Room for Dessert

It's not every new dessert book that arrives with a foreword by Albert Adrià, but Will Goldfarb—who worked with Adrià at elBulli nearly twenty years ago—has often taken unusual approaches. Since 2013, that has meant running a dessert bar in Bali, Indonesia, where his innovative daring with both technique and flavor has made him the focus of much attention in the pastry world. Room for Dessert, the book, is a whimsical, inspiring collection of tour-de-force plated desserts that make reference to everything from American suburban childhood to Indonesian folklore, from Tom Robbins novels to Oliver Roellinger dishes. Goldfarb's introductions to his recipes often begin as random-seeming notes on various inspirations that factored in their creation and it's not worth worrying if you don't get all the references, as the desserts speak for themselves. Their names may be oblique but their contents are directly appealing: caramel and Earl Grey tea gelato with cardamom bubbles and pomelo marmalade; frozen lime meringue with cashew custard, roast watermelon, and cassava sponge. (Nearly every composed dessert is built around a frozen element, in fact.) A final chapter is packed with smart ideas that pastry cooks can mine for their own purposes: pancetta financiers, black rice pudding, palm sugar meringues. Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.