Introduction

In analyzing any successful dessert, from the simplest pie à la mode to the most elaborate multilayered cake or pastry, you will find that what appears simple on the surface may not in fact be so simple.

Building a dessert is not unlike constructing a building. However, instead of using steel, concrete, and glass, the pastry chef’s primary building blocks are flour, sugar, dairy products, and flavorings. Each of the elements comprising the whole plays a distinctive and important role in ultimately making the dessert satisfying and successful—successful because it illustrates to at least some degree each of the following Four Cornerstones.