Here are 47 books that The Sweet Life fans have personally recommended if you like
The Sweet Life.
Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Lei Shishak is the author of numerous cookbooks including Beach House Dinners, Beach House Brunch, Beach House Baking, and Farm-to-Table Desserts. A graduate of Culinary Institute of America, Lei is the founder of Sugar Blossom Bake Shop in San Clemente, California. She is one of Southern California’s most respected bakers, having been honored as the Orange County Pastry Chef of the Year in 2011 by Riviera Magazine.
Rose Levy Berenbaum is an incredible teacher, and this comes through in her cookbooks. The Pie and Pastry Bible includes over 300 recipes for pies, tarts, and any pastry you can imagine. There's even a chapter entirely devoted to crusts and another one solely on fillings and toppings! In every recipe, Ruth shares recipe variations, storage information, and pointers for success. As a bonus, recipes include both volume and weight measurements.
Lei Shishak is the author of numerous cookbooks including Beach House Dinners, Beach House Brunch, Beach House Baking, and Farm-to-Table Desserts. A graduate of Culinary Institute of America, Lei is the founder of Sugar Blossom Bake Shop in San Clemente, California. She is one of Southern California’s most respected bakers, having been honored as the Orange County Pastry Chef of the Year in 2011 by Riviera Magazine.
This small but informative book breaks down the ingredients used in baking and the science behind them. Readers will learn why ingredients like egg, flour, sugar, and milk are frequently used in pastry baking. The authors masterfully explain how ingredients transform during the baking process, like when an egg mixes with sugar or when baking soda combines with an acid. Each chapter ends with a helpful review written in a quiz format. You will become a better baker by reading this book. Note that there are no recipes in this book.
The essential-and accessible-guide to the science of baking Baking is as much a science as an art. That's why, in addition to mastering basic techniques and recipes, every baker must also learn about the science that underlies the baking craft. Guided by contemporary baking and pastry research and practice, this new edition of Joseph Amendola's invaluable reference gives readers knowledge that they can apply to their own baking-whether it's selecting the right flour, understanding how different leavening agents work, or learning about using new baking ingredients and additives to enhance favorite recipes. Written in a clear, easy-to-understand style, Understanding Baking…
Lei Shishak is the author of numerous cookbooks including Beach House Dinners, Beach House Brunch, Beach House Baking, and Farm-to-Table Desserts. A graduate of Culinary Institute of America, Lei is the founder of Sugar Blossom Bake Shop in San Clemente, California. She is one of Southern California’s most respected bakers, having been honored as the Orange County Pastry Chef of the Year in 2011 by Riviera Magazine.
This was my textbook when I was a baking and pastry major in culinary school. In its third edition, this is the most comprehensive pastry baking book from the country's premier culinary school. I still refer back to it time and again for its reliable recipes and classic techniques. The chapters cover every specialty in pastry baking, including bread, chocolates, confections, wedding cakes, pastries, decorating, mousses, and frozen desserts. This book is well worth its price.
The leading learning tool for all levels of baking and pastry ability, newly illustrated and updated Praised by top pastry chefs and bakers as "an indispensable guide" and "the ultimate baking and pastry reference," the latest edition of Baking and Pastry from The Culinary Institute of America improves upon the last with more than 300 new recipes, photographs, and illustrations, and completely revised and up-to-date information on creating spectacular breads and desserts. Covering the full range of the baking and pastry arts and widely used by professionals and readers who want to bake like professionals, this book offers detailed, accessible…
Lei Shishak is the author of numerous cookbooks including Beach House Dinners, Beach House Brunch, Beach House Baking, and Farm-to-Table Desserts. A graduate of Culinary Institute of America, Lei is the founder of Sugar Blossom Bake Shop in San Clemente, California. She is one of Southern California’s most respected bakers, having been honored as the Orange County Pastry Chef of the Year in 2011 by Riviera Magazine.
Frozen desserts are an integral part of pastry baking that is sometimes overlooked. A pastry chef must be competent in ice cream and sorbets to secure work in any restaurant or hotel. The Perfect Scoop is an excellent introduction to the world of frozen desserts with recipes for ice cream, gelato, sorbets, sherbets, and granitas. Readers will also enjoy recipes for sauces, toppings, and mix-ins like butterscotch toffee and spiced pecans. Ice cream recipes include popular flavors like chocolate to fancier ones like chartreuse and lemon speculoos. The best part? All of the recipes yield batch sizes perfect for the home pastry baker.
A revised and updated edition of the best-selling ice cream book, featuring a dozen new recipes, a fresh design, and all-new photography. This comprehensive collection of homemade ice creams, sorbets, gelatos, granitas, and accompaniments from New York Times best-selling cookbook author and blogger David Lebovitz emphasizes classic and sophisticated flavors alongside a bountiful helping of personality and proven technique.
David's frozen favorites range from classic (Chocolate-Peanut Butter) to comforting (S'mores Ice Cream) and contemporary (Lavender-Honey) to cutting-edge (Labneh Ice Cream with Pistachio-Sesame Brittle). Also appearing is a brand new selection of frozen cocktails, including a Negroni Slush and Spritz Sorbet,…
I’m an award-winning cookbook author, photographer, and culinary instructor with a passion for local food and dessert. As a trained chef, I’ve worked behind the scenes of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and the TV show America’s Test Kitchen.I’ve also been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and CBS Evening News. For cookbooks, I love beautifully styled photography that pulls me in and delicious, well-written recipes that work in a real home kitchen. I also like a cookbook that you can curl up with and read like a novel. I live outside Boston with my family, two high-maintenance cats, and a pair of well-worn roller skates.
Los Angeles-based pastry chef Rucker has compiled her favorite fruit-based brunch and dessert recipes into one tempting volume. Some of my favorites: Spiced Apple Wedding Cake, Huckleberry Blondies, and Kabocha Squash Pie.
There is some advanced technique here, but most of the ingredients are easy to find. With photography that is bright and inviting, this book is a good, modern addition to your seasonal baking library.
Fresh fruit-based desserts from beloved Los Angeles pastry chef and restaurateur Nicole Rucker.
Nicole Rucker is responsible for some of the most raved-about and Instagrammed pastries and baked goods in Los Angeles, first as the Pastry Chef at the hotspots Gjelina Take Away and Gjusta, then through her pie company Rucker's Pie and restaurant Fiona. In her debut cookbook, Rucker shares her obsession and her recipes with readers to help them achieve the same kind of magical alchemy she's perfected in fruit desserts.
To Rucker, fruit is every bit as decadent as chocolate cake and in this unique guide to…
Rick Rodgers is an award-winning culinary teacher and cookbook writer who has made a specialty of books on baked goods. His book Kaffehaus explores the delicious sweets of the Austro-Hungarian coffee culture. With two of America’s most iconic bakeries, he is the co-author of The Model Bakery Cookbook and Sarabeth's Bakery, as well as Coffee And Cake, Tea And Cookies, and Williams-Sonoma Comfort Food.
This prim tome may not have any photos, and the author’s voice is somewhat terse, but she comes across with excellent recipes. This is the cookbook that started me on the road to professional baking, as the desserts I made for my novice dinner parties were such hits that I got stars in my eyes. It is definitely Francocentric, but that is a very good place to start if you are a beginner, and if you are an experienced cook, you can’t go wrong with her basic formulas.
Whenever I’m asked about when I knew I wanted to be a pastry chef/baker, I always answer, “birth!” My maternal grandmother lived with us and she loved to bake; I was playing with dough as soon as I was old enough to stand on a chair next to the kitchen table. After college I faced a crisis: graduate school or culinary school – I chose the latter and I’ve never looked back. Adding teaching and writing to my love of baking led me to travel, taste, research, and learn new techniques and recipes to share. It’s a passion from which I’ll never retire.
Maida’s Book of Great Desserts is the first of many books by her, and the one that influenced me very early in my developing love of baking and desserts.
I was privileged to know Maida for the last 25 years of her life and was able to teach several classes with her. Although all her books were masterpieces, she would most often pick recipes from this book to teach.
Some of my (and Maida’s) favorites include Queen Mother’s Cake (a recipe shared by a musician who claimed to have received it directly from the Queen Mum), East 62nd Street Lemon Cake, Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies (simply delicious), and Black and White Cheesecake.
I am a baking blogger with a serious love for all things '80s and all things sweet. Cupcakes are my passion but I have a huge sweet tooth for all types of desserts. I created my blog, "Cake Me Home Tonight," to share my passion for baking, easy and delicious recipes, and baking tips and tutorials to inspire home bakers to elevate their baking game. I am always inspired and motivated by my favorite cookbook authors and baking bloggers to create dessert recipes with a nostalgic twist. I hope these books satisfy your sweet tooth as much as they have mine!
Bake Your Heart Out: Foolproof Recipes to Level Up Your Home Baking is truly a masterpiece of a cookbook. Dan offers up a variety of amazing dessert and breakfast recipes featuring cookies, bars, breakfast bakes, pies, tarts, and cakes. Similar to many of my favorite bakers, Dan’s recipes feature classic, nostalgic flavors with a little twist of something extra.
I have learned so much from Dan as he shares the most interesting and innovative baking tips and tricks for creating absolutely delicious and beautiful baked goods. Sometimes one little baking trick can make all the difference!
The debut baking recipe book from Food Network star Dan Langan!
Like many of us, Dan Langan learned young that if you want to make someone smile, all you need to do is give them a cookie. Dan channeled his natural creativity into baking alongside his mother and grandmother, and he soon became obsessed with making and remaking his favorite recipes until they were the tastiest and prettiest versions of themselves. Since then, Dan has become a trusted source for delicious, foolproof bakes and has connected with home bakers via social media, television, and digital videos, and through his website,…
I am a baking blogger with a serious love for all things '80s and all things sweet. Cupcakes are my passion but I have a huge sweet tooth for all types of desserts. I created my blog, "Cake Me Home Tonight," to share my passion for baking, easy and delicious recipes, and baking tips and tutorials to inspire home bakers to elevate their baking game. I am always inspired and motivated by my favorite cookbook authors and baking bloggers to create dessert recipes with a nostalgic twist. I hope these books satisfy your sweet tooth as much as they have mine!
This is one of my favorite baking recipe books when you are looking for a little of everything. Sally has created a baking empire and I have always been inspired by her baking and her business.
In this book, Sally shared a wide-variety of home baked treats including breads, muffins, bars and brownies, cakes, pies, candies, cookies, and cupcakes. I love how her baking feels like it was made by your grandmother, as she features old-fashioned classics that are sure to bring up fond memories.
Updated with a brand-new selection of desserts and treats, the fully illustrated Sally's Baking Addiction cookbook offers more than 80 scrumptious recipes for indulging your sweet tooth.
It's no secret that Sally McKenney loves to bake. Her popular blog, Sally's Baking Addiction, has become a trusted source for fellow dessert lovers who are also eager to bake from scratch. Sally's famous recipes include award-winning Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies, No-Bake Peanut Butter Banana Pie, delectable Dark Chocolate Butterscotch Cupcakes, and yummy Marshmallow Swirl S'mores Fudge.
Featuring a chapter of healthier dessert options, including some vegan and gluten-free recipes, find tried-and-true…
I’m a kidlit author myself. I’ve written two middle-grade novels, one of which is all about having a food allergy, but my interest in food allergies is all due to my first kid. Amelia was born with multiple allergies to common ingredients like eggs and dairy. At first it was hard! Figuring out how to cook for her at home and keep her safe when she was in school or at a friend’s house felt daunting and frightening, so we turned to books for advice, recipes, and education for the entire family. Even if your reader isn’t the one with allergies, they’ve no doubt got a classmate or family member who does.
As a food allergy parent, I bought a lot of cookbooks so I could make safe meals and treats for my allergic child, and The Divvies Bakery Cookbook was one of our family’s favorites, even for the non-allergic members of the household. The recipes are delicious, the photos are gorgeous, and Sandler, the parent of a child with multiple food allergies, makes it easy and fun to duplicate all sorts of beloved desserts without nuts, eggs, or dairy. You may also find the simple recipes that use common household substitutions are fun ones to make together.
THE DIVVIES BAKERY COOKBOOK is an opportunity for the millions of people who are dealing with serious food allergies to put the sweet back in their kitchens. With an assortment of delicious recipes, free of the four major food allergens – peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, and eggs (all vegan!), Lori Sandler offers sweet treats that everyone can enjoy and share ANY time: at birthday parties, snack time, bake sales, holidays, picnics, dessert time, and just because. What ingredients are left out have been replaced by double dollops of the good and the gooey – like chocolate, oatmeal, and molasses, –…
11,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them.
Browse their picks for the best books about
dessert,
baking,
and
pastries.
