Claire Saffitz
Contributing Editor
A former senior food editor at Bon Appétit, Claire Saffitz was the host of the popular series Gourmet Makes before leaving the company in 2020. She is the bestselling author of Dessert Person and What's for Dessert and currently hosts a companion series to her books on YouTube, also called Dessert Person. After graduating from Harvard University, she received a master’s degree in culinary history from McGill in Montreal and then studied pastry in Paris at École Grégoire Ferrandi. She lives in New York City with her husband and two cats. dessertperson.com
Recipes
White Cupcakes
Cake flour gives these classic white cupcakes a very fine, tender crumb, and the high ratio of egg whites to yolks ensures a snowy hue. Get the recipe for vanilla cream cheese frosting here.
Recipes
Devil’s Food Cupcakes
Non-Dutch-process cocoa powder is sometimes labeled “natural,” and since all of the chocolate flavor depends on what kind you use, quality matters for these devil's food cupcakes. Get the recipe for vanilla cream cheese frosting here.
Recipes
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Cupcakes are kid stuff, right? That’s why we chose to use chocolates on the sweet end of the spectrum. If you’re baking for a more mature crowd, sub bittersweet or semisweet instead. This recipe goes well with our Devil's Food cupcakes. Or, head this way for classic cream cheese frosting.
Cooking
This Ingredient Will Turn Your Pastries Into Bakery-Worthy Desserts
Because you deserve only the most tender, delicate pastries.
Recipes
BA's Best Hot Fudge
Chocolate can burn, which would ruin an otherwise impeccable sauce. Make sure to stir all the way down to the bottom of the pan after adding the chocolate and cocoa. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.
Recipes
Toasted-Flour Sablés
Often pressed through a sieve and added to the batter for cakes or cookies, hard-boiled yolks prevent too much gluten from developing without weighing down the batter. The one-two punch of yolks and toasted flour makes for the most delicate, tender cookies you’ll ever taste.
Recipes
Apple-Rhubarb Crumble
This simple process works for practically any fruit; gauge how much sugar to use based on the fruit’s sweetness, and try cardamom or ginger in place of cinnamon.
techniques
The One Pie-Making Step You Should Never Skip
If you don't already blind-bake your pie crusts, this is why you should start.
Recipes
BA’s Best English Muffins
The dough will seem fairly wet when shaping into rounds, but the high hydration is key to forming those trademark nooks and crannies. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.
techniques
4 Ways to Fill Pierogies with Happiness, Bacon, and Other Stuff
In the time it takes to make spaghetti, you could be having pillows of kielbasa and sauerkraut. Here's how.
Recipes
Candied Carrot Coins
These will be sweet and chewy when done and are the perfect decorations for BA's Best Carrot Cake Recipe.
Culture
Gefilte Fish: The Myth, the Challenge, and the Recipe You Can Actually Make
The store-bought stuff is great—but this is better.
Recipes
Bacon, Mushroom, and Spinach Pierogies
To make this vegetarian, omit bacon and add 4 Tbsp. olive oil for browning mushrooms.
Recipes
Beef, Onion, and Cheddar Pierogies
These are ideally made with ground shortrib, but using chuck will give you an equally savory filling.
Recipes
Cottage Cheese and Blueberry Pierogies
These sweet pierogies help balance out the savory fillings from Kielbasa, Sauerkrat, and Potato Pierogies, Beef, Onion, and Cheddar Pierogies, and Bacon, Mushroom, and Spinach Pierogies, making them perfect for any pierogi party.
Recipes
Kielbasa, Sauerkraut, and Potato Pierogies
Why choose between boiled or fried? The key to these pierogies is doing both.
Cooking
The Caramel Spectrum All Home Bakers Should Know
Not all caramel is created equal. This is what to look for in your next batch.
Recipes
Homemade Gefilte Fish
Ask your fishmonger to fillet the fish for you, remove the skin and pin bones, then hack up the bones. That’s why they’ve got the waterproof apron and stainless steel equipment back there, right? The size of the individual whole fishes doesn’t matter—just make sure you have about 7 pounds total.
Cooking
4 Fast and Fresh Recipes to Make This April
It's official: Spring has arrived, and these recipes are here to prove it.