Cookbooks and Video Lessons

From legendary and award-winning pastry chef Dominique Ansel, a baking book of more than 40 simple dessert recipes paired with heartwarming stories celebrating life’s sweetest moments.

It’s been more than 10 years since Chef Dominique Ansel opened the doors to his eponymous bakery and took the world by storm with the Cronut®. Along the way he’s discovered that behind every dessert, there’s not just a recipe, but a story to share. From marriage proposals over a cup of hot chocolate, to the many first dates in the line outside his bakery, Ansel has come to realize that when there is pastry, there is a special moment behind it.

In Life’s Sweetest Moments, you’ll find 42 heartwarming and uplifting stories of Chef Dominique’s loved ones and regulars, paired with simple, achievable, but no less indulgent recipes for desserts and baked goods perfect for home bakers of all levels, including:

Crème Brûlée
Hazelnut Cake
Earl Grey French Toast with Orange Blossom Maple Syrup
The Ultimate Cookie
Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Mascarpone Icing
Tiramisu
Hot Chocolate with Pink Champagne Marshmallows
Vanilla Bean Birthday Cake with Homemade Sprinkles

In this charming and beautiful book, the most accessible of Ansel’s to date, you’ll discover moving stories—like that of the two regulars, one an older woman who visited the bakery to buy a financier for her husband every morning, and the other an older man who every evening purchased after-dinner dessert tarts for his wife. It took years for Chef Dominique to realize they were, in fact, married to each other. When they requested a special dessert to celebrate their wedding anniversary, Chef Dominique combined their regular orders and created a Strawberry & Financier Fruit Tart.

Even when there’s no grand occasion or a specific holiday—you can sprinkle in a little bit of love to the day with Life’s Sweetest Moments, just because.

Discover Chef Dominique’s brand new 2nd cookbook, Everyone Can Bake (out April 2020), with all the basic building blocks you’ll need to create dessert masterpieces. He’ll take you through all his go-to recipes for simple bases (like tart shells, chocolate cake, and almond biscuit) + fillings (mousses, jams, ganaches, etc.) + finishings (meringues, buttercreams, caramelized fruits, etc.). Then it’s up to you to mix-and-match them to create endless possibilities for delicious desserts!

In Chef Dominique Ansel’s first cookbook, Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes, he shows it is more than just the Cronut® craze. The book traces the inspiration of a chef whose creative process is rooted in a deep philosophy of good food and whose classical training also reflects a generous sprinkling of risk taking and innovation. With a collection of short essays, each with lessons as to how to create and not just imitate, the book also contains some of the most sought after recipes from the Chef’s bakery.

Bake along with Chef Ansel in these simple multi-step videos with clear demonstrations and instructions.Every lesson comes with: 5 to 7 video segments that total to about 50 minutes of material, with every step of the baking process, plus your own downloadable recipe.

Available lessons: