know how to make a cake? Hmmm. Find out in next week's exciting episode! Click here to get a free copy of Cakes Men Like on Scribd. Enjoy!