This bible of dessert recipes and techniques combines the finely honed skills of master pastry chefs with interactive videos and step-by-step photographs to ensure success at home. This richly illustrated volume details 260 step-by-step recipes with in-depth explanations for kitchen novices that cover all basic techniques and desserts and are grouped by category: hot or cold desserts, entremets, classic pastries, cakes, tarts, and frozen desserts. Expert chefs provide baking tips that will assure success with foolproof dough, creams and mousses, chocolate and candy, sauces, and frozen desserts. Classic and contemporary recipes feature crème brûlée, Black Forest cake, clafoutis, lemon meringue pie, profiteroles, frozen raspberry soufflé, Opéra, tarte tatin, crêpes Suzette, macaroons, gingerbread, strawberry-cherry gazpacho, mango-pineapple carpaccio, fruit taboulé, Christmas log, and sugar decorations. Practical references include visual lexicons of recommended kitchen equipment and common ingredients; decorative piping models; conversion tables; a glossary; descriptions of regional French specialties and fifteen classic French desserts; and an index of recipes and main ingredients. Each recipe is rated for complexity so the home chef can gradually expand his or her baking ability through experience. More than 600 photographs and twenty downloadable videos of complex techniques enhance the learning experience in this essential guide for novice and established cooks alike.

French pâtisserie—from a flaky croissant in the morning to a raspberry macaron with tea or a layered Opéra cake after dinner— provides the grand finale to every memorable meal. This comprehensive volume, from the professionals at the Ferrandi School of Culinary Arts—dubbed “The Harvard of Gastronomy” by Le Monde newspaper—offers everything the home chef needs to create perfect pastries for all occasions. 1500 skills and techniques Learn how to make pastries, creams, decorations, and more with step-by-step instructions and tips and tricks from Ferrandi’s experienced chefs. 235 classic French recipes Recipes for the complete range of French pâtisserie also include variations that are rated according to level of difficulty so that home chefs can expand their skills over time.

This comprehensive, illustrated reference offers the essential building blocks and recipes for working with chocolate in the home kitchen. This cooking school in book form opens with 100 step-by-step techniques: chocolate basics (tempering, ganaches, pralines), candy fillings, decorations, doughs, creams and mousses, ice cream and sorbet, sauces, and baker’s secrets. Each method is explained in text and photographs; fourteen are further clarified on the ninety-minute DVD. Organized into nine sections, 100 recipes are simplified for the home cook: classics (Sachertorte, pro fiteroles, molten chocolate cake), tarts (chocolate-pear, nut-caramel), snacks (macaroons, waffles, brownies, choco-ginger churros), frozen desserts, special occasions (dark chocolate fondue, hazelnut-praline Yule log), and candy (truffles, lollipops, coconut bars). Each recipe is graded with a three-star rating so the home chef can gauge its complexity. Cross references to techniques, DVD footage, glossary terms, and complementary recipes make navigation easy. The volume includes practical resources: visual dictionaries of kitchen equipment and common ingredients; tips for conserving chocolate; a guide to dark, milk, and white chocolate and the importance of cocoa content; and a detailed index.

With Simple French Desserts, making French pastry is as easy as apple pie--but deceptively more impressive. Pastry chef and author Jill O'Connor starts with the easiest recipes and gradually builds skills as she moves on to more challenging treats. Throughout, she demystifies the art of French baking, guiding cooks with step-by-step techniques, and clear and complete explanations. Here are over 50 recipes for delectable treats like Crme Caramel, Lemon-Almond Madeleines, and Chocolate Eclairs. With a whimsically elegant design and mouthwatering full-color photographs, Simple French Desserts is the perfect introduction to the art of the patisserie--sans signing up at the Cordon Bleu.

The Valrhona cooking school presents everything the amateur or professional baker needs to learn about cooking with chocolate. One hundred fundamental techniques and more than a hundred recipes are explained with step-by-step photographs and clear instructions. Home chefs will learn chocolate basics (tempering, ganaches,pralines), baker’s secrets (marbling, faultless cake crusts, beating egg whites), and how to make candy fillings, decorations, doughs, cream and mousse bases, ice creams and sorbets, and sauces. Bakers can refer back to these building blocks as they progress with an increasing level of expertise through recipes from icing and cookie dough to macaroons and impressive mounted desserts. Recipes include the great classics (Black Forest cake, profiteroles), tarts and tartlets (chocolate-pear, nut caramel), shared delights, teatime treats (chocolate-vanilla waffles, brownies), iced desserts (chocolate cappuccino parfait, raspberry meringue with hot chocolate sauce), special-occasion splurges (dark chocolate fondue, hazelnut-praline Yule log), candies and confections (truffles, lollipops, chocolate-covered cherries), and savory dishes using chocolate. Visual dictionaries of basic equipment and commonly used ingredients, tips for conserving chocolate,a guide to cocoa content, a glossary, and detailed indexes complete the volume.

By the author of the award-winning Around My French Table and Baking: From My Home to Yours, an irresistible collection of radically simple desserts from French home cooks and pastry chefs.

A superb collection of 150 ultimate desserts for the home cook, this lavish book is the culmination of Roux's 35-year career as a chef. Every recipe is laid out in an accessible, easy-to-follow way, with details of ingredients, special equipment, and methods of preparation. 120 color illustrations. 25 drawings.