Acknowledgments

It took four years to write this book, and the recipes and knowledge took more years than that. I always wanted to write a baking book but never felt that I was ready. One evening in the summer of 2015, Charlotte Druckman introduced my desserts and me to Nancy Silverton. And it was through this introduction that the cookbook came to be. Nancy tasted my desserts and then proceeded to immediately ask me if I wanted to write a cookbook. She generously put her agent, Janis Donnaud, in touch with me. I cannot thank Charlotte enough. Not only for her introduction to Nancy, but also for so many other things including helping me fine-tune the book’s introduction. I also cannot thank Nancy enough. Not only for the introduction to Janis, but also for being a mentor to me through her work and her books. And thank you, Nancy, for letting me test quite a few of these recipes in your beautiful home kitchen. I feel quite blessed to have such a smart and talented agent in Janis. Thank you, Janis, for being a tough cookie when I needed straightforward feedback.

This book would not have been possible without Carolynn Carreño, my writer. Carolynn, I love how you captured my voice, even when I didn’t think I had one. Your writing and work is amazing. And I am grateful that you practically wrote two books in just this one! You put in so much work and meticulousness to yield consistency in all of the recipes. Thank you. I also must thank my editor, Lexy Bloom. Your vision in bringing my science and engineering background more front and center makes me proud of the book. And makes the book feel like who I am. Thank you to Tom Pold and the entire team at Knopf. From the meticulousness of the copy editing to the beautiful design, the book is beyond what I could have imagined it to be. Thank you to my photographer, Johnny Miller. Your photographs make my pastries look like works of art. When I said “moody,” you got it and ran with it. And thank you so much to your lovely and extremely talented team, including Rebecca Bartoshesky, who assembled beautiful and moody props, and Rebecca Jurkevich—thank you for all of your help in styling the food. I picked up so many good tips and tricks and I am grateful that we worked together.

The recipes and knowledge within this book come from years of work and learning and I want to thank all of those mentors and teachers along the way. In particular, Gina De Palma, a true mentor to me. You are still missed but your recipes live on. Dorie Greenspan, I learned so much by baking through your recipes at home. Jim Lahey, my knowledge of bread and fermentation blossomed while working at Sullivan Street Bakery under your tutelage. Toni Lynn Dickinson, I learned so much from you while at the French Culinary Institute—from creaming butter and sugar to sacrificing batter in cake-making. Thank you. I also could not have written this book without the help of the many assistants I have had, including Zoe Kanan, Joe Bowie, Ali Spahr, Harlie Orr, Tiffany Bryant, Mel Levi, and Sergey Linnikov.

And last but not least, thank you to my son, Wyatt, for tasting all of the pastries. And thank you to Ken, for everything else.