Book Review: Dessert Can Save the World
Dessert Can Save the World: Lessons, Secrets, and Recipes for a Stubbornly Joyful Existence by Christina Tosi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
If you’re expecting a cookbook, you’re in for a surprise. Sure, there’s a few recipes, and yes, there’s talk of technique, but for the most part, this is Christina Tosi’s sugar-coated manifesto – a rambling chatterfest that includes some marvelous anecdotes about her mother, a lot of talk about her personal philosophy of life – how to celebrate it, cope with it, and improve it. Beyond that, there’s heaps of happy advice about helping your friends celebrate the milestones in their lives too, whether they are huge accomplishments or miniscule moments.
And of course it all comes down to the creation and use of desserts. I quite enjoyed the times Tosi talked about her experiments with food, which come from a natural tendency to wonder ‘what if’ about ingredients. Some of her slap-together snacks are a hoot!
Read this if you’re looking for some high-energy fun. Read this if your lifestyle’s lost its magic. Read this if you have friendships you treasure and want to celebrate. Read this if you need a prompt to recall your own foodie memories. I can’t decide if this one gets filed under Autobiography or Self-Help. I can’t file it with the cookbooks, it would scare the rest of the books away!
My thanks to author Christina Tosi, Rodale Inc., and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.
Lori Alden Holuta
Lori Alden Holuta lives between the cornfields of Mid-Michigan, where she grows vegetables and herbs when she’s not writing, editing, or playing games with a cat named Chives.
