From an award-winning pastry chef and a James Beard Award-nominated writer for Serious Eats, foolproof recipes and a fresh take on the history of American desserts, from chocolate chip cookies to toaster pastries.
"A living, breathing pastry goddess." — J. Kenji López-Alt
Winner of the 2018 James Beard Award (Baking & Desserts)
Winner of the James Beard Award (Baking & Desserts)
New York Times Bestseller
Named a Best Baking Book by the Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, Bon Appétit, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe and more
From One-Bowl Devil’s Food Layer Cake to a flawless Cherry Pie that’s crisp even on the very bottom, BraveTart is a celebration of classic American desserts.
Whether down-home delights like Blueberry Muffins and Glossy Fudge Brownies or supermarket mainstays such as Vanilla Wafers and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, your favorites are all here. These meticulously tested recipes bring an award-winning pastry chef’s expertise into your kitchen, along with advice on how to “mix it up” with over 200 customizable variations—in short, exactly what you’d expect from a cookbook penned by a senior editor at Serious Eats. Yet BraveTart is much more than a cookbook, as Stella Parks delves into the surprising stories of how our favorite desserts came to be, from chocolate chip cookies that predate the Tollhouse Inn to the prohibition-era origins of ice cream sodas and floats.
With a foreword by The Food Lab’s J. Kenji López-Alt, vintage advertisements for these historical desserts, and breathtaking photography from Penny De Los Santos, BraveTart is sure to become an American classic.
STELLA PARKS is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. She was named one of America’s Best New Pastry Chefs by Food & Wine. When not at home in Lexington, Kentucky, Stella can be found at the Serious Eats test kitchen in Brooklyn, New York.
Praise for BraveTart
“Intelligent, engaging, inquiring, instructive, and joyous: as befits its subtitle, this is destined, deservedly, to become a truly iconic book.”
— Nigella Lawson, chef and author of How to Be a Domestic Goddess and Simply Nigella
“I am convinced that Stella is the result of a biological accident where a lab technician dropped Betty Crocker, Ernie the Keebler Elf, Mr. Wizard, and Fannie Farmer’s DNA samples into an incubator and out emerged a living, breathing pastry goddess. A genetic experiment gone horribly, horribly right.”
— from the Foreword by J. Kenji López-Alt, New York Times-bestselling author of The Food Lab
“With her excellent and adventurous palate, inventive mind, and phenomenal baking skills, Stella Parks gives the reader a smart no-nonsense education in baking with a good measure of attitude, loads of encouragement, and plenty of details to ensure success. Refreshing, fun, and inspiring for seasoned and beginning bakers alike.”
— Alice Medrich, James Beard Award–winning author of Flavor Flours and Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies
“BraveTart is the book that every baker needs in the kitchen. I am in love with her take on classic American pastry staples like the fluffy homemade white bread that begs to be turned into a PB&J or the flaky, tangy hand apple pies like the ones you can’t pass up at the McDonald’s drive-thru.”
— Christina Tosi, chef, founder, and owner of Momofuku Milk Bar
“Reading Stella Parks’s BraveTart takes us to an extremely decadent, fun place—and beyond: our immersion in the quirky history of American baking is as satisfying and fascinating as these recipes are delicious and impeccably rendered!”
— Matt and Ted Lee
“Stella has given us all a gift in recreating these wonderful recipes. Every recipe will bring a smile to your face and make you want to bring your family together and recreate your childhood birthday parties or other special moments. Thank you Stella for reminding us these special iconic desserts are as much fun to make as they are to eat.”
— Maura Kilpatrick, Pastry Chef and Owner of Sofra Bakery and Café, co-author of Soframiz
“Few recipe writers are as precise as Stella Parks, a former pastry chef whose instructions always fill me with a sense of clearheaded confidence.”
— Tejal Rao, New York Times Magazine
“One of the most engaging baking books to be published in years… Parks adds a remarkable new voice to the world of baking books. Combine smarts with whimsy and you get delicious results.”
— Washington Post
“As if it’s not impressive enough that Stella Parks whips up her own Twinkies and animal crackers, Snickers and sprinkles, she can also tell us who invented them, when, why and how.”
— Food & Wine
“Parks uses [food science] to give people new tools to become better bakers, a better understanding of baking, and an emphatic reminder of why every one loved these cookies, cakes, and other sweets in the first place.”
— GrubStreet
“Lushly illustrated recipes.… Parks is a serious cook, interested in the history of how those desserts became iconic, and one who applies her serious culinary education to what others might consider frivolous ends.”
— The Atlantic
“Wonderful fun to read. A coveted gift for anyone whose ears prick up at the jingle of an ice cream truck.”
— Bon Appétit
“Astonishing.… A deep dive into sweet, sweet Americana―from Boston cream pie to that southeastern beach staple, key lime pie, to the best carrot cake I’ve tried. Ever wondered how to make your own Heath-like chocolate toffee or even a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup? Parks has you covered.”
— Mother Jones
“[Bravetart] will join the ranks of the timeless and transformative. Stella Park’s knowledge is formidable and her baked goods are brilliant, exactly the type of things we crave.”
— Southern Living