Dessert Can Save the World

March 28, 2022
Tosi (All About Cake), James Beard Award–winning founder of New York’s Milk Bar, harnesses “the straight-up joy” of desserts to “spread that posi-vibe spirit” in this clumpy mix of memoir and self-help. In prose that seems powered by sugar, the self-described “relentless optimist” takes readers through chirpy chapters that cover everything from the strong women who inspired her to chase her dreams to embracing one’s quirky food preferences. She celebrates sweets as a form of bringing people together and asserts that swapping “dirty dessert secrets”—aka the “weird, messy, lowbrow” food rituals one furtively takes pleasure in (like “spooning out the inside only of an entire pecan pie”)—can be a way to bond with others. Extracting lessons from her own life, she models how to make the best of difficult situations; for instance, when a chef at Manhattan’s now-shuttered Bouley called her an “idiot,” she used it as “fuel” to become a “kick-ass pastry chef who would send out big dessert love to the entire world.” While the peppiness is heartening, Tosi’s narration often feels unfocused and repetitive (the word “joy” alone is used over 80 times), and she’s surprisingly stingy with her recipes, which are sparsely sprinkled in. Despite the delicious premise, the filling leaves much to be desired.