Nectarine and Miso Tarte Tatin. Olive Oil, Mascarpone, and Fennel Layer Cake. Pecan and Black Cardamom Sticky Buns. Shoyu Peanut Cookies. Kabocha Galette. Overnight Blackberry Doughnuts. With sweet and savory pastries like these, and another 94 recipes as delicious and surprising, it’s no wonder Natasha Pickowicz is such a creative force in the world of baking. But she is also a baker with a sense of mission – cooking, for her, is a chance to make a difference, and her celebrated bake sales for Planned Parenthood and collaborations with other nonprofits have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hence the title More Than Cake. Not just as in 'cookies and pies too', but as in baking as a way to bring people together over something special that you’ve made. It’s more than cake – it’s community, honour, pleasure, activism, and so much more.

In her stunning debut cookbook, Pickowicz shares her singular perspective – how her ideas and recipes are inspired by her love of nature and art, her background in music and literature, her Chinese and Californian heritage. Her love of fruit, her adventurous combinations of flavours – yuzu and olive oil, rose water and mezcal, adzuki bean and brown butter – her philosophy of dessert ('it marks family traditions and spreads delight in a way that no other kind of dish can – it’s not optional'). And literally hundreds of invaluable tips that could come only from an obsessive, self-taught pastry chef. It’s a new dessert bible, filled not just with recipes for everything from cookies to layer cakes to panna cotta but with the inspiration to make baking and sharing a real part of every reader’s life.