The Last Bite

Book excerpt: A comprehensive guide to modern desserts that teaches you how to cook, create, structure, and season sweet dishes—and ultimately how to really understand dessert making. “First and foremost, make it delicious. Your goal is to make even those who ‘don’t do desserts’ lick their plate clean. It has to be delicious from first to last bite.” In this revolutionary book, award-winning pastry chef Anna Higham encourages you to approach making a dessert as you would savory cooking: engaging your senses, tasting, seasoning, and letting your ingredients shine. Exploring ingredients season by season, Anna outlines a repertoire of ways to cook each one to magnify flavor and taste. She shows you how to work with fruit; construct a dessert; and examine seasoning, structure, and texture—helping you really understand the “how” and “why” of dessert cooking. Featuring over 150 recipes for cakes, jams, mousses, and more, as well as over 45 plated desserts, The Last Bite celebrates seasonal cooking and eating with irresistible, innovative recipes—from fig leaf ice cream in fall to elderflower vinegar meringue in spring. Let Anna blow away your preconceptions about what your desserts can be and taste like with this inspiring, groundbreaking book.