Spago’s pastry chef to the stars and author of the James Beard Award-winning Secrets of Baking shares the recipes that propelled her to the top of her profession. Night after night at Spago in Beverly Hills, Sherry Yard dazzles the powerful, rich, and famous with incredible desserts. Her marvelous confections have won over patrons from Madonna to Frank Sinatra.

Now the country’s premier pastry chef reveals the recipes that have made her a star in her own right and won her two coveted James Beard Awards. Desserts by the Yard begins with inspirations from Yard’s childhood, such as My Favorite White Birthday Cake with Chocolate and Butter Fudge Frosting, and culminates in the spectacular creations she makes every year for the Academy Awards. Included here are some of Yard’s most famous recipes: the slinky crème brûlée she perfected when she worked at New York’s Rainbow Room, the coffeecake that made Campton Place Hotel San Francisco’s most popular breakfast spot, and the souffléed crème fraîche pancakes with strawberry sauce she learned in Vienna. Don’t miss the chocolate caramel tart that Hugh Grant loves, former President Clinton’s favorite oatmeal raisin cookies, or the treat that made actress Suzanne Pleshette exclaim, “Bitch! You’re gonna make me fat!” Desserts don’t get easier than Yard’s No-Bake Cheesecake, more decadent than Chocolate Bread Pudding with Butterscotch Gelato, or more holiday-perfect than Triple Silken Pumpkin Pie.

In sidebars to each recipe, Yard shares tricks and techniques along with hilarious anecdotes that show her pluck, determination, and generosity.

Widely regarded as one of America's finest pastry chefs, Sherry Yard is the author of The Secrets of Baking, which won a James Beard Award and was a finalist for an IACP Award. Sherry also received a James Beard Award for Oustanding Pastry Chef in 2004. In 2005 she received a Golden Bowl Award from the Women chefs and Restaurateurs. Bon Appetit, Pastry Art and Design Magazine, and the Southern California Restaurants Writers' Association's have all awarded her Pastry Chef of the Year. She resides in Beverly Hills, California. Martha Rose Shulman is America’s foremost authority on good-tasting, healthful food. She has written many award-winning books, including the best-selling Mediterranean Light and Provençal Light. She is a contributing editor to Health and writes regularly for the nation’s leading food and health magazines.