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
Salmon Niçoise
We love making this take on a niçoise salad with mâche instead of traditional frisée for a slightly more mellowed recipe.
Recipes
Green Goddess Cobb Salad
To make addictively crispy chicken skin for this cobb salad recipe, turn it often in the skillet, until it looks like bacon.
techniques
Wanna Be a Great Baker? Master Pâte à Choux First
Pate a choux is one baking recipe that you absolutely must master. Here's how to do it.
Recipes
Chocolate Éclairs
The éclairs will begin to get soggy as soon as they are filled, so be sure to wait until just before you're ready to make the chocolate fondant to add the pastry cream.
Recipes
Cream Puffs with Vanilla Pastry Cream
For this cream puffs recipe, if you don’t have any pastry bags handy, cut off the tops with a serrated knife and carefully spoon in the pastry cream.
Recipes
Chouquettes with Chantilly Cream
When properly baked, the puffs should have a firm but not crusty exterior, and a moist but airy center.
Cooking
Borscht Is the Greatest Recipe of All Time
Borscht is the greatest recipe of all time. Here's why.
Recipes
Slow-Cooker Beer-Braised Brisket
Broiling the brisket gives it a nice crisp top layer, but you can skip this step and it will still be delicious. Braising the meat with beer in the slow cooker, however? Absolutely necessary.
Recipes
Kale Minestrone With Pistou
This rave-worthy soup is all about layering powerful flavor-enhancers that you probably already have on hand—tomato paste, herbs, Parm, and, of course, kosher salt.
Recipes
Double-Dark Chicken Noodle Soup
Our best-ever chicken soup begins with wings, which have a high skin-to-meat ratio. Browning the wings results in lots of caramelized nooks and crannies that imbue the stock with a deep, savory flavor. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.
Recipes
Cauliflower-Cashew Soup with Crispy Buckwheat
Simmering vegetables in a covered pot over low heat so that they steam in their own liquid—a French technique called à l'étouffée—is the ticket to achieving a soup with pronounced depth. We love this method with cauliflower, but also try it with celeriac or rutabagas.
Cooking
Baking 1-2-3: How to Make the Silkiest, Smoothest Lemon Curd
Lemon curd is an iconic dessert—learn how to make three versions of it, from no-bake lemon bars to a stunning pie.
Recipes
Lemon Bars
Baked lemon bars will be stable and set at room temperature. Unbaked bars should be refrigerated until ready to serve, otherwise the lemon curd will soften. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.
Recipes
Lemon Marshmallow Pie
The addition of gelatin is what makes the meringue-like topping stay billowy but firm, without weeping, even at room temperature.
Recipes
Herb and Spinach Salsa Verde
Blanching the garlic neutralizes some of its bite, and the spinach lends an earthy base note. This goes great with our beer-braised brisket.
Recipes
Miso-Glazed Turnips
A simple stovetop technique transforms turnips by deploying a secret ingredient that may be hiding in the back of your fridge.
