As a self proclaimed “Professional” home chef I have challenged myself in the year 2021 to bake everything in Claire Saffitz cookbook Dessert Person. You can also follow her on social media on her Instagram at csaffitz and on Youtube. If you follow me, you know what the post will be about, if this is your first time welcome! Check out my previous post Julie & Julia or Resolutions to learn a little more about why I am suddenly stepping into the kitchen.
As I stated at the end of my Julie and & Julia post I will be challenging myself to cook through Dessert Person in one year. Today is January 3rd, 2021, I have until December 31st to complete at 89 recipes. I have done some quick math and that averages out to be 7 recipes a month. I was originally shooting for 4 a month meaning 1 a week, but I will need to step up my game! Looking over the cookbook and seeing all that it has to offer, there are more gems than you can imagine!
Before you even get into the beautiful desserts and recipes. Claire has thoughtfully laid out a “Recipe Matrix”. On the Y axis it list the difficulty on a scale of 1 to 5. On the X axis it list how many hour it will take you to complete the recipe or component. Starting as low as 5 minutes all the way up to 12 plus hours. Following the chart Claire talks about herself as a baker, her journey to make her own cookbook, and how we the readers will use her recipes.
That being said, hands down my favorite sections are the “How to Use this Book (and Be a Successful Baker)”, “Techniques and End Points”, and “Equipment”. These three sections have so much great information for any level of at home baker. Just to name a few things you can find in these categories: Explaining her difficulty ratings, at home mistakes, how to best prepare yourself to be successful, basic and commonly forgotten tips to make your baking experience easier, and all the ends and outs of the equipment and spices in your kitchen. With this information and breakdown Claire has made sure we are ready to be a Dessert Person.
Looking at the Table of Contents she breaks her recipes into 7 categories. Loaf Cakes and Single Layer Cake, Pies and Tarts, Bars and Cookies, Layer Cakes and Fancy Desserts, Breakfast and Brunch, Breads and Savory Baking, and Foundation Recipes. I plan on working my way in order based on the table on contents. First recipe in the book: Spiced Honey and Rye Cake.
See you there!
Ramblin' Lamberts 