After leaving careers in advertising behind, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito pooled their life savings and opened their dream bakery, Baked, in Brooklyn, USA, two years ago. Baked quickly became one of New York City's favourite bakeries, garnering such fans as Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfrey. Matt and Renato's cookbook by the same name will showcase their best recipes and their inimitable style.

Baked is a hip cookbook featuring a fun, modern design and retro desserts with an updated twist, like red velvet cake made with cinnamon Red Hots and classic chocolate layer cake flavoured with malt and topped with malt balls. It features 75 recipes for cakes, pies, muffins, cookies, brownies and hot drinks and also includes entertaining tips. The authors emphasize accessibility and ease — these are delicious desserts that anyone can make. Recipes include Brewer's Malt Blondies, Sweet & Salty Cake, Lemon Amaretto Tarts and the infamous Baked Brownie, which even made it onto Oprah.

Not every baker wants to re-create Grandma's pound cake or cherry pie. Lewis and Poliafito certainly didn't when they left their advertising careers behind and opened their dream bakery, Baked. The visions that danced in their heads were of new kinds of confections, many featured in this lavish cookbook.

After years in the advertising business, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito decided to leave their day jobs and open a bakery in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Baked opened in January 2005 to instant rave reviews. The authors have been featured on Oprah, the Food Network, Martha Stewart's daytime show, and the Today show. The bakery has been reviewed in countless magazines, both local and nationwide. Lewis and Poliafito live in New York City.

Tina Rupp is a New York-based photographer who specializes in photographing food and children. Her work can be found regularly in Food & Wine, Everyday with Rachael Ray, and Parenting magazines.