A collection of 110 simple and tasty dessert recipes by a veteran chef covers nearly every kind of dessert imaginable, from cakes to pies to cookies to candy, all presented in an easy-to-follow format.

Baking books abound, but none presents a more mouthwatering selection of contemporary sweets than David Lebovitz's Room for Dessert. A former pastry cook at in California, Lebovitz offers more than 110 recipes for cakes, curds, soufflés, tarts, pies, cobblers, ice creams, cookies, and more, beautifully depicted by color photos. He also manages, as few other baking book authors do, to provide lucid technical guidance, so even novice bakers should have success with his recipes. Readers searching for a solid collection of doable desserts, from homey to dress-up (but never too bedecked) will find the book is just what they're looking for.

Featured are a number of Lebovitz's most acclaimed desserts, including Meyer Lemon Semifreddo, Butternut Squash Pie, and Orange Almond Bread Pudding. Readers will also want to try his modernized Marjolaine (chocolate-covered layers of vanilla and praline creams sandwiched between crisp nut meringues), Fresh Ginger Cake, Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream, and Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread, among others. With a chapter on liqueurs and preserves--there's a recipe for a luscious pineapple ginger marmalade, for example--and a presentation of basic formulas that includes dessert sauces (Lebovitz's soft-candied citrus peel topping is a standout), the book, wide in scope yet straightforward in detail, delivers. --Arthur Boehm

" Room for Dessert is a tempting collection of recipes that are beautiful to look at and delicious to eat. But more than that, this book is a distillation of all the experience of a gifted pastry chef and teacher who guides the reader through every technical step to achieve a glorious result. Room for Dessert is a winner!"

-- Nick Malgieri, author of Chocolate and How To Bake

"Room for Dessert is my favorite kind of cookbook. It is a very personal collection of dessert recipes collected over many years by an extremely gifted cook/baker. This book is like having a teacher stand beside you as you make each recipe. It is a one-of-a-kind dessert book." -- Marion Cunningham, author of Learning to Cook with Marion Cunningham

"David Lebovitz's charming and personal book is a wonderful addition to my kitchen library. Utterly delectable desserts for all seasons, great tips, and a liberal sprinkling of David's adventures at Chez Panisse." -- Alics Medrich, author of Cocolat: Extraordinary Chocolate Desserts and Alice Medrich's Cookies and Brownies

"David Lebovitz's distinctive desserts offer the best of both worlds--heavenly flavor combinations and down-to-earth techniques. Every page is rich with information which this fine pastry chef has gleaned for home cooks everywhere. Follow me: I can't wait to bake my way through this fabulous dessert book." -- Flo Braker, author of The Simple Art of Perfect Baking and Sweet Miniatures: The Art of Making Bite-Size Desserts

"Every so often a cookbook comes out that actually breaks new ground, expands its subject matter and energizes its readers. I feel this way about...Room For Dessert. After thumbing through the book I started baking cookies, then cakes, then roasting fruit. These desserts are so ingeniously simple that beginners can cook them, yet smart that they inspire professionals. Lebovitz has created a classic."

"This book... delivers pure substance. If you follow his recipes step by step, you will succeed. Lebovitz uses no complicated or fussy techniques. He requires no arcane equipment. The home cook can do any recipe in the book. "

"But what really sets this book apart is the originality and charm of the recipes...He has impeccable taste and a unique sensibility that takes traditional desserts one step further. ...Personally, I'd buy Room For Dessert for the cookie section alone, and I'm giving it as a holiday gift to anyone I care about who even thinks about entering the kitchen. This is a book that inspires people to cook." (Excerpted from the San Francisco Examiner, November 1999) -- Patricia Unterman, San Francisco Examiner Sunday Magazine

SIMPLE AND SWEET FROM A MASTER BAKER (excerpts): Room For Dessert... is as endearing as it is brilliantly appealing, because Mr. Lebovitz writes with a personal touch. It could be catagoried as a chef's cookbook, but that would be an unfortunate label, as most of those thick compendiums are full of desserts meant to be composed by a team of cooks, not by a home cook with a conventional oven.

Mr. Lebovitz hands you over a collection of his best recipes and leaves you to assert your own know-how....His instructions are clear and simple, and the recipes are so good that it becomes clear what a master baker he is without his announcing it himself with complex recipes. -- Amanda Hesser, New York Times

David Lebovitz was pastry cook at Chez Panisse for twelve years with a few brief forays into the outside world, including a stint as pastry chef at Bruce Cost's Monsoon, a critical favorite.He lives in San Francisco, California.

Coconut Cake

One 9-inch cake; 10 to 12 servings

1 (9-inch) round sponge cake

The Coconut Custard:
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup plus 1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split
5 egg yolks
1 cup unsweetened dried coconut

The Rum Syrup:
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons dark rum

The Whipped Cream:
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups unsweetened dried coconut, toasted

1: To make the coconut custard: Stir together the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of the milk with a fork until the cornstarch has dissolved.

2: Measure the 1 1/4 cups of milk and the sugar into a heavy saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk, add the vanilla pod, and warm over medium heat.

3: In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks; set aside. When the milk is hot, whisk in the slurry of cornstarch and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.

4: Whisk some of the thickened milk into the egg yolks, then add them to the rest of the mixture in the saucepan.

5: Cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom, until the mixture just begins to boil and becomes very thick. Do not overcook. Remove from the heat and strain into a clean bowl. Remove the vanilla pod, stir in the coconut, and cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to use.

6: To make the rum syrup: Heat the water and sugar in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and add the rum.

7: To assemble the cake: With a long serrated knife, slice the sponge cake horizontally into three equal layers.

8: Place a layer of sponge cake on a plate. Use a pastry brush to soak the cake with 1/3 cup of the rum syrup.

9: Evenly spread half the coconut custard filling, about 1/2 cup,on top of the sponge cake layer. Cover it with a second layer of sponge cake.

10: Soak the top of the second layer with another 1/3 cup of rum syrup. Spread the remaining coconut custard over the soaked sponge cake layer. Place the final sponge cake layer on top and soak with the rest of the syrup. If possible, allow the cake to set in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight.

11: To make the whipped cream: Before serving, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, then whisk in the sugar and vanilla.

12: Use a metal spatula to coat the cake completely with the whipped cream. Cover the top and sides of the cake evenly with the toasted coconut by sprinkling coconut on top of the cake and pressing more around the sides with your hands.

Serving Suggestion: Serve hefty slices of this cake either by themselves or with a simple compote of tropical fruits and berries tossed in sugar and dark rum.

This is my recipe for the cake that I made every year for Alice Waters's father on his birthday. A week before that date, Alice would sidle up to me and ask, ever so politely, if I could possibly make this cake for him. I always obliged, of course: For one thing, I share his affection for this cake. It hasn't happened yet, but I wish someone would surprise me with one for my birthday.

This cake should be assembled the day before you plan to serve it, so the flavors have time to meld. It will also be much easier to slice.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

About 60 cookies

1 pound bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter cut into pieces
1 cup walnuts, toasted
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups chocolate chips

1: Melt the chocolate and the butter in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, coarsely chop the walnuts. When the butter and chocolate have melted, remove from the heat.

2: In a standing electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, whip the eggs, sugar, and vanilla at high speed until they form a well-defined ribbon when you lift the whisk. Remove the whisk and attach the paddle to the mixer. Turn the speed to low, and mix in the melted chocolate mixture.

3: In another bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder, then add them to the batter. Add the chocolate chips and the nuts. Chill the dough until it is firm, at least 30 minutes.

4: On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough with your hands into three 10-inch logs, 2 inches in diameter. (If the dough is too cold and firm, wait until it becomes malleable.)

5: To bake the cookies, position the oven racks in the center and upper part of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

6: Slice the logs into 1/2-inch-thick cookies, and place them on the baking sheet, evenly spaced. Bake for about 9 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets and switch racks midway through baking. Once they have cooled, store the cookies in an airtight container.

Note:The logs can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 2 months. These cookies can also be baked immediately without first chilling the dough and rolling it into logs: Drop the dough onto baking sheets in generous, evenly spaced tablespoonfuls.

These are the best chocolate cookies I've ever made. In order to bake them perfectly, you must watch them carefully and remove them from the oven while they are still shiny and molten in the center but cooked on the outer edges. Before you bake them all, you may want to bake one or two as testers to find out how fast they will bake in your oven.