January Cookbook: Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz
Thanks to her popular Bon Appetit videos, Claire Saffitz is our generation’s baking hero. So naturally, I pre-ordered this book about six months in advance. My favorite thing about this book – besides its creative spins on familiar dishes – is the recipe matrix in the beginning. On the first page, Claire has created a chart that maps out the difficulty level of each recipe based on time, number of steps, and equipment needed. I expected nothing less from Claire and her Virgo ass!! This will be helpful when choosing recipes this month as I try to challenge myself.
Week One
I had a little Taco Tuesday night planned with the girls this week so I figured I would kick off my challenge with some loaded cornbread (pg. 268). As Claire mentions in the book, this recipe is not for any cornbread purists out there. It uses flour and cornmeal to make a moist, savory cake! Even though I am a Southern belle, I’m okay with a moist cornbread as it saves me from slathering each piece with a 1/3 cup of butter.
Not to be all, “When I was in Australia” but…When I was in Australia, I tried pavlova for the first time and it remains to be my favorite dessert of all time. I’ve never been overly into rich, chocolatey desserts and almost always opt for whatever the vanilla or fruity option is. (But not in an annoying, “Actually, a bowl of fruit is a dessert!” kind of way.) Even as a kid, instead of a traditional birthday cake my mom would just make me a batch of rice krispy treats and throw some candles on there. It was perfect.
All that being said, when I first saw strawberry rhubarb pavlova (pg. 187) in this book, my heart skipped a beat. So obviously it was going to have to be one of the first things I made. I’ve made pavlova a couple of times in the past and I’ve found that it’s not overly difficult but it can be temperamental for sure, especially when I lived in Houston. (Meringues + Humidity = No.) I left out the rhubarb on this iteration only because it was the only ingredient I didn’t already have. But I happen to know from experience that pavlova tastes great with any and all fruits! I opted for one large meringue instead of breaking it up into 8 individuals because I was being honest. I’m going to eat all of this myself.
Another one of my favorite desserts is in this book – gooey butter cake (pg. 238)! I actually had some trouble with this recipe. The cooler weather made the dough’s rising time take twice as long, so I was up until midnight two days in a row trying to make this cake work. Sometimes with baking, you just have to press forward and hope that it all turns out in the end. Luckily, this one did! It was a hit at my cousin’s house.
That being said, I think the next time I’m in the mood for butter cake I’ll just use the boxed cake mix method. Much easier and just as good!
Week Two
This week was a little lighter since I did a little “glamping” getaway over the weekend. I wanted to make recipes that would be great to take with me on the road – and what’s better than on-the-go soft and crispy focaccia (pg. 289)! I had similar issues with the dough rising as I did last week but I just made sure to turn my radiator on and allow more than the recommended rising time. (Note to self: save bread adventures for the summertime.) To any beginners out there looking for a fun project, I recommend trying the focaccia. It is literally fail-proof!
Next up, I made some seedy maple breakfast muffins (pg. 216) which were absolutely perfect for my morning breakfasts at the cabin. I predict these will be my dark horse favorite recipe at the end of the month. I didn’t share a single one. They’re that good, people!! Plus, bonus points for being vegan. As you can see below, Maisie thought it was pretty rude that she did not get to try any. (“But what if…it was for puppies?”)
Week Three
After my weekend getaway, I did a little refrigerator inventory to see what I needed to use up quickly and it was the half container of sour cream that led me to my first recipe of the week, pull-apart sour cream and chive rolls (pg. 313). Why I insist on making breads in 30-degree weather, I do not know. But these still turned out amazing! So soft and fluffy, perfectly salty and the chive flavor is *chef’s kiss*. Now I just need to figure out who I can pawn some of these off on otherwise I will eat this whole tray in the next few days…help!
Next up, the salty nut tart (pg. 87) aka my nickname in college (jk). I’ve been looking forward to making this since I first cracked open this cookbook. It’s unique and completely up my alley. What can I say, I love a nut.
My hesitation with this recipe was with the sweet tart dough (pg. 338) for the crust. I always struggle with the crust. Overall it turned out well, just a little crumbly. I wasn’t able to remove the tart from the pan, which is fine considering I’m likely going to be eating the slices one at a time over the kitchen sink. The filling came together in a snap and was just the kind of salty-caramely dessert that I like.
You know when you think you don’t have something so you buy it and then you get home and realize you have a giant jar full of it? That was me this week when I bought a huge bag of pistachios. That made my next recipe decision pretty easy – pistachio pinwheels (pg. 141)!
I am actually very impressed that I managed to get a good-looking swirl on these cookies. I had very little faith in myself throughout this whole process. (To be fair, about a third of them did turn out to be uggos.) These were just okay, in my opinion. I’m not a huge fan of almond flavoring and I typically prefer a chewy cookie. But ya know, it was something different!
Week Four
It’s coffee coffee cake (pg. 219) time! I love coffee cake and I love coffee so naturally, coffee-flavored coffee cake is going to be a hit. This recipe was very simple but packs a lot of flavor! I like how coffee is incorporated in every component of the cake (the batter, the ribbon and the crumble). I had some that night for dessert and another piece for breakfast with my morning latte. God, I love a cake that you can transition day to night. Versatility, honey!!
Last but certainly not least, I made the minty lime bars (pg.155). As I mentioned before, fruity desserts are my shit and key lime pie just about tops that chart. (It’s actually a tie between key lime and lemon meringue, but who’s counting?) I had never made lemon, or in this case, lime curd before so that was certainly an adventure. I thought for sure I was going to fuck it up. I just kept whisking and whisking hoping that it would magically thicken. And guess what? It did! Baking really is magic.
These bars are very tart and I couldn’t really taste the mint (it was inside the shortbread crust), but don’t worry, these will get eaten. But next time I’ll probably opt for the lemon bars instead.
There are many more recipes I would love to try (I say as if anyone is forcing me to do any of this) but I’m pretty impressed with my ten in a month! I’m proud to say that for the most part, every recipe turned out as expected – and that says less about my baking abilities and more about the quality of this book! While there are some that I probably won’t make again, every one of these recipes ended up getting eaten one way or another. I look forward to baking more recipes from this book!
You should buy this cookbook if…
You are committed to improving your baking skills.
You have binged watch all of Claire’s BA videos on YouTube.
You’re determined to make a Croquembouche for some reason.