Sweet Magic: Easy Recipes for Delectable Desserts

Richard's dessert collection—complete with cheerful, perfect-to-make-on-a-Sunday-afternoon recipes such as strawberry cream puffs, cherry clafouti and Linzer tarts—forgoes food photography in lieu of two-color illustrations with a vintage feel, and presents 50 easy-to-follow selections sans highly stylized sidebars and show-stopping chapter openers. The French-born and -trained pastry chef, and Washington, D.C., restaurateur, steers readers toward "pleasure" as opposed to "perfection" when cooking and baking and succeeds in providing "accessible" and "uncomplicated" dessert instructions. Instead of tips, numbered steps, bulleted lists and charts, the author showcases his gift for storytelling and love of pastry and all things sweet in text-heavy pages complete with dialogue. American classics including cherry pie, apple pie, and chocolate chip cookies, have their place alongside French favorites such as crepes, meringues, and éclairs in this delightful and timeless title that feels like a small but worthy indulgence. (Dec.)