"My mother always made a cake for family birthday celebrations when I was growing up, but if she was throwing a birthday party for me and my friends, she’d take me to our local grocery store, Schnucks, to order a sheet cake from the bakery. I remember flipping through laminated pages of design options, and, on at least one occasion, selecting a marbled sheet cake with white icing. Here I’ve created a homemade version, and to replicate the moist and tender crumb found in store-bought cakes, I use mayonnaise in the batter. Don’t turn the page - it’s not as weird as it sounds. Mayonnaise is, after all, a mixture of egg, oil, salt, and acid, and each of these things plays a role in cake making. I cover the cake in ermine frosting, an old-fashioned frosting that’s super light and fluffy and recalls (in a good way) the artificial frosting on grocery store sheet cakes. Some of this may sound dubious, but please give it a try." Images and text from What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz, photography by Jenny Huang. Murdoch Books RRP $55.00.

"These no-bake custards taste like a tropical Key lime pie and have an ultra delicate set, courtesy of an ingenious technique borrowed from the old-timey English dessert known as posset. Citrus juice is added to a reduced sweetened cream mixture, and the acid in the citrus curdles the proteins in the cream, causing it to set. But because the fat in the cream blocks the formation of curds, the texture stays smooth and luxurious instead of lumpy. Here I use coconut milk in addition to cream and lime juice as the acid, then I top the custard with a crunchy coconut-graham crumble and softly whipped cream. Technically they’re not custards because they contain no eggs, but the texture is so smooth and silky that the name fits." Images and text from What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz, photography by Jenny Huang. Murdoch Books RRP $55.00.

“Every time I drink a mango lassi, I am convinced that it’s the tastiest, most addictive and most refreshing thing in the world. This mousse is my attempt to translate all the flavours of lassi – sweet mango, tart yoghurt and floral cardamom – into dessert form. It requires a few steps to make the curd base, but using frozen mango simplifies the process. Not only is it a light and intensely flavoured fruit dessert, but it’s also gluten free.” This is an edited extract from What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz, Murdoch Books RRP $55.00. Photography by Jenny Huang. You’ll need to start this recipe at least 5 hours ahead, and you’ll need a blender (handheld or standard), a hand mixer and 8 serving glasses.  

"I used to think I didn’t like tiramisu, but when I really pondered it, I couldn’t make sense of not liking a flavoured dessert - it seemed physically impossible. Having never made homemade tiramisu myself, I reasoned that maybe I’d only ever eaten versions that were too boozy, too cold, or too sweet (or all three), and the desire to make my own hit hard. I take lots of liberties here, molding it into a loaf-shaped icebox cake, using Kahlua as the booze, covering the whole thing in whipped cream, and serving it in slices. The first taste was a light, coffee-flavoured revelation, and now I count this tiramisu-y icebox cake as one of my favorite recipes in the book." Images and text from What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz, photography by Jenny Huang. Murdoch Books RRP $55.00.

“Pudding,” in the UK, as I understand, is a generic term that can refer to any number of desserts. In a bit of wordplay, this recipe translates the British pudding banoffee pie, a tart filled with sliced bananas, dulce de leche, and whipped cream, into an American custard-style pudding. Banana and dulce de leche are cooked into a silky, smooth custard and then layered with whipped sour cream, digestive biscuits (though you could use graham crackers), and more dulce de leche. To give the dessert a shareable quality, I assemble it large-format. Any glass serving dish or bowl with a 2-quart capacity works, but assembling it in individual glasses is an option, too." Images and text from What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz, photography by Jenny Huang. Murdoch Books RRP $55.00.

"It’s faith-restoring when a food item (or anything, for that matter) lives up to the great hype surrounding it, so it was an affirming experience when I had my first beignets at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans several years ago. Beignets are squares of fried dough similar to donuts, and even with high expectations, I found the chewiness and lightness of the ones at Cafe Du Monde miraculous. I have wanted to re-create something similar ever since, and this is my attempt. Though it’s the only yeasted recipe in the book, these beignets are straightforward to make and, deep-frying aside, hard to mess up because they shouldn’t look too uniform or neat. Like the ones at Cafe Du Monde, my beignets start with a wet dough (one of the keys to the large interior holes) and emerge from the fryer as airy pillows. When I say to generously coat them in confectioners’ sugar, I mean generously, and serve with a cup of strong coffee." Images and text from What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz, photography by Jenny Huang. Murdoch Books RRP $55.00.

"Meringue is a magical mixture of egg whites and sugar that can be used in many ways, but the first time I learned it could be baked directly on top of a cake was a couple of years ago when I saw pastry chef Liz Prueitt’s recipe for Sweet Potato Tea Cake with Meringue, which she developed for Tartine Manufactory along with then head of pastry Michelle Lee. It struck me as an exceptionally smart technique that I wanted to try, and it made sense to employ it in a cake where meringue is already a part of the recipe, like flourless chocolate cake. Not only does it look appealing on top of the cake, it bakes into a light and crispy shell that yields to the rich crumb. This cake is dairy and grain free, making it Passover-friendly." Images and text from What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz, photography by Jenny Huang. Murdoch Books RRP $55.00.

"This recipe for a bombe – a type of molded ice cream dessert – combines all of the elements of a classic ice cream sundae, allowing you to serve sundaes to a crowd in one fell swoop without an assembly line. It’s more of a craft project than a recipe, as it mixes and layers store-bought ingredients and involves no cooking or technique (other than toasting nuts and making ganache). I hope that doesn’t sound disparaging, because it’s not – as much as I love to cook and bake, I appreciate an easy recipe where all the effort goes into the looks. As long as you buy good-quality ice cream, you know the bombe will be delicious. I normally find maraschino cherries sickeningly sweet and artificial, but, when frozen inside the bombe, they become mellower and instantly evoke memories of childhood ice cream sundaes. Omit them if you must, but I think they do something special here." Images and text from What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz, photography by Jenny Huang. Murdoch Books RRP $55.00.