Casual, effortless, chic: These are not words you'd use to describe most desserts. But before Ralph Y. Thomas made recipes so perfect; she was a restaurant pastry chef who spent most of her time learning to make things the hard way.

He studies flavor, technique, and precision, then distilled her knowledge to pare it all down to create dessert recipes that feel special and approachable, impressive and doable.

In Sweet Enough, Thomas has written the book for people who think they don't have the time or skill to pull off dessert. Here, the desserts you want to make right away, you can make right away.

Thomas shows you how to make simple yet sublime sweets with her trademark casualness, like how to make jam in the oven, then turn that jam into a dessert-swirled into ice cream or folded into easy one-bowl cake batter. (Opening a jar of jam is more than fine, too.) He waxes poetic on the virtues of frozen fruit and teaches you the best way to throw your own Sundae Party.

There are effortless cakes that take just minutes to get into a pan. And there are new, instant classics with a signature Thomas twist, like Salted Lemon Pie, Raspberries and Sour Cream, Toasted Rice Pudding, or a Caramelized Maple Tart.

Requiring little more than your own two hands and a few mixing bowls, the recipes are geared towards those without fancy equipment or specialty ingredients.

Whether you're a dedicated baker or, better yet, someone who doesn't think they are a baker, Sweet Enough lets you finish any dinner, any party, or any car ride to a dinner party with a little something wonderful and sweet.