Delectable new cookbooks for fall

As fall arrives and temperatures begin to drop in most places (sorry, Phoenix, you're on your own), cooking and baking appeal more than they might on a sun-kissed summer afternoon. Whether your region's autumn brings crisp cool snaps and colorful leaves or rain showers and early snowflakes, it's just easier to turn on that oven and stove again and start poring over new cookbooks.

We've got a fall cornucopia of new cookbooks to offer you in this roundup. Who can resist a cupcake, especially one as cutely decorated as those in "A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes"? The spices and rich flavors of Southeast Asia, as depicted in the recipes in "Cradle of Flavor," give a cook a first-class ticket around the world without ever requiring that they leave home. Speaking of travel, the authentic Mexican dishes of Oakland's Doña Tomás restaurant are a world away from the fast-food Mexican most of us are used to. And it's tough to resist a cookbook in which authors accustomed to composing best-recipes-of-the-year cookbooks go back to those books and dig out the best of the best.

It's fall, and it's time to eat well.    —Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, Books Editor

Cupcake kingdom
Dede Wilson's "A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes" (Harvard Common Press, $18) calls out to your inner kid, your neighbor's grandsons, the older couple three doors down, your sweet-tooth spouse and a myriad of starving coworkers.

In easy-to-follow, spiral-bound format, Wilson's book includes a larger-than-expected variety of master recipes, the basis for 60 cupcake variations. Pick a photo — there's one for every cupcake — and get out the mixing bowls. My attempts thus far:

"Real Carrot" Cupcakes: The recipe turned out middle-of-the-road carrot cupcakes. Though they could have used more spice, the generous layer of cream cheese frosting made these a hit. With a row of cookie-crumb "dirt" and a tiny sugar "carrot" half-buried in it, these cupcakes fascinated my coworkers, who actually paused — why spoil the look? — before digging in.

Tombstone Cupcakes: These are all-chocolate rich. I would have preferred ganache frosting over the sweeter fudge frosting, but otherwise these were chocoriffic. The chocolate-dipped graham cracker tombstones, in chocolately crumb "dirt," make the cupcakes a spooky sweet for kids and Halloween parties.

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Mocha Chip Pound Cake Cupcakes: These low-effort, sophisticated cupcakes contrast a polished swirl of chocolate ganache frosting with a pale, chocolate-chip speckled, pound-cake cupcake. This was the only batch my husband wouldn't let me give away. Great for adults.

Key Lime Coconut Cupcakes: Another good candidate for adults; the confectioner's sugar frosting topped with toasted coconut is understatedly pretty. The lime-curd filling — a buttery tart surprise — matched the coconut perfectly. I hoarded these from my coworkers.

By-the-Beach Cupcakes: Kids will love these; they come with tiny parasols, graham-cracker crumb sand and glossy blue icing waves. There's nothing too exotic here, just moist yellow cake with confectioner's sugar frosting. The splashy fun lies almost entirely in the decoration.

I'm heading back to my oven. With five recipes served and savored, I still have 55 to choose from.    —Joan Wolfe

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