The secret lives of baked goods - Jessie Oleson Moore

Have you ever wondered where the ideas for baking red velvet cupcakes, brownies, birthday cake, Girl Scout cookies, and other dessert recipes came from? Discover the history behind America's most popular and nostalgic desserts with popular CakeSpy blogger and self-proclaimed "dessert detective" Jessie Oleson Moore. Moore has put her sweet-sleuthing skills to work uncovering the fascinating histories and tastiest recipes for America's favorite sweets, including whoopee pies, chocolate chip cookies, Baked Alaska, and New York cheesecake. From romantic musings on how desserts got their names to sugar-fueled scandals, these classic recipes and photographs are guaranteed to offer food for thought and leave you with plenty of room for dessert.

Jessie Oleson is the founder of the uber-popular blog, CakeSpy.com, which bills itself as a Dessert Detective Agency dedicated to seeking sweetness (literally) in everyday life. An accomplished cake anthropologist, she documents bakery finds around the United States, conducts baking experiments, posts recipes, picks the brains of bakers and food artists in interviews, and generally explores the lure and lore of baked goods on her site. Oleson is a freelance writer and illustrator whose writing has appeared on DailyCandy.com, and she has a weekly column on Serious Eats. She has illustrated for various companies, including Microsoft, iPop, All-Mighty, Taylored Expressions, and is a regular contributor to Taste of Home. She is also the founder of CakeSpy Shop, a Seattle art boutique primarily featuring her greeting cards and artwork; she currently divides her time between the East and West coasts, and eats sweetly everywhere in-between. The author lives in Seattle, WA.