Perfect for care-free summer baking

The Review

Alison Roman’s third cookbook, “Sweet Enough,” provides ample inspiration for anyone to make a fuss-free dessert. Even though she is a classically trained pastry chef, Roman gives permission–encouragement even–to make desserts that are rustic, wonky and anything but perfect.

The cookbook design is crisp and transports the reader to a trendy summer on the East Coast. There is a sense of movement, community, and conviviality with warm photographs of people eating dessert at the beach, picnic tables, and almost too-cool parties. This resonates with the author’s reflection that it is “a nice thing to remind ourselves and each other that we live for more than necessity.” Unfortunately, the supersized macro photos and extra-large bold marketing-styled text felt out of place and distracted from the book’s carefree tone.

Most recipes are not novel but occasionally Roman pushes out of her comfort zone with flavor combinations. For example, you’ll find recipes for classic yellow sheet cake and chocolate sheet cake, followed by a semolina cake with lemon and fennel. There are foundational items like galettes, old-school cakes and puddings that are forgiving for novice bakers. Ice cream and no-bake recipes are also a quick dessert turn-around without using the oven. Experienced bakers will appreciate the challenge of some recipes like structured tarts with multiple components. However, the tarts felt out of place for a cookbook that emphasizes imperfection, no matter how hard the author can try to convince us otherwise. The recipe headnotes featured Roman’s insight into recipe development, but it lacked depth and voice. I think that adding more personalization, such as stories about East Coast summers or anecdotes about picnics and parties, would have improved the narrative.

Recipe Test Results

I tested the Raspberry Ricotta Cake, Birthday Cake Cookies, and the Caramelized Onion and Anchovy Tart.

The Raspberry Ricotta Cake was, according to Roman, what “started it all” for her love of one bowl baking. It was easy to make and looked so perfect that it could have been from a local coffee shop. Yet, the cake was more than sweet enough with crusty sugar topping and a missed opportunity to showcase ricotta as a key ingredient. The fruit flavor was a little boring and left me wishing I had added the optional recommendation of jam to take it up a notch.

The Birthday Cake Cookies were festive and a creative alternative to the stress of baking a birthday cake. The vanilla flavor was prominent with a sprinkle of salt, but the cookie’s texture was crumbly even at various bake times. There are better vanilla cookie recipes. Another downside was that the recipe used six egg yolks, but there wasn’t another recipe in the book that could have used the egg whites.

Finally, the Caramelized Onion and Anchovy Tart took the most time, with over an hour alone to caramelize the onions, but was the most rewarding. I was skeptical about Roman calling the pie dough “The One,” but it really is the perfect golden brown tender crust! The tart’s sweet and mellow onion flavors combined with punchy umami of anchovies was delicious. Roman’s love of savory really shines in this recipe.

Overall Rating: 3/5

Overall, “Sweet Enough” has many opportunities to be frivolous and enjoy something delicious, no matter how often that might be. It’s a good collection of classics for different skill levels but lacked execution on delivering recipes that are really unique and lean into the “sweet enough” concept. Regardless, the book gives confidence that even if dessert doesn’t look perfect, readers will share it with others.