Desserts cookbook. This has the most unique recipes I've seen in a while, but if you don't already have a kitchen stocked with things like cake crumbs and liquid cheesecake and apple cider soak, it's going to take you quite a while to make a recipe from scratch. Much more tempting to just make the trip out to New York to sample the food. Gorgeous book, though. ( )

Normally I'd go into in-depth detail about the book: Font, layout, contents, recipes, photos, list of ingredients, directions, etc. but I was so put off and so very disappointed by it all that I'm not going to waste my time.

Milk Bar: a place to drink, purchase, & eat desserts made with milk that has had Cornflakes, Fruity Pebbles, or Captain Crunch soaked in it & then strained. That immediately put me off as I clearly remember drinking that milk when I was too young to know better.

I did read the list of ingredients at the beginning of the book and Tosi did explain what she used, what could be substituted, and why. But I found recipes to be labor intensive and therefore of no interest and just reading them made me gag on the projected sweetness.

Her description of her cookies, crunchy outside & creamy inside, left me imagining raw/undercooked gooey messes.

I also found a great dichotomy in her ingredients: pure butter, organic eggs, & high grade chocolate mixed w/ (most likely gmo) highly sugared commercial cereals & cheap marshmallows?

Such a huge disappointment and a whole lot of hype. ( )

Loved this book. I've seen some people hating it because of the unique ingredients and advanced techniques but I found it to be interesting to read. Fascinating even. I read it cover to cover, even for recipes where I acknowledged outright that I would not be making whatever utterly mad concoction I was reading about. Some of these recipes I will make, though, and I intend to push myself a little for some of the more "hardbody" recipes in the book just for the challenge. Tosi's enthusiasm is inspiring. ( )

I love reading the front matter of cookbooks—to learn new techniques, find out about new-to-me ingredients, etc.—and the preamble Christina Tosi's recipes in the Milk Bar cookbook is one of the most engaging I've ever read. She writes in a down-to-earth, conversation with your best friend style that is almost confessional. And I learned a LOT about working in a busy, hip New York kitchen, where people really care about the food they're serving. (I've worked in busy, unhip New York restaurants where people are pretty meh about the food.) All that said, veganizing these particular recipes (why I bought the book on sale at the Strand), with their non-commercial kitchen ingredients, will be trickier than I imagined, so I may only make a couple when I'm feeling particularly ambitious. ( )

Momfuku Milk Bar has to be one of the most beautiful dessert cookbooks I have ever seen. There is not a picture that does not leave you mouth watering. Even the ingredient photos are gorgeous. Ah, but wait till you see the Apple Pie Layer cake, Candy Bar pie, Kimchi Blue Cheese Croissants.... every recipe is beautifully constructed.

There is ice cream, cookies, crumb toppings, crusts, cakes, ganaches, breads, and brittles......

I made the Grapefruit Pie for my daughter and friends and it was gone so fast I'd wished I made more. it was fantastic ! I have plans to make some of the cookies as well as the Kimchi Croissants. ( )