Has our national obsession with baking shows made us savvier bakers? Do we now think nothing of folding together a batch of homemade puff pastry after binge-watching a season of “The Great British Baking Show”? Are we better versed in the ways of fondant after a “Nailed It!” spree?

If I had to gauge the answer based on 2019’s best pastry cookbooks, I’d say it was a big, sugar-fueled yes.

Almost across the board, the pastry cookbooks published in 2019 are more ambitious and sophisticated, and call for more diverse, international ingredients without apology, than most dessert books I’ve seen in recent years. Quick, easy and accessible are out; impressive, photogenic and deeply innovative are in. (Note that I did not include the many excellent bread-baking cookbooks published this year here because they are a category unto themselves.)

In the best of these books, this adventuresome spirit is padded with some gentle hand-holding, at least when it comes to complicated techniques. (Laminated croissant and Danish doughs abound.) Overall, though, there’s a lot less cajoling. Today’s home bakers don’t seem to need to be sweet-talked into a croquembouche challenge; they’re eager for it.