Review: Chocolate Lover: A Baking Book―Decadent Treats

An irresistible collection of 60 recipes in a special package with metallic silver paper (just like a chocolate bar) and luscious photos of every bake, including cookies, brownies, cakes, tarts, sweet breads, pastries, and more, all featuring white, milk, semisweet, or dark chocolate.

Melty pools of chocolate in a warm chocolate chip cookie. A decadent, perfectly fudgy brownie. An oh-so-nostalgic yellow birthday cake with whorls of chocolate buttercream.


If your mouth is watering, join the club—and rejoice! Because this cookbook is here to satiate your every chocolate craving. These recipes run the gamut from easy 15-minute pleasures to impressive kitchen projects that double and triple down on chocolatey goodness:

• Weeknight treats like Peanut Pretzel Toffee Bark, Cocoa Tahini Marble Cookies, and Chewy Mochi Brownies
• Giftable sweets such as Chocolate Pumpkin Babka and Orange Olive Oil Chocolate Cake
• Morning indulgences from Lemon-Blueberry White Chocolate Muffins to Chocolate Frangipane Croissants 
• Special occasion bakes, including Strawberry White Chocolate Chantilly Cake, Coffee Caramel and Nutella Tart, and a stunning Neapolitan Icebox Cake

With guidance on melting chocolate, making ganache, caramelizing white chocolate, and so much more, Chocolate Lover is an indispensable baking book for chocolate enthusiasts everywhere, sure to become cocoa-smudged and frosting-stained from years of love and use. This is the perfect gift for the chocoholic in your life (including yourself!).

ACCESSIBLE, EVERYDAY RECIPES: This darling baking book is filled with approachable recipes that any home baker can follow. Novice bakers will find plenty of recipes to cut their teeth on (bark, hot cocoa, truffles), while more experienced bakers will revel in the project bakes (tarts, layer cakes, pastries). There is no complicated or finicky chocolate work here, no confections or candy. The well-tested recipes, thorough instruction, and multitude of photos ensure these desserts are easy to replicate. Like 100 Cookies or Snacking Bakes, this is good old-fashioned baking—the kind of sweet treats any home baker can make for a birthday, a bake sale, or a relaxing Sunday at home.

PERFECT GIFT FOR CHOCOLATE LOVERS: With a drool-worthy photo for every recipe, this baking book is ideal for holiday and Valentine’s Day (or anytime) gift-giving. How sweet (pun intended) alongside oven mitts, a fondue set, or a few fancy chocolate bars?

EXPERIENCED AUTHOR: Michele Song went to pastry school in San Francisco and externed at the widely acclaimed Manresa Bread on their pastry team. Her impressive background means all the recipes in this book are reliable, easy to follow, and well-tested; they work every time and are beyond delicious.

Perfect for:

• Chocolate and dessert lovers
• Home bakers of all skill levels
• Frequent bake sale contributors and little treat enthusiasts
• Shoppers looking for a Valentine’s Day, holiday, or housewarming gift
• Fans of dessert recipe books like 100 Cookies, Snacking Cakes, Snacking Bakes, Dessert Person, or Zoe Bakes Cakes

 Pinching myself to make sure I haven't died and gone to chocolate heaven! 

As I was skimming through the book I landed on something quick and simple, Anytime Chocolate Snaking Cake, OMG, it was moist and amazing. All recipes are easy to follow, with simple ingredients and an image of each recipe. I will be adding this book to my cookbook shelf. Heck, just run on over to Amazon's website and take a look at the images of this book and you'll see for yourself what surprise recipes await you.

The contents are as listed: Sweet treats, cookies, brownies and bars, snacking cakes, celebration cakes, pies and tarts, morning treats, fried and chilled, and bakery favorites. Not all recipes are chocolate so something for everyone in this book.