More Than Cake: 100 Baking Recipes Built for Pleasure and Community

(Hardback)

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Nectarine and Miso Tarte Tatin. Olive Oil, Mascarpone, and Fennel Layer Cake. Pecan and Black Cardamom Sticky Buns. Shoyu Peanut Cookies. Kabocha Galette. Overnight Blackberry Doughnuts. With sweet and savory pastries like these, and another 94 recipes as delicious and surprising, its no wonder Natasha Pickowicz is such a creative force in the world of baking. But she is also a baker with a sense of mission cooking, for her, is a chance to make a difference, and her celebrated bake sales for Planned Parenthood and collaborations with other nonprofits have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hence the titleMore Than Cake. Not just as in 'cookies and pies too',but as in baking as a way to bring people together over something special that youve made. Its more than cake its community, honour, pleasure, activism, and so much more.

In her stunning debut cookbook, Pickowicz shares her singular perspective how her ideas and recipes are inspired by her love of nature and art, her background in music and literature, her Chinese and Californian heritage. Her love of fruit, her adventurous combinations of flavours yuzu and olive oil, rose water and mezcal, adzuki bean and brown butter her philosophy of dessert ('it marks family traditions and spreads delight in a way that no other kind of dish can its not optional'). And literally hundreds of invaluable tips that could come only from an obsessive, self-taught pastry chef. Its a new dessert bible, filled not just with recipes for everything from cookies to layer cakes to panna cotta but with the inspiration to make baking and sharing a real part of every readers life.

Reviews

Natasha takes the natural yet whimsical aesthetic, unique sweet-and-savory flavor combinations, and technical mastery that have made her a pastry chef s pastry chef and translates them into approachable, achievable recipes for the home baker.
Claire Saffitz, author ofWhats for Dessert

Its almost impossible to capture the reciprocal joy that comes from making and sharing beautiful baked goods with friendsoh wait, Natasha Pickowicz has done it perfectly, right here.
Carla Lalli Music, author ofThat Sounds So GoodandWhere Cooking Begins

One of the most inspiring baking books and a stunning piece of work that every home baker needs on their bookshelf.
Kristina Cho, author ofMooncakes and Milk Bread

Natashas dedication to bringing people together through food to benefit community is widely known and admired, and this book showcases her love for the art and craft of simple, beautiful pastry, with a particular talent for combining the traditional with surprise elements to create something wholly new.
Liz Prueitt, chef/owner,Tartine Bakery

Natashas respect for ingredients (the fruit section reads as a love letter), genius ingredient pairings (see Olive Oil Cake with Crispy Capers), and ability to balance aspirational with accessible make this book a must-have and prove thatnot to be redundantit is so much more than cake.
Antoni Porowski, author ofAntoni: Lets Do Dinner

In the Natasha Pickowicz weltanschauung, mottled radicchio is a layer cake garnish, the bake sale is a middle finger of defiance, you make your own condensed milk (say what), Parker House rolls are fig leafed, and Mom does all the illustrations.
Brooks Headley, chef/operator,Superiority Burger

InMore Than Cake, Natasha has collected delicious recipes that perfectly reflect her originality and sense of whimsy. Inspired!
Claudia Fleming,author ofDelectable

Think ofMore Than Cakeas your guide tocapturing the happinessof baking, the pleasureof making somethingfabulously deliciouswith your hands andyour heart, and thesatisfaction of sharingwhat youve madewith others.
Dorie Greenspan,author ofBaking with Dorie

Pickowiczs melodic prose makes you want to curl up with her book, a cup of tea, and one of her pecan and black cardamom buns and revel in the originality of such outside-the-box recipes.
Booklist

Natasha takes the natural yet whimsical aesthetic, unique sweet-and-savory flavor combinations, and technical mastery that have made her a pastry chef s pastry chef and translates them into approachable, achievable recipes for the home baker.
Claire Saffitz, author ofWhats for Dessert

Its almost impossible to capture the reciprocal joy that comes from making and sharing beautiful baked goods with friendsoh wait, Natasha Pickowicz has done it perfectly, right here.
Carla Lalli Music, author ofThat Sounds So GoodandWhere Cooking Begins

One of the most inspiring baking books and a stunning piece of work that every home baker needs on their bookshelf.
Kristina Cho, author ofMooncakes and Milk Bread

Natashas dedication to bringing people together through food to benefit community is widely known and admired, and this book showcases her love for the art and craft of simple, beautiful pastry, with a particular talent for combining the traditional with surprise elements to create something wholly new.
Liz Prueitt, chef/owner,Tartine Bakery

Natashas respect for ingredients (the fruit section reads as a love letter), genius ingredient pairings (see Olive Oil Cake with Crispy Capers), and ability to balance aspirational with accessible make this book a must-have and prove thatnot to be redundantit is so much more than cake.
Antoni Porowski, author ofAntoni: Lets Do Dinner

In the Natasha Pickowicz weltanschauung, mottled radicchio is a layer cake garnish, the bake sale is a middle finger of defiance, you make your own condensed milk (say what), Parker House rolls are fig leafed, and Mom does all the illustrations.
Brooks Headley, chef/operator,Superiority Burger

InMore Than Cake, Natasha has collected delicious recipes that perfectly reflect her originality and sense of whimsy. Inspired!
Claudia Fleming,author ofDelectable

Think ofMore Than Cakeas your guide tocapturing the happinessof baking, the pleasureof making somethingfabulously deliciouswith your hands andyour heart, and thesatisfaction of sharingwhat youve madewith others.
Dorie Greenspan,author ofBaking with Dorie
Its hard to pick just one thing to love about pastry maven and activist Natasha Pickowiczs long-awaited debut cookbook, so I wont even try. . . . This isthebaking book of the year.
Food Wine

Celebrated for her fine-dining pastry work and fundraiser bake sales, Natasha Pickowicz brings a community spirit to this soulfully precise book.
Vanity Fair

From simple yet surprising recipes to total showstoppers, [Pickowicz]ll change the way you think about baking with her unexpected flavors and combinations, like pecan sticky buns with cardamom and nectarine and miso tarte tatin. Especially fun: the build-your-own layer cake section with various sponges, soaks, fillings, and buttercreams.
Simply Recipes

Pickowiczs melodic prose makes you want to curl up with her book, a cup of tea, and one of her pecan and black cardamom buns and revel in the originality of such outside-the-box recipes.
Booklist

Natasha takes the natural yet whimsical aesthetic, unique sweet-and-savory flavor combinations, and technical mastery that have made her a pastry chef s pastry chef and translates them into approachable, achievable recipes for the home baker.
Claire Saffitz, author ofWhats for Dessert

Its almost impossible to capture the reciprocal joy that comes from making and sharing beautiful baked goods with friendsoh wait, Natasha Pickowicz has done it perfectly, right here.
Carla Lalli Music, author ofThat Sounds So GoodandWhere Cooking Begins

One of the most inspiring baking books and a stunning piece of work that every home baker needs on their bookshelf.
Kristina Cho, author ofMooncakes and Milk Bread

Natashas dedication to bringing people together through food to benefit community is widely known and admired, and this book showcases her love for the art and craft of simple, beautiful pastry, with a particular talent for combining the traditional with surprise elements to create something wholly new.
Liz Prueitt, chef/owner,Tartine Bakery

Natashas respect for ingredients (the fruit section reads as a love letter), genius ingredient pairings (see Olive Oil Cake with Crispy Capers), and ability to balance aspirational with accessible make this book a must-have and prove thatnot to be redundantit is so much more than cake.
Antoni Porowski, author ofAntoni: Lets Do Dinner

In the Natasha Pickowicz weltanschauung, mottled radicchio is a layer cake garnish, the bake sale is a middle finger of defiance, you make your own condensed milk (say what), Parker House rolls are fig leafed, and Mom does all the illustrations.
Brooks Headley, chef/operator,Superiority Burger

InMore Than Cake, Natasha has collected delicious recipes that perfectly reflect her originality and sense of whimsy. Inspired!
Claudia Fleming,author ofDelectable

Think ofMore Than Cakeas your guide tocapturing the happinessof baking, the pleasureof making somethingfabulously deliciouswith your hands andyour heart, and thesatisfaction of sharingwhat youve madewith others.
Dorie Greenspan,author ofBaking with Dorie

Author Bio

Natasha Pickowiczis a New York Citybased chef and writer. She is a three-time James Beard Award finalist, from her time spent running the pastry programs at restaurants Altro Paradiso, Flora Bar, and Flora Coffee. Much of her pastry work explores the relationship between baking and social justice, including ongoing collaborations with Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, Gods Love We Deliver, and Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, for which she produced massive city-wide bake sales, raising over $150,000 between 2017 and 2019. Currently, Pickowicz runs the acclaimed pastry pop-up called Never Ending Taste. Her recipes and writing have been published in theNew York Times, theWall Street Journal,Bon Apptit,Saveur,Food & Wine,New Yorkmagazine,Cherry Bombe, and many other publications. Find her on Instagram at @natashapickowicz.