La Patisserie de Pierre Hermé (English and French Edition) Review

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La Patisserie de Pierre Hermé (English and French Edition) ReviewThe good: If you want to make cakes just like they have at Dalloyau and Fauchon, buy this book. Divided into: fruit cakes, chocolate cakes, tarts, and petit fours. It tells you EVERYTHING there is to know. The pictures are stunningly beautiful, more so than ANY dessert book I have ever gotten, and I have about 12 or so. The desserts are very original - Pierre uses stuff like saffron and violet, and rose, and all sorts of flowers in his mousses for example. Cool combinations: Chocolate mousse/lemon cream chocolate cakes, genoise/raspberry/orange mousse cakes for example. I am not kidding: if you have this book you will know every single decorating technique, every single way of putting together stuff just as they do in the french bakeries. It lists just about every kind of mousse, every cake you could want, which ways to decorate them, and most importantly how to put it together. This is my favorite dessert book.
The bad: You have to know what you are doing already. The explanations are sparse. For instance, the explanations for pastry cream goes like (this is not real but an example) boil milk + vanilla. Add in whisked yolks/cornstarch. Put back on stove at 120C for a few minutes. Cool to 140 F, then put in butter. So the explanations are very sparse. All recipes are made for 2-4 cakes so you have to scale down. Everything is metric, everything is by weights (so you have to know 1 yolk = 20 g, 1 white = 30 g for instance). Gelatin is used in sheets in the book, so don't forget to put in about 1 T water for every 1/2 t of powder you use (if you're american and use gelatin powder) It helps to have "desserts by pierre herme" by Pierre and Dorie greenspan to "convert" back and forth units, since some cakes are in both books. Sometimes you may want to substitute: ie regular genoise for Pierre's genoise, regular puff pastry for Pierre's inverted puff pastry. In these cases it helps to know what you are doing first.
Overall: The best book period, in my opinion. Definitely worth the extra cost - it is worth 3 regular books. You have to know what you are doing first though, not for beginners. Other recommended books in the same French cake style: "desserts by pierre herme" by Herme and greenspan, and "art of the cake" by bugat and somebody else I forget. Both are great books (and a lot easier), though not as great as this one.La Patisserie de Pierre Hermé (English and French Edition) Overview

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Encyclopedia of Classic French Pastries: History and Legends of the Great Pastries of France/Easy-To-Follow Recipes for Home Cooks Review

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Encyclopedia of Classic French Pastries: History and Legends of the Great Pastries of France/Easy-To-Follow Recipes for Home Cooks ReviewThis book has the best receipe for madelines anywhere. I love the histories about the pastries, just a little info that adds a touch of panache to a home baked goody.Encyclopedia of Classic French Pastries: History and Legends of the Great Pastries of France/Easy-To-Follow Recipes for Home Cooks Overview

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I Love Macarons Review

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I Love Macarons ReviewOverall, I really like the look of this book and purchased six of them, one for myself and five others for friends. But, for a book that is dedicated solely to the creation of the macaron, the French Meringue recipe will not yield successful macarons. After many many batches attempting to recreate the results shown in the book, I finally went in search of help on the internet and discovered this site: [...].
Helen Dujardin is 100% french, and in my opinion the US-based macaron guru. With her assistance, I have been able to correct the French Meringue recipe in I Love Macarons. There is a great deal of essential information missing from the book. For example, the amount of egg white needed is 90 gr, definitely DO NOT use three large eggs as even medium eggs will yield more white than needed. And, the eggs must first be aged. To age them, they need to be out of their shells, separated from the yolks and left to stand uncovered for a couple of days at room temperature in the coolest part of your kitchen. (To understand this process better and learn a work around, read Helen DuJardin's article Demystifying Macarons found on the internet.) Using non-aged eggs will cause the pied or foot of your macarons to spread. The pied should not extend beyond the shell.
Secondly, the information in the book on confectioner's sugar is confusing. For instance, the book says not to use confectioner's sugar containing cornstarch (cornstarch-free sugar is not available in the US as far as I can tell). However, the product sample pictured in the book, by Woodstock Farms, actually does contain cornstarch. I tried making my own cornstarch-free confectioner's sugar by whirling it around in my food processor until it was a fine dust, but this yielded very unsatisfactory results in the form of dull, cracked macarons with no pied. What I learned from Helen DuJardin, is that it is okay to use confectioner's sugar with cornstarch, but stay away from the discount brands as they may contain more cornstarch than sugar. The recipe in the book calls for 1 1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar and that should be increased to approximately 1 3/4 cup or 200 gr.
The amount of granulated sugar called for in the book is 5 tablespoons, however, I followed Helen DuJardin's recipe and used 2 tablespoons, and this is where the superfine sugar I made in my food processor came in handy and I used this rather than granulated sugar in my meringue.
The recipe in the book calls for 2/3 cup ground almond flour, way less than what is actually required. Use a full, firmly-packed cup or 110 gr. I purchased a five-pound bag on the internet from Honeyville but after reading Helen DuJardin's article, I will use fresh blanched almonds in the future as the pre-ground almond flour tends to be dry and will not yield optimal results. Blanched (without the dark skin) almonds will give you a macaron without the little specks, but either with or without skin will work.
From the standpoint of technique, and in addition to an accurate receipe, making macarons is all about the technique. Unfortunatley, I also found some problems with the techniques as described in the book. For example, the meringue should be whipped (on medium-high speed) just to the point where it will not slide out of the mixer bowl, reaching a medium stiff texture, or it will be too dry. The book says to beat on high until the meringue is stiff, firm and glossy, which may take it too far.
The macaronage technique (blending the meringue with the almonds and sugar) in the book is guaranteed to overwork your batter. What I found most helpful is Helen DuJardin's instruction that the whole process should take no more than 50 strokes. Too many strokes equals overworked batter and will give you thin batter that will not hold up once piped onto the cookie sheet. And, as an amateur patissier, it is important to note that while you do not want to overwork your batter, you do not have to worry about deflating the meringue as with other recipes.
As far as using two baking sheets is concerned, I found that when using a good quality baking sheet, lined with a Silpat or parchment paper,(a good recipe and proper technique), it is not necessary to use double baking pans and this actually kept my macarons from completely cooking on the bottoms, making them sticky and difficult to remove. As for cooking time, I think you will need to work with that a bit on your individual ovens. 280 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 - 18 minutes is what Helen Dujardin recommends.
I also had a problem with the butter cream making technique. When making the sugar syrup component, four minutes in the microwave is far too much time and cooking times can vary from one microwave to another. This is something better accomplished with a thermometer and getting the sugar to a temperature of approximately 235 to 240 degrees Fahrenheit.
In defense of Hisako Ogita, the author of I Love Macarons, I suspect that someone somewhere in the book publishing process tampered with her recipes, or perhaps they were corrupted in translation. She looks as if she genuinely does love macarons and is obviously getting successful results. In all my research, I did discover that professional patissiers prefer the Italian Meringue recipe over the French for consistent results (perhaps that is what Hisako used). I haven't gotten that far in I Love Macarons as of yet. The Italian recipe does require a little more technique expertise, but I think mastering the French one will prepare me for that eventuality.
Good Luck!I Love Macarons Overview

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Laduree: The Sweet Recipes Review

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Laduree: The Sweet Recipes ReviewThis book is more of a piece of art or a beautiful jewel rather than a book I would want to have on my kitchen counter next to my Kitchenaid full of buttercream. When I use it I make a copy or write out the recipe on a piece of paper so as not to get it greasy or stained. I trained in Paris and am familiar with Lauduree, an elegant pastry shop. The recipes are well written clear and presented in cups and grams. I do suggest one buys a scale and uses the metric grams rather our silly American cups which are inaccurate. This book is not for beginners and is well suited for those with some pastry experience or who possess patience as pastry is very specific. If you happen to get to Paris be absolutely certain to try Lauduree's blueberry tea.Laduree: The Sweet Recipes Overview

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The American Boulangerie: Authentic French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen Review

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The American Boulangerie: Authentic French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen ReviewAmerican Boulangerie is a terrific find. The recipes are easy and really work. Everyone has purchased a beautiful cookbook only to find that in practice the recipes are too complex for the average cook or that even when perfectly executed, they simply do not work, I'm pleased to report that is definitely not the case with American Boulangerie. For anyone in the Bay Area make sure to try the canneles de bordeaux (fabulous!) and then make them yourself with the recipe in this book - you will be impressed!The American Boulangerie: Authentic French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen Overview

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Sugar Baby: Confections, Candies, Cakes & Other Delicious Recipes for Cooking with Sugar Review

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Sugar Baby: Confections, Candies, Cakes & Other Delicious Recipes for Cooking with Sugar ReviewI love to cook, and I read a LOT of cookbooks. I read them like other people read novels. And I read every book on confectionery that I can get my hands on (there aren't alot, and most of them are of the Junior League variety--wonderful recipes, sometimes, but not a lot of information).
So I was delighted when sugarbaby showed up in my Amazon recommendations, and ordered it right away. I was hoping for a modern take on confectionery, and I was sure from other reviews that the book would be pretty. It's both of those things, and the two recipes I've tried so far (the matcha pastry cream and marshmallow fondant) were get-in-the-bowl-and-walk-around delicious.
What I didn't expect was the author's voice. She's funny. Actually laugh-out-loud funny. And very, very real. Just wonderful. I'm ordering her other book right now, just because I want to spend some more time with this amazing woman.
If you like to read cookbooks, buy this book!Sugar Baby: Confections, Candies, Cakes & Other Delicious Recipes for Cooking with Sugar Overview

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Milk & Cookies: 89 Heirloom Recipes from New York's Milk & Cookies Bakery Review

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Milk & Cookies: 89 Heirloom Recipes from New York's Milk & Cookies Bakery ReviewThis book is a bit like two cookbooks in one. The first half of the book consists of the recipes for the basic doughs and their variations. There are five basic doughs: vanilla, double chocolate, oatmeal, peanut butter, and sugar. Some of the recipes that accompany the doughs call for simple additions (salted peanuts + peanut butter dough), but others take the dough and make it into a different type of cookie (sugar cookie dough to lemon drop cookies). I love making up a batch of dough and then baking fresh cookies from it over the next few days. These recipes are a great way to take it one step farther and make up one dough but get several different kinds of cookies from that dough. The book says that the doughs can be stored in the fridge for a week or the freezer for a month, so they definately lend themselves to being made ahead of time.
I tend to judge a cookie book by it's chocolate chip cookie recipe. The vanilla dough has ground oatmeal in it, and the chocolate chip cookies that come from it remind me of the ones from the $250 department store cookie recipe legend (which I mean as a compliment since I like to make those when I can't decide between chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies). I did find that even though the recipe doesn't call for refridgerating the dough before baking, that my cookies held their shape better after the dough was chilled. There is also a more traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe (with an untraditional ingredient), and a recipe for chocolate chip bars.
The second half of the book has individual cookie recipes and is divided into special cookies, family favorites, and brownies and bars. Some of the recipes are pretty standard (snickerdoodles, gingersnaps, etc.), but there are also some recipes that are more unusual (ciambelli, sfingi, etc.)
All of the recipes have measurements listed by weight and by volume.Milk & Cookies: 89 Heirloom Recipes from New York's Milk & Cookies Bakery Overview

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