Sweet Ideas - A Collection of Cookbooks to Spark Anyone's Sweet Tooth

"The Cupcake Diaries - Recipes and Memories from the Sisters of Georgetown Cupcake" has been written by the very successful sisters of the popular TLC series, "DC Cupcakes". In this book, they share some of their most popular recipes for cupcakes, including frosting and decorating tips. The recipes are woven together with a charming narrative that details the history of these two sisters and how they developed their love for baking. The memoirs and recipes are divided by season. Fans of the show will love to learn about the exciting, albeit overwhelming opening day for the shop, and get a peak behind the scenes of the episodes in season 1. Delicious recipes, stories and photos make this book a tasty treat.

Food trucks are all the rage, but I can't imagine any truck being more highly anticipated than when the Treats Truck pulls into a New York City neighborhood. Kim Ima, The Treat Trucks lady, has been winner of the Vendy Award for Best Dessert Vendor. She sells goodies that appeal to both young and old. The recipes found in this book are divided into Cookies; Brownies, Bars & Squares; Cakes & Cupcakes; Pies. She also includes recipes for the frostings, fillings and toppings in this simple book that's filled with bright retro graphics and a small selection of colorful photos. Ima's passion for sweets is evident in the annotations, exclamations and tips that fill this fun book. You'll turn to this book when you need recipes for everyday treats, school parties, bake sales, and pot lucks.

If you're looking for a guide to creating desserts that are more suitable for special occasions, you'll want to take a look at "Extraordinary Cakes" from Karen Krasne, the owner and executive chef of Extraordinary Desserts in San Diego. Instead of taking the very popular approach to cake decorating that incorporates fondant and gum paste, Krasne uses natural frostings and decorations based on chocolate, cream, butter, fruit and flowers. Cakes are divided by season such as Lemon Praline Torte for the Spring and Holiday Yule Log for Winter. None of these cakes can be created in an hour or even an afternoon. They need to be prepared and assembled in stages, thereby allowing the baker to prepare many of those steps in advance, leaving the final assembly until just before presentation. They will seem daunting to prepare at first, but this book is filled with advice on technique, ingredients and approach making it possible for even the home baker to prepare an extraordinary cake.

This book comes to us courtesy of Culinary Institute of America's "Chef of the Year, 2002", Jean-Pierre Wybauw. This small, pocket-sized book is part reference book and part recipe book, and all parts chocolate! It's not a comprehensive guide to chocolate, rather, it's as if Chef Wybauw sat down with us to impart the high points in his knowledge of the subject. You'll find basic information on the production of chocolate; types of chocolate; chocolate terminology; how to assess the quality of chocolate; shelf life issues of chocolate; and nutritional data about chocolate. Basic techniques are explained such as molding and tempering. And there are recipes that range from chocolate mousse to yule log. If you're looking for a crash course in all things chocolate, this book may be your answer.

In stark contrast to the previous book on this list, if you're looking for true immersion in the luxury world of chocolate, you'll want to pick up the beautiful "Cooking with Chocolate". Instead of a crash course in the art of cooking with chocolate, this book is more like professional level training. This book was written by a group of the chef/instructors at the Ecole du Grand Chocolat Valrhona. This huge volume begins with covering techniques such as melting, tempering and molding chocolate; decorations; pastry doughs and sponges; the preparation of creamy textures like ganache, custard and pastry cream; mousse; ice creams, sorbets and sauces. The extensive technique chapters are followed by advice on how to create a dessert. Finally, you'll find recipes (graded for their complexity) for classics like black forest, molten chocolate cakes and eclairs; a chapter on tarts and tartlets; sauces; teatime treats; candies and confections and more. This spectacular book includes a 90-minute video that demonstrates 14 of the techniques.