Room for Dessert: 110 Recipes for Cakes, Custards, Souffles, Tarts, Pies, Cobblers, Sorbets, Sherbets, Ice Creams, Cookies, Candies, and Cordials by David Lebovitz

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Notes about this book

  • dgcbooth on June 27, 2011

    incredible gingersnap cookies recipe!

Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Meyer lemon semifreddo

    • twoyolks on April 13, 2020

      This was fine but it was a lot of work without an equivalent amount of payoff.

  • Amaretti cookies

    • twoyolks on March 20, 2016

      These didn't have a lot of flavor nor was the texture very good.

  • Almond chocolate biscotti

    • twoyolks on March 31, 2020

      Everything I'd want in biscotti.

  • Vin d'orange

    • twoyolks on April 25, 2017

      This is really bitter with only a very subtle orange flavor.

  • Pineapple, rhubarb, and raspberry cobbler

    • hillsboroks on June 17, 2015

      Quite an unusual flavor combination that creates the most delicious fruit filling I have ever tasted. We are not big cobbler fans so I changed the thickener to corn starch (1/4 cup) and reduced the rhubarb to 4 cups so that the filling would fit into a 10" pie. I used my favorite double crust pie recipe and baked it at 425F for 15 minutes and then reduced the temp to 400F for an additional 30 minutes. Wow! The fruit flavors all meld into a wild wonderful new flavor so that if you did not tell someone what fruit was in the pie I am not sure that they could figure it out. I am sure it would be lovely as a cobbler too as written but this is going into my list of "Must make again pies."

  • Strawberry mango sorbet

    • hillsboroks on June 14, 2021

      This sorbet is so easy and the end result is truly greater than the sum of its parts. It is creamy, fresh and says "summer" with every bite. I ended up doubling the rum and lime juice to tweak the flavor so it wasn't just sweet as my fruit was really ripe.

  • Pear, rum, and pecan tart

    • hillsboroks on September 09, 2015

      Rich elegant dessert that still allows the delicate pear flavor to shine through. I made this for a dinner party where I was to bring dessert and served it with pear liqueur flavored whipped cream. After tasting with and without the whipped cream I prefer it plain. The whipped cream made it too sweet and too rich. The preparation was fairly straightforward and not hard. It is rich though with all that butter in the crust and in the filling. It is sort of like a rich pecan pie with fresh pears in it. All in all a lovely fall dessert.

  • Fresh ginger cake

    • cadfael on March 05, 2014

      Very intense ginger

  • Apple and frangipane galette

    • Jviney on November 05, 2021

      This is relatively quick and everyone at my book club meeting loved it. I served with creme fraiche and I think would do ice cream next time…the contrast in temp might be a good thing.

  • Candied citron

    • ashallen on December 21, 2019

      Great instructions for making candied citron - nice troubleshooting tips, too. Like apattin, I also candied a single fruit. I forgot to use the optional corn syrup and my citron, stored in its sugar syrup from candying, did indeed crystallize after 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator. Next time I won't forget! Flavor is intense and aromatic - makes me think of a cross between lemon, lime, and grapefruit. [Cross-post for Room for Dessert/David Leibovitz website.]

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  • ISBN 10 0060191856
  • ISBN 13 9780060191856
  • Published Mar 29 2001
  • Format Hardcover
  • Page Count 228
  • Language English
  • Countries United States
  • Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Inc
  • Imprint HarperCollins

Publishers Text

Especially if it's one of David Lebovitz's signature showstoppers. In his first cookbook, Room for Dessert, he offers more than 110 recipes for sweet everythings. You'll find sensational cakes, custards, soufflés, tarts, pies, cobblers, sorbets, ice creams, cookies, and candies, each designed to tempt the diner.

In the introduction David writes of one of his earliest dessert memories--a bowl of freshly picked blackberries, perfectly ripe, topped with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of sugar. "When you search out the best ingredients, do as little to them as possible, and serve them in a straightforward way, the presentation follows naturally," he writes. "A glossy custard looks best with a, swirl of whipped cream; a cool tapioca pudding looks enticing when it's accompanied by its natural complements--tropical fruits and shaved coconut."

With such an aesthetic, David eventually made his way to Berkeley's legendary Chez Panisse, establishing himself as a pastry cook under the tutelage of Alice Waters and founding pastry chef Lindsay Shere. He shares the Chez Panisse commitment to fresh, seasonal exceptional ingredients, presented simply and unpretensiously, at their peak flavor. As Alice Waters writes in the books forward: "David is one of those rare pastry chefs who knows that in desserts, as in all art, the cliché is true: sometimes less is more."

After leaving Chez Panisse, Lebovitz served as pastry chef at Bruce Cost's critically acclaimed Monsoon, experimenting with a wide variety of Asian ingredients and flavors to create more remarkable desserts. Home cooks as well as professionals have been clamoring for the Fresh Ginger Cake recipe, which, finally, is published here. It so often appears at Bay Area restaurants that it's frequently listed on menus as "Dave's Ginger Cake." Make it once and you'll immediately want to add it to your list of tried and true standbys. David offers comforting yet sophisticated versions of everyone's favorites, including Gingersnaps, Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Coconut Macaroons, surefire hits for people of all ages. For grown-ups, there are homemade liqueurs and cordials. Add to this delectable ice creams and frozen treats, as well as jams, preserves, and candied fruits, and you get an idea of the incredible scope of David Lebovitz's talents.

Beautifully illustrated with seventy-five full-color photographs by San Francisco's Michael Lamotte, Room for Dessert is as stunning to look at as it is to cook from. With this remarkable debut, David Lebovitz offers his expert hand to guide a new audience of readers and home dessert makers.

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