Fine French Desserts: Essential Recipes and Techniques

Book excerpt: 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.