Sweet Tooth: 100 Desserts to Save Room For (A Baking Book)

by Sarah Fennel

Overview

100 stunning, delicious, must-bake recipes for everyone who saves room for dessert from the wildly popular baker and social media star behind Broma Bakery.
 
“These are recipes to make us happy from morning to midnight. Sweet Tooth is like being in the kitchen with Sarah, and that’s a treat.”—Dorie Greenspan, New York Times bestselling author of Baking with Dorie

Sarah Fennel began her website, Broma Bakery, as a hobby that combined her love of baked goods with her passion for photography. Soon, millions of readers fell in love with her reliable recipes for nostalgic desserts with a modern twist like Strawberry Shortcake Cake, Oatmeal Cream Cookies, and White Chocolate Brownies.
 
In Sweet Tooth, Sarah introduces brand-new recipes—like Espresso Martini Cake and Vanilla Bean-Blackberry Scones—and shares a few classic fan favorites too, including her Best Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World, shared, liked, and commented on by millions of fans. Whether you’re a new or experienced baker, the tips and insights throughout the book will make your cakes fluffier and crusts flakier while building confidence along the way. With an essential baker’s pantry and a guide to never overbaking again, Sarah sets you up for success with each recipe, from Small Batch Blueberry Muffins, a make-ahead Tiramisu Icebox Cake, and an impressive Apple Rose Tart for a crowd. 
 
Irresistible, entertaining, and with “I can’t believe it was so simple!” instructions, Sweet Tooth is for bakers of all levels. The only requirement? A deep, unwavering love for dessert.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593581995
Publisher:	Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication date:	10/08/2024
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	4,450
Product dimensions:	8.28(w) x 10.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Sarah Fennel is a self-taught baker and photographer. Her website, Broma Bakery, and her social platforms attract millions of fans monthly. She lives in New York City with her husband, Alex, and their dog, Tilly.

Read an Excerpt

Introduction

Some things in life are unnecessary to our survival. Often, these are the best things. Baked goods, for example. I don’t need them to survive, but I can’t survive without them. And maybe, because you opened this book, you can’t either.

Whether you bake brownies for a movie night with friends or Sunday dinner with your family, everybody leaves happy. Baking is an act of love, plain and simple. The process of folding the batter, cleaning the bowl (with your finger, obviously), and experiencing that luxurious brownie perfume as they bake—also extremely enjoyable. And yet a lot of people fear baking, because there’s science involved, and that oven’s hot! In a dream world, we’d all have a person on call as we bake, giving us tips on how to measure flour correctly, test when a cake’s done, and microwave butter without exploding it.

Let me be that person.

In Sweet Tooth, my goal is to encourage you to bake more, and bake often. Oh, and help you steer clear of most of the mistakes I made. (I mean, we’re human.) The secret, I learned, is: just start.

When I began baking in college, using a binder of printed recipes in 24-point font my mom had made for me, I’m pretty sure I was using baking powder and baking soda interchangeably (oops). I baked like a bull in a china shop, getting flour all over my dorm kitchen and burning my fingertips removing cookies from sheet pans. But after a few years, I got good enough at baking that I decided to start a blog, Broma Bakery, to document my favorite recipes.

I picked the name almost at random, “Broma” because a site with plain HTML text and a magenta background told me it was Latin for “that which is eaten.” (Nope. It’s definitely Spanish, and it might be ancient Greek, but the jury’s out on that one.) Mostly, I wanted to satisfy my sweet tooth and practice photography, another side passion, while I worked on majoring in something more responsible—anthropology. But no disrespect to Darwin, it became pretty apparent pretty quickly that I wanted to make my blog a way of living. Because as much as humans have evolved, we still can’t resist a warm chocolate chip cookie.

As the blog (and my baking skills) grew, it became my full-time job, and I feel absurdly lucky to say that. Now I have an invaluable second-incommand, Sofi Llanso, who helps me develop and test recipes, and so much more. Our mission is to consistently deliver desserts that offer home bakers maximum deliciousness. The recipes are predominantly rooted in Americana classics (fudgy brownies, fruit pies, and frosted sheet cakes), but are often updated and/or refined for today’s palates. What I’m saying is, don’t worry, they’re not too sweet, and yes, you really do still want an Oatmeal Cream Cookie (page 105).

When I bake, I’m trying to reconnect to a time, place, and even to people. The homemade Coffee, Caramel, Cookies and Cream Ice Cream (page 191) reminds me of scooping endless cones for customers (and myself ) at my first job. The Maple-Glazed Apple Blondies (page 240) bring me back to New England falls, apple picking with my mom and sister. When I make a whole tray of fudgy Crackle-Top Brownies (page 63), I no longer have to break one brownie into tiny pieces to share with my entire cafeteria table, because this time, there’s enough to go around. It’s crazy and beautiful to me that sweets can make us feel this warm, wonderful contentment deep in our souls. Is it . . . love? Anthropologists should study that.

To me, baking is and should be an everyday thing. That’s why I keep my processes uncomplicated; I want everyone invited to the party. No fancy bread machine, lame knife (don’t even ask), or cheesecloth is required. This cookbook includes easy and crowd-pleasing treats in every chapter, as well as a few higher-skill recipes for anyone who wants to strengthen their pastry muscles. Like any hobby, you’ll get better the more you do it, which is a win-win, because it means there will always—I hope!—be something sweet on your counter.

Whether you’re baking for comfort, to spread happiness, to feel full-blown nostalgia, or to make a single damn cookie whenever you feel like it, Sweet Tooth has recipes for you. After all, we don’t bake out of necessity. We bake for the love of dessert. It’s joyful, rewarding, and just plain fun.

This book celebrates dessert for dessert’s sake. And there’s always room for it.

Editorial Reviews

09/16/2024

“My goal is to encourage you to bake more, and bake often,” writes Broma Bakery blogger Fennel in her winning debut. Chewy peanut butter–chocolate chip cookies, strawberries and cream crispy treats, and blueberry almond cake are a few of the many recipes that can be made in an hour or less. There’s also an extensive selection of inventive sweets, ranging from red wine brownies and raspberry croissant bread pudding to baklava cheesecake and ginger apricot muffins. For readers who want to present dinner guests with a show-stopping finale, Fennel offers black forest pavlova, pistachio layer cake with white chocolate frosting, and a gorgeous s’mores tart. An impressive section of desserts for one, including single-serve recipes for double chocolate chip cookies and apple crisp, will satisfy sweet cravings without dirtying too much baking equipment. Among the dozens of valuable tips, Fennel explains that only filling every other cup in a muffin pan will make them rise significantly higher. In conjunction with easy instructions, Fennel provides step-by-step photos for some of the more involved creations, showing, for example, the process of shaping apple slices into roses for the apple rose tart. This will become a go-to for dessert lovers of all baking levels. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Sarah is the baker who showed me desserts should be more than delicious; they should be fun, and Sweet Tooth proves that to a T. Each recipe is uniquely gorgeous, with an edge of playfulness that comes straight from Sarah herself. Reading this book was like a lesson in dog-earing pages, because trust me, you’ll want to make every single thing.”—Justine Doiron, author of Justine Cooks and creator of Justine Snacks

“There’s a reason millions of home bakers love Sarah Fennel’s Broma Bakery and 100 of them are packed between these covers. From Vanilla Bean–Blackberry Scones to a three-layer Espresso Martini Cake, these are recipes to make us happy from morning to midnight. Sweet Tooth is like being in the kitchen with Sarah, and that’s a treat.”—Dorie Greenspan, New York Times bestselling author of Baking with Dorie

“In Sarah Fennel’s first cookbook, Sweet Tooth, she hands her baking cheat codes over to anyone looking to weave a bit of sweetness into their busy lives. From make-ahead strategies to treats you can prep in as little as 15 minutes, she’s got you covered. Her fab mix of creativity (Hello, Coffee Cake Cookies!), jaw-dropping pics, and down-to-earth tips will seriously level up your baking game. Sweet Tooth is a must-have for the baking enthusiast.”—Jocelyn Delk Adams, award winning author of Everyday Grand: Soulful Recipes for Celebrating Life’s Big and Small Moments

“Sweet Tooth is the modern-day baking bible. Sarah not only knows how to craft creative and nostalgic recipes that are somehow exactly what you want to bake (and eat), but she also has decades of experience that equip you with exactly what you need to do to troubleshoot, substitute, and avoid any baking fails. Her expertise shines through in each recipe, almost like having your (hilarious) best friend in the kitchen holding your hand each step of the way. Oh, and the Dessert for One chapter? Genius!”—Carissa Stanton, author of Seriously, So Good

“I have been craving a book by Sarah for years, and she has delivered! The recipes are absolutely drool-worthy, playful, yet still approachable—even for the most novice bakers! Sarah’s absolutely gorgeous photos and detailed instructions invite you in from the moment you open the book. From desserts loved by all like her Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies to more adventurous sweets like her Espresso Martini Cake, Sarah delivers excitement and creativity in every single page. An instant classic!”—Monique Volz, creator of Ambitious Kitchen and author of The Ambitious Kitchen Cookbook

From the Publisher