I’m continuing on with my Best of 2025 cookbooks. For my most recent reviews, I’ve pulled from Epicurious’ list, “The Best Cookbooks of Summer 2025.” Potluck Desserts is the first book on the summer list.

Today’s review is all about the sweet. If you need a book that yields large quantities of retro (yet modern) desserts, this is the book for you.

About the book:

Simple, nostalgic recipes from a trusted guide in the world of queer baking.

Justin Burke credits his first queer potluck with changing his life. Gathering around a table piled high with homemade food evoked a sense of unity that bridged individuals beyond social norms, where chosen families could gather, share recipes, and connect with one another. Two decades later, that magical night continues to inspire Burke in his work merging his passion for food with his journey of self-discovery, whipping up relatable, homemade desserts that defy traditional labels and hold their own next to their avant-garde counterparts.

Now a venerated potluck pro, Burke shares his personal and professional experiences in his debut cookbook, Potluck Desserts, through playful, delicious recipes like Lemon-Thyme Bars, Gooey Butter Corn Cake, Chocolate Cherry Soda Cake, and more. Refined yet approachable, these stylish sweets are organized by baking dish—sheet pans, rectangular pans and foil tins, loaf pans, casserole dishes, and bowls, Bundts, and other round things—and are tagged by time to further simplify the process. Complete with charming personal anecdotes, reflections on potlucks and the queer community, and stunning photography of an abundance of good food, Potluck Desserts gives every home baker the tools, confidence, and pride to serve beloved, nostalgic dishes that everyone will love—colleagues, friends, families, and chosen families included. (Blurb taken from W.W. Norton site.)

About the author:

Justin Burke is a food writer, recipe developer, queer food activist, and award-winning pastry chef and baker. He has contributed to publications including Eater, Food & Wine, Garden & Gun, Simply Recipes, Bake from Scratch, and more. Burke makes his home in Columbia, South Carolina, with his husband and son. (Author’s bio taken from W.W. Norton site.)

What I thought….

First of all, shout out to Bryan Samuels for the absolutely stunning photographs of both food and fellowship. Burke praises him in the “Acknowledgments”:

…you were the only photographer I wanted on the project. I cannot think of anyone else who could have achieved the look and feel of this book. You brought the emotion of the book to life. You captured the meaning of why we bring people together centered around food in our community. (257)

Once you start reading, you realize the emotional journey Burke wandered to create and find his own group. This book is all about community. It’s also all about how Burke survives and chooses his own family.

There’s a lot to choose from and Burke covers all sharable desserts. He categorizes them into the following sections: Rectangle and Square Pans (and disposable tins); Sheet Pans; Loaf Pans; Casserole Dishes; and Bowls, Bundts and Other Round Things.

Potlucks are stressful for me. I want to bring something that everyone will eat up and rave about. Burke states, “Bringing a dish to a party is definitely not a competition, but it also kind of is” (9). So true. On that vein, why wouldn’t you always want to take dessert! It’s going to be the last dish the guests remember.

I recognized a lot of Burke’s recipes from my childhood, things like poke cakes, dump cakes, buckles and cobblers. (Burke calls these heirloom recipes). Some of these are recipes from his grandmother, which were passed down in a “weathered scrapbook” (32). Not everything is baked. There’s lots of no-churn ice cream recipes in the Loaf Pan section. This is also true in what I would call his “fluff” desserts, things like Ambrosia Salad (which my mom made every Thanksgiving), Pistachio Fluff Salad, and Cranberry-Orange Fluff Salad. There’s another recipe that reminds me of growing up—the Strawberry Pretzel Jell-O dessert that made the rounds in the 80s. I also saw the fruit pizza recipe that Burke entitles “Pride Celebration Slab Tart.”

I love that while Burke elevates some old fashioned standbys, he is not afraid of using Cool Whip, pre-made puff pastry, boxed cake mixes and Jell-O. He’s not apologetic but his use of these ingredients did remind me of B. Dylan Hollis’ take on boxed mixes. I’m not sure anything was truly “avant-garde” comparable (as mentioned in the book blurb); if anything they are vintage and retro and delicious.

He takes this cookbook beyond just being about desserts when he talks about how potlucks may have saved him and how they were inclusive in the many different geographic communities he has lived in (beyond where he grew up). The recipes he presents are a bonus to his story of finding self and community.

The essays throughout are thought provoking so don’t skip over them. Also, don’t skip over the insets where Burke shares some great tips on blooming cocoa powder, rubbing citrus zest with the sugar, browning butter, chilling cookie dough, and cold oven baking for quick breads. (This is not a definitive list. There are a lot more useful tips that he shares.)

What I made…

Reading Potluck Desserts really was a walk down memory lane. As I mentioned above, I saw a lot of recipes from my own childhood here. I decided to make his Mixed Berry Whole Wheat Crisp (183) with a few variations. All of Burke’s recipes are for large groups (obviously) so I halved this recipe and used a mix of blueberries and blackberries. I loved Burke’s addition of cardamom along with the cinnamon to the filling.

A Smallish Blueberry-Blackberry Whole Wheat Crisp

Based Mixed Berry Whole Wheat Crisp (serving 10-12 and made in a 9-inch casserole dish)

Ingredients

For the filling:

• ½ lb. frozen blueberries, thawed and dried
• ½ lb. frozen blackberries, thawed and dried
• ¼ c. brown sugar
• 1 T. corn starch
• ¼ t. cinnamon
• ⅛ t. cardamom
• 1 T. lemon juice

For the topping:

• 6 T. whole wheat flour
• ½ c. old-fashioned oats
• ¼ t. Kosher salt
• ½ t. Cinnamon
• ⅛ c. pecans, chopped
• ¼ c. brown sugar
• 3 T. butter, cold and cubed

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Putter a 8” x 8” round pan.
2. Make the fruit filling. Place all the filling ingredients in a medium bowl and toss to coat the berries. Pour mixture into the prepared pan.
3. Prepare the topping. In a separate bowl, add the flour, oats, salt, cinnamon, pecans, and brown sugar. Whisk to combine evenly. Add the butter and “squish the butter and dry ingredients together with your fingers to combine the butter and dry ingredients together to resemble a feather” (183). 
4. Pour the topping over the berry mixture and spread evenly. This will be a thick layer. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the filling bubbles and the topping has browned. 
5. Serve warm or room temperature with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Yield: 4-6 servings

This crisp was really delicious the combo of the brown sugar and cardamom in the filling and the whole-wheat and pecan topping. Definitely will make this again.

I would recommend this book for the heartfelt writing and the recipes!

 

I’m linking up with Foodies Read.