Known for her art project approach to dessert creation at her San Francisco restaurant, Citizen Cake, Falkner joins the list of notable restaurant chefs seeking to become celebrity chefs through cookbook publishing (she’s already achieved the other prerequisite— she’s appeared on the Food Channel, though she has yet to have her own show).

Falkner leads with her strength, an ability to channel Frank Gehry while whipping up cakes, pies and other sweet concoctions. After all, the woman is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, not Johnson & Wales, and it shows.

She leads things off with a tutorial on ingredients and necessary equipment, although this book is definitely not for the wannabe pastry chef, even though there are simplified versions of most of the creations.

But if you are serious enough about delectable dessert creations for that special catered event, you will find plenty of ideas along with recipes that read like blueprints for constructing an atom smasher. Color photographs and graphic illustrations help readers visualize what Falkner is after in each recipe.

Pan Seared Herbed Potato & Salmon Cake