I recently borrowed Food 52’s latest cookbook, Genius Desserts : 100 recipes that will change the way you bake. After reading it through and trying 3 different recipes, I can’t say it has changed the way I bake BUT the recipes are certainly genius. Each one was awesome and I’ve already made a list of others that I want to try out.

Food52 is an award-winning kitchen and home brand. Established almost 10 years ago, their mandate is to help followers “…eat thoughtfully and live joyfully.” They have an extensive team behind the scenes led by CEO and Co-Founder, Amanda Hesser. She herself has written a few books including Cooking for Mr. Latte : A Food Lover’s Courtship, with Recipes, The Cook and the Gardener, and The Essential New York Times Cookbook. The Food52 website won a James Beard award and with over 4 million followers on social media, I think I am not alone in being pleased with the look of their books and online presence as well as being very satisfied with the recipe results.

The content shared in print and online by Food 52 is a mix of food, cooking, design, culture, and travel. The recipes shared are from talented home cooks as well as celebrity chefs like Nigella Lawson, Jacques Pépin, and Madhur Jaffrey.

The first recipes I tried were for cookies: Dorie Greenspan & Pierre Herme’s “World Peace Cookies” and Julia Moskin’s “Peanut Butter Sandies”. I decided to bring them to the library for staff to taste test. While both plates emptied quickly, the World Peace Cookies were the hands down winners. Comments included “Those chocolate cookies are the best!”, “Nice texture and not over-the-top chocolatey.” and “The World Peace cookie was very good. I didn’t find it too sweet and the addition of chocolate chips was a pleasant surprise.” That recipe is a keeper!

Next up was “One Step, No Churn Coffee Ice Cream” by a favourite of mine, Nigella Lawson. I do have a Pampered Chef Ice Cream Maker (which is amazing, btw) but I was intrigued by this no-frills recipe. There are just 4 ingredients and the only equipment needed is an electric mixer and a freezer. Basically, you just beat the ingredients together until airy, place the mixture in a container with an airtight lid and freeze overnight. The resulting ice cream is SUPER rich and decadent which means you don’t need to eat very much to be satisfied. I’d definitely try this again with some other flavours.

I have plans to make the Guinness Stout Ginger Cake next although I will be skipping the Parsley Cake on the page that precedes it. Parsley Cake aside, there are plenty just begging to be tried: Pistachio Millionaire’s Shortbread with Coriander Butterscotch, Weird & Wonderful Banana Cake (which sounds just that!) and Butterscotch Budino to name but three.

Embrace your inner genius. Borrow this book. Give the recipes a whirl. You won’t be disappointed.

• Sandi H.

P.S. after writing this post I did make the Stout Spice Gingerbread and it was out of this world. It’s going to become a staple in our household.

World Peace Cookies

1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ c plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 c. packed light brown sugar
¼ c. granulated sugar
½ tsp. fine sea salt
1 tsp. vanilla
¾ c mini chocolate chips

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more. Turn off the mixer.

Pour in the dry ingredients and mix at low speed just until flour is mixed in.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 ½  inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — let it warm just enough so that you can slice the log into rounds and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease baking sheets. Remove dough from fridge. Using a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.

Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be.

Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.