Where to Start with Dominique Ansel
Dominique Ansel is a French-born pastry chef who trained at some of the finest patisseries in Paris before moving to New York, where he became one of the most celebrated bakers in the world. He began his career at age 16 as an apprentice in a Paris kitchen, and spent years working under renowned chefs including Daniel Boulud at Restaurant Daniel in New York. In 2011, he opened Dominique Ansel Bakery in SoHo, Manhattan, and in 2013 he created the Cronut, a croissant-doughnut hybrid that became a global sensation, with lines stretching around the block and a black market for the pastry at many times its retail price. But Ansel is far more than a one-hit wonder. He was named the World’s Best Pastry Chef by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2017. He has published two cookbooks: “Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes” (2014), which shares the stories and techniques behind his bakery’s creations, and “Everyone Can Bake” (2020), a more accessible book designed to teach home cooks his building-block approach to pastry.
Start here
Everyone Can Bake
Dominique Ansel · 352 pages · 2020 · Easy
Themes: French pastry, building blocks, home baking, tarts, cakes
The most accessible entry point to French pastry, from the chef who invented the Cronut and trained at some of the finest patisseries in Paris. Dominique Ansel breaks baking down into master recipes, what he calls “building blocks,” that you learn once and then combine in different ways to create a wide range of desserts.
Why Start Here
Where the larger French pastry references can feel encyclopedic, Ansel’s approach is modular. You learn a base tart dough, a few creams, a handful of cake batters, and some fruit preparations. Then he shows you how those components come together in different combinations. This teaches you to think like a pastry chef rather than just follow recipes, and it means a relatively short book gives you the tools to create far more desserts than the number of recipes suggests.
Ansel’s instructions are written for home cooks, not professionals. He explains techniques clearly, anticipates common questions, and keeps equipment requirements reasonable. The recipes range from simple fruit tarts and chocolate cakes to more refined creations, but nothing requires professional equipment or obscure ingredients.
What to Expect
A 352-page hardcover with full-color photography. The book is organized around its building-block concept: master recipes come first, followed by composed desserts that use those bases. The tone is encouraging and practical. Ansel wants you to actually bake from this book, not just admire it on a shelf. It is a good choice if you want to learn French pastry techniques without committing to an 800-page reference.