Book Description
If you are a beginning baker, this book offers an accessible introduction to essential baking ingredients, equipment, and techniques as well as detailed, step-by-step recipes that make it easy to prepare even the trickiest baked goods. If you are already an accomplished baker, it offers many sophisticated and unusual recipes that will help you refine your knowledge and skills.
The book features a distinctive organization based on six key baking ingredients, from fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and chocolate to dairy products, spices and herbs, and coffee, tea, and liqueurs. Select an ingredient or flavor you love, and you'll find many delicious ways to incorporate it into your baking.
Bloom's recipes encompass every type of baking. You'll find spectacular versions of familiar favorites - Cherry Pie, Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, and Double Peanut Butter Cookies - as well as intriguing variations and extravagant indulgences, including Coconut Biscotti, Lemon Verbena and Walnut Tea Cake, and Dark Chocolate Creme Brulee. Her meticulous recipes specify essential gear, offer tips on streamlining the recipe and storing the finished dish, and provide advice on varying ingredients and adding panache.
With in-depth guidance on techniques and ingredients, 225 standout recipes, variations and embellishments for almost every dish, and 32 pages of striking full-color photographs, The Essential Baker is truly the only baking book you'll ever need.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointed.......2007-09-09
The first three reviews all gave "The Essential Baker" top 5-star ratings and, frankly, I was impressed and ordered the book. However, my elation quickly turned to disappointment once I scanned the pages. The first 50 pages on baking essentials had brown text on a light brown background and the remainder of the book, the text remained brown on white rather than black on white. Moreover, the font style and small size in addition to the brown text made reading difficult for a senior citizen as myself. This difficulty was more pronounced since the ingredients listed on the left margin were in bold type whereas the instruction were not, thus I personally would find difficulty in using the book while trying to cook.
One thing the author mentions up front is that all her recipes use Extra-Large eggs and every recipe for making pie dough uses a food processor. Just be aware to adjust your thinking. The book is hefty with 220 pages devoted to fruits, 21 to vegetables, 48 to nuts and seeds, and 125 to chocolate, 29 to dairy, 45 to spices and herbs, and 50 to coffee, tea, and spirits. The way the recipes are formatted, as discussed in prevous comments, are unique and at times it takes three to four pages for a recipe such as Pumpkin Pie or Lemon Meringue Pie.
In comparing the recipe for Anise and Almond Biscotti (Carole Bloom vs Martha Stewart), for example, Bloom calls for 3 extra-large eggs and 3 extra large egg yolks, but no butter and Stewart calls for 4 large eggs and 4 tablespoons of butter (both use 2-1/4 and 2-1/2 cups of flour respectively. I would have to bake each recipe to determine which I preferred, but someone like Alton Brown (author of, "I'm Here Just for the Food") could tell you the pros and cons of eggs vs butter.
If I had to choose an all round baking book, my choice would be, "The Dessert Bible" by Chrisopher Kimball who is also Publisher and Editor of Cooks Illustrated. His recipes include a feature that explains "what could go wrong" explaining things that could go awry whch I found helpful.
Bloom incorporates some innovative features in laying out her baking techniques and no doubt has many excellent recipes, but I downgraded the book primarily on "mechanical" features rather than content and the fact that I personally find the book difficult to use.
Unique & Delicious Recipes.......2007-08-09
"The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices and Other Ingredients" is a new book by Carole Bloom, who is a professional pastry chef and confectioner. As the title promises the contents include an impressive array of recipes that use everything from coffee & tea to vegetables & fruits as their main ingredients. More than this, however, Bloom's recipes are unique, with a dash of sliced almonds adding both flavor and texture to banana muffins and pearl sugar enhancing the visual appeal of apple turnovers. I loved her recipes for coconut biscotti, jasmine tea cakes and spiced sugar coin cookies. Indeed, though I usually give away most of the goodies I bake, I couldn't bring myself to share the biscotti with anyone other than my husband. On a few occasions I wasn't entirely thrilled with the way a recipe turned out, but given my delight with other recipes I have to chalk this up to taste. One cannot expect every single recipe in a book to enthrall, after all, and modifications can always be made to suit your preferences.
Bloom's instructions are clear and easy to follow, though the way ingredients are presented took some getting used to. Instead of listing ingredients before the recipe, as most cookbooks do, recipes are divided into stages with the ingredients for each stage listed beside the instructions. At first I didn't like this aspect of the book, but as I continued to cook with it I realized that this arrangement a) forced me to read through the entire recipe before beginning, I'm a notorious improviser, and b) made it nearly impossible to become confused about which ingredient should be used where. Essential gear is listed along side the recipe, where helpful information is also included: storage tips, variations, and instructions for streamlining the baking process over more than one afternoon (i.e. How to begin cookies one day and finish them the next.) While I'm always appreciative of baking books that have photos for every recipe, the straightforward presentation of Bloom's recipes made it easy to visualize the final result without an image. Photos for twenty recipes are collected in the center of the book, representing the various chapters, which include: fruit & vegetables; nuts & seeds; chocolate; dairy products (milk, cream, cheeses); spices & herbs; and coffee, tea, liqueurs & spirits. The first chapter is devoted entirely to baking techniques, language and an overview of essential baking gear.
Recipes range in difficulty from easy to challenging, so this may not be the best book for a novice baker. Yet those with baking experience and a curiosity for novel recipes may want to check it out. From Key Lime Squares and Raspberry-Blueberry Galettes to Pomegranate Butter Cookies and Triple Vanilla Souffle, there is something in this book to pique everyone's interests.
An excellent general manual for occasional baker. Buy It........2007-05-11
`The Essential Baker' by professional pastry chef and culinary writer, Carole Bloom presents itself as a complete baking manual, with a distinctively different organization, by ingredient. For its size, price, and claims, the book begs us to compare it to the recent `Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook', which is also a comprehensive introductory baking text.
As I first open the book, Bloom's `Essential Baker' does not readily impress me when stacked up against Team Stewart. Like Stewart, the book does not delve into a lot of the more technical explanations of baking science (as one may find in Rose Levy Beranbaum's more advanced `Bibles' on baking technique), but then the average baker really doesn't need most of this, as long as they get the message that with baking, one really needs to follow the recipe closely, even down to the size of the baking pans. Bloom does go into just a bit more detail, and may get herself into a few questionable statements, as when she states that one should not use all purpose flour for baking bread (every book I've ever seen on bread baking uses and condones `all purpose flour', with a preference for the higher protein products such as those from King Arthur.)
Based on their enormous magazine publishing resources, it's no surprise to find Team Stewart's book with wonderful pictures all along the way, especially with good series of tutorials on some basic techniques. Ms. Bloom oddly has virtually no pictures, and all she has are in two middle of the book rotogravure sections, to keep the cost down.
Two more comparisons tend to favor Team Stewart. The first is that their organization is by end product and method rather than by principal ingredient. For an introductory manual, I simply find that more useful and intuitive. Unlike savory cooking, one is much more inclined to begin with `lets bake a cake' or `lets make a pie' or `lets make some cookies' or `lets make some bread'. One of the few cases where this may not be true is with some highly seasonal local ingredients such as rhubarb. Otherwise, my baking choices are largely based on birthdays needing cake, picnics needing pies, and Christmas needing cookies. The second is that Ms. Bloom does not cover yeast breads at all. There are recipes for quick breads such as biscuits and Irish Soda bread (under the subject of buttermilk), but that's it. Team Stewart has a 70 page chapter on yeast breads with 31 recipes, including muffins, bagels, pizza, Danish, croissants, and babkas. If this were the whole story, Team Stewart would have it all over Ms. Bloom. Ms. Bloom, however, has an ace up her sleeve.
Only after reading the long and highly informative (but pictureless) introductory chapters in `The Essential Baker' did I discover that Ms. Bloom is hiding her light under a basket. While celebrating her ordering by ingredient, she neglects to trumpet the fact that her method for writing recipes is really superior. Everything is laid out in exactly the way one may wish to find it. And, on this count, she has Team Stewart beat hands down. But that's not all. I also find her recipes to be more interesting (albeit not necessarily more complicated) than those from Team Stewart. I compared at least a half dozen recipes and in all cases, Ms. Bloom had the more satisfactory recipe for the beginner. Stewart either tended just a bit too much to the simple or overembellished to fit her overriding motif of cooking for entertaining.
I'm still inclined to see Stewart's `Baking Handbook' as the superior book for the beginner, except for the fact that Ms. Bloom does something that is rare in bigger baking books. She does not `divide and conquer' by separating all her utility recipes for crusts and other pastries in a separate section, so that one must constantly be flipping back and forth when doing a pie or an icing. This is really an exceptionally good thing for the occasional baker, who wants `the recipe, the whole recipe, and nothing but the recipe' in one place.
And, although both books retail for $40, Ms. Bloom has about 200 more pages, with a corresponding 30% more recipes. She also has an exceptionally good list of sources, the best I've seen in quite some time (although Miss Martha does a good job here too).
On the arrangement by ingredient, I'm still a bit agnostic about it, and it would have been nice to see a supplementary table of contents by type of recipe, but if you happen to really like books such as Aliza Green's `Starting With Ingredients' or books on vegetable or fish cookery, you will love this book. Otherwise, you may just like it very, very much.
Viva Coconut Biscotti.......2007-04-14
Though I love to cook and entertain, I seldom bake. Somehow, in planning my meals, dessert is often an afterthought. Thus, when a friend gave me Carole Bloom's latest tome, The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices, and other ingredients, I thanked her profusely and thought I would relegate the exhaustive 650 page book to the upper reaches of my kitchen shelf. Last week, in need of an easy dessert recipe, the stunning chocolate madeleines on Bloom's book cover came to mind. What delights might I find within its pages, I wondered? I thumbed through it, looking for something simple to complement a bowl of fresh strawberries. The Coconut Biscotti on page 229 caught my eye.
I followed Bloom's instructions to the letter. The author of Chocolate Lovers' Cookbook for Dummies, among eight other books, made it all the easier thanks to her clever organization: ingredients and their corresponding usage are laid out side by side on the page rather than one following the other as is usually the case. I assembled the dough in minutes, shaped it into two loaves as instructed, and popped them in the oven. I waited for them to cool before slicing them into biscotti, and returned them to the oven a few minutes longer. Twenty minutes later, "my" biscotti looked like those sold by the piece at an extravagant price in upscale coffee shops--sweet and crumbly and ready for dunking. "Those are the best biscotti I have ever tasted," opined my husband, a cookie connoisseur from way back.
The Essential Baker may not turn me into a pro but the clarity of recipes inspire me to try the Cherry Clafouti(page 61) and the Pineapple Tarte Tatin (page 247). I may even read through Bloom's extensive Baking Essentials section to expand my newfound skills!
Amazon.com
Americans spend over $550 million annually on Oreos, some indication of our cookie infatuation. Meeting that passion head-on, The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion offers 400-plus recipes for almost every cookie under the sun--from traditional favorites like oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies (13 recipes including the soft and crisp kinds, plus 11 variations, such a Orange-Pistachio Milk Chocolate Chippers); to global treats like shortbread, tuiles, springerle, and biscotti; to all kinds of bars and soft bites such as brownies, Whoopie Pies, and Hot and Sweet Ginger Squares.
The Cookie Companion is in the King Arthur tradition, which means that it's a teaching cookbook--one overflowing with tips, pointers, lore, and other compelling information. Thus, for example, the introduction to Special Roll-Out Sugar Cookies informs readers that thorough dough-rolling creates thin, snapping-crisp cookies, but roll the dough a bit thicker, and "you've got crunchy." Their no-detail-too-small introductory basics are greatly aided by the tour-de-force illustrations of Laura Hartman Maestro. For example, a box on bar-cookie cutting shows readers the five basic size configurations, depending on pan dimensions. Bakers who have routinely paused, knife in hand, before a pan of just-baked brownies, trying to decide how to end up with, say, 24 large squares, won't, following the illustrations, do so again. A section on cookie decoration is equally definitive, as is a final chapter on ingredients, which offers, for example, a full discussion of sugars, plus asides like "Is Splenda the Answer to Low-Calorie Baking" (maybe) and "Can I Substitute a Liquid Sweetener for a Dry One to Make My Cookies Sifter?" (sometimes, but never measurement for measurement).
With "Create-a-Cookie," a section that focuses on manipulating basic dough mixtures to make checkerboard and pinwheel cookies among others; recipes for glazes, icings, dips and finishes; illustrated equipment profiles; plus color photos that depict the cookies in all their edible glory, the book is, simply, a must-have for cookie bakers everywhere. --Arthur Boehm
Book Description
America's favorite bakers turn a fresh eye on cookies—everyone's favorite homemade treat.
Drawing on the same commitment to the home-baking community that has earned them hundreds of thousands of dedicated followers, the bakers at King Arthur Flour guide you through hundreds of recipes, revealing the secrets to making your own mouthwatering cookies for any occasion.
The bakers begin by singling out the "Nine Essential Cookies" and variations that reflect a variety of tastes, textures, and ingredients:
- brownies
- sugar cookies
- chocolate chip cookies
- shortbread
- oatmeal cookies
- peanut butter cookies
- molasses-ginger cookies
- biscotti
- decorated cookies
From whoopie pies to ladyfingers, it's all here in one place. The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion includes full chapters on drop cookies, roll-out cookies, shaped cookies, batter cookies, no-bake cookies, and bars and squares.
You'll find complete instructions for making cookie icings, fillings, and dips. You'll find a thorough overview of the essential ingredients of cookie baking, explaining the chemistry of flours and grains, leavens, sweeteners, fats, dairy products, flavorings, and the science of how these ingredients work together. You'll also learn tips on substitutions and variations; measuring and weighing ingredients; even advice on high-altitude baking. Recipes are enhanced with sidebars providing hints, shortcuts, troubleshooting advice, and recipe lore. And each recipe is accompanied by a complete nutritional analysis. Illustrations throughout the book provide clear step-by-step instructions that take the mystery out of such baking terms as "creaming," "soft-ball stage," and "folding." Finally, a comprehensive illustrated chapter describes the essential baking tools you'll want to have on hand. 150 line black & white illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
Many 'sure thing' recipes!.......2007-10-04
I bake a lot, and love it - and am always in search of great cookies/desserts. This book is terrific with many recipes that I know will be an absolute 'hit'! Great descriptions on baking basics, too. I just wish they made more cookbooks for other categories besides cookies!
Lovely compendium.......2007-05-29
Those great folks up in Vermont really take a lot of care with their recipe books, that's for sure. Their efforts show in this mammoth cookie book that includes a wide range of recipes, variations on those themes, and very helpful baking tips.
A must-have for any cookie baker.
KingArthur Flour Cookie Companion.......2007-03-08
I find this an excellent book. Easy instructions to follow. Wonderful recipes some I never heard of and I bake alot. I would highly recomment this book to anyone.
Just simply wonderful.......2007-02-27
I've been a fan of King Arthur flour and mixes for a long time. Their cookie cookbook has been a marvelous addition to my cooking library. From the detailed discussion of ingredients and methods to the recipes, they've not only provided some fabulous cookies for my family and friends, but also educated an experienced baker. I especially like that they provide quantities for ingredients by weight as well as by conventional measure. I have a good kitchen scale and prefer to measure by weight when I can, but I don't always have the time to figure out equivalents--this book does it for me.
One thing I've enjoyed is the variations given for old standards. My family prefers soft or chewy cookies, so I've used both of those recipes for oatmeal raisin rather than the crisp or crunchy versions.
I find myself just reading this book--browsing through the recipes, making lists of cookies I want to try in the near future, familiarizing myself with categories of cookies I haven't yet made. It was worth every, single cent, and I am *so* glad I bought it!
Spectacular Cookbook!.......2007-01-29
I received my copy of the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion cookbook in Brazil. Fantastic cookbook! Very complete. Good recipes and reference book. E a Amazon é o máximo, preço bom e a entrega garantida!
Book Description
About Professional Baking provides a unique presentation of the principles of baking for the culinary enthusiast. Each of the 14 chapters covers one or a group of related concepts and contains introductory narrative and background information; an exemplary recipe; and a series of culinary lessons. Additional recipes are presented in each chapter, and a step-by-step, full-color series of photos accompanies each culinary lesson. The special features of this text include discussions of science-related topics; pastry history; Professional Profiles that highlight important culinary figures; and numerous tables, charts, and photographs designed to explain the principles in recipes. The unique presentation of material, the author's accessible writing style, and the numerous recipes provided makes this the most appropriate baking book on the market.
Customer Reviews:
About Professional Baking: The Essentials.......2007-06-13
The book is in excellent condition. It is very informatve and well worth the cost.
Excellent book!.......2007-01-28
If you've ever baked, want to learn to bake or have an interest in baking, this is the book for you. About Professional Baking: The Essentials contains over 700 detailed full-color photographs throughout of both the process and the finished product, as well as diagrams and charts.
Gail Sokol is an award-winning professional baker and baking instructor in the culinary arts industry. She definitely brings her expertise into full play in this must-have book which features 125 fully kitchen-tested recipes written in an easy-to-comprehend format and clearly stated objectives.
I consider myself to be an experienced and competent baker but I can't begin to tell you how much knowledge I've realized from this book.
About Professional Baking: The Essentials gives you the very basic principals and fundamentals of working with yeast, straight and laminated doughs, pies and tarts, quick breads, cakes, frostings, frozen desserts and dessert sauces, cookies, chocolate, and even healthy baking which will have you baking like a true professional.
Each recipe is written with explanations of how the ingredients should look at each stage of preparation. Measurements are given in U.S., Metric and Baker's percentages. There is a chapter is a troubleshooting chapter. General problems are identified and addressed, followed by reasons for the problems and, if applicable, solutions to those problems. Appendix chapters include baking tools and proper preparation of cake pans, all with explanatory photographs.
About Professional Baking: The Essentials will become your bible of baking.
about professional baking.......2006-11-12
I have use dthis book and was not impressed with the content. I felt that it focused too much on issues that where not as important (ie, milling of flour) yet failed to address in depth the importance of chemical reactions which occur in the baking process. The overall set up of the book is odd as well, compared to other teaching text that are available. And as an aside to the person who wrote this rival Julia Child. I beg to differ try a few more of the recipes then report back. Julia Childs recipes ALWAYS come out perfect!!
Best baking book out there.......2006-09-23
This is the best book on baking I've seen. It is easy to understand and has so many glossy photos and step by step instructions. I'm a pretty bad cook, and I was able to make all of the recipes I tried -- first time! I also really like the professional profile section, and reading about the different pastry chefs. All-in-all, this is a great book. It actually rivals my favorite cookbook of all time, by none other than Julia Child herself. Her's is my favorite cookbook, and now this one is my favorite baking book. Gail Sokol must be the Julia of our generation. And I'm not exaggerating... this really is a great read, and extremely helpful. I have learned so much from it, and have learned that baking is not as scary as I used to think it was. And it actually can be fun! Now that I'm learning how to bake properly, I find it is really quite relaxing. All of the shows on TV make baking seem too sciency and complicated, but Sokol does not. I'd recommend this book to everyone!
Average customer rating:
- the best book
- Great book for learning how to make deserts. Good recipes too!
- Classic Patisserie
- Pastries are great, instructions even greater
- wonderful concept brought foward, but flawed
|
Dessert University: More Than 300 Spectacular Recipes and Essential Lessons from White House Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier
Roland Mesnier , and
Lauren Chattman
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Desserts
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Professional
| Professional Cooking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
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The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef
ASIN: 0743223179 |
Amazon.com
Slightly older egg whites--the ones from supermarket eggs are already three to five days old by the time you buy them--whip up smoother and higher than fesh ones. This bit of information introduces the section called Magical Meringues in Roland Mesnier's Dessert University. For 25 years Roland Mesnier has been executive pastry chef at the White House. He's also a teacher who never forgets what it is to be a student. So he's ready, willing, and able to share what he has learned about producing desserts to die for.
There's a gentle, encouraging spirit that runs through this book, and it comes from the unique situation a White House pastry cehf finds himself in. On the one hand he has to prepare high-end restaurant-quality desserts for lunches and dinners that seat people by the hundreds. But the chief responsibility is to a single family and its guests, which makes the work more like a private chef who only has to satisfy one customer. So these are family recipes, in a sense, that can stand up to restaurant specs.
The book opens with a chapter on fruit desserts, a chapter that establishes a simple, user-friendly line. What follows are chapters on Puddings Custards and Souffles; Mousses and Bavarians; Frozen Desserts; Meringues; Crepes and Deloctable Fillings; Breakfast Pastries; Cookies; Tarts and Pies; Cakes; Chocolate Candy and Decorations; Sugar Decorations; and Syrups, Sauces, and Glazes.
At 540-plus pages this is a big, well-illustrated, cleanly written book with clear instructions and concise recipes. But it isn't intiomidating. Rather, it's welcoming. You'll feel as comfortable whipping up an Apple Sorget with Caramel sauce as you willbaking a Chocolate Butter Cake. And the best advice of all from this master? Practice, practice, practice. --Schuyler Ingle
Book Description
As Executive Pastry Chef at the White House for almost twenty-five years, Roland Mesnier has been responsible for creating thousands of elegant, delicious confections and dazzling desserts for hundreds of state dinners and family occasions. An accomplished teacher as well as a master chef, he now shares his expertise with home cooks in Dessert University.
This beautifully illustrated volume is a complete course in making the full spectrum of spectacular sweets -- from breakfast pastries, cookies, and pies to fresh-fruit desserts, frozen confections, and cakes. Recipes in each chapter are organized from the simplest to the most complex, and Chef Mesnier walks you through each step, pointing out common mistakes and offering insights on technique gained from his years as a professional. Most of these recipes need few special ingredients and almost no fancy equipment; nearly everything can be purchased at a well-stocked supermarket, department store, or kitchen supply store. Chef Mesnier includes tips on techniques, ingredients, and serving suggestions, and offers home cooks practical advice, such as how to fill and use a pastry bag and the best way to whip egg whites. A resource list is also included, so cooks can find the more unusual ingredients they need to make these delectable creations.
Mesnier starts off with his fresh-fruit desserts, including uniquely wonderful recipes such as Bananas in Raspberry Cream, Blueberry Fool, and Poached Peaches with Chestnut Mousse. He moves on to creamy custards, puddings, soufflés, mousses and Bavarians, ice creams, meringues, crêpes, and breakfast treats (including buttery brioche and croissant doughs). Chef Mesnier's cookie and bar recipes will fill your cookie jar with such treats as Chocolate Chip Cookies, Almond Crescents, Orange Butter Cookies, Brownies, and Florentine Squares. There are sweet and savory tarts, and cakes ranging from the simple (Lemon Pound Cake) to the unusual (Peanut Butter and Jelly Roulade Cake) to the sophisticated (Chocolate Champagne Mousse Cake). Ambitious home cooks can even try their hand at making chocolate candy and sugar decorations. A chapter on syrups, sauces, and other dessert components completes the book.
More than fifty black-and-white line drawings throughout illustrate Chef Mesnier's instructions for the more complicated recipes, and there are sixteen stunning color photographs of finished desserts.
Home cooks and professionals spend hundreds of dollars in formal cooking classes to learn what masters like Roland Mesnier have to teach. In Dessert University, Chef Mesnier has distilled the experience and expertise of an extraordinary career into one accessible, user-friendly volume. Whether you're a novice who has never picked up a rolling pin or an accomplished cook looking to hone and enhance your skills, this is truly a book you cannot do without.
Customer Reviews:
the best book .......2007-07-05
This is simply the best book on baking I have ever used! I bake a lot. At least one thing every day and I have never owned a book where every recipe I have tried has turned out beautifully until now. If your someone who likes to bake out of a box this book is not for you, but if you've wanted to try something different from your everday items this book is wonderful. Mesnier breaks everything down and teaches you the simplest way to do everything. If there's an easier way to do something, he's found it. It's not like other dessert books, where you've never even heard of half of the ingredients, or they're all super expensive items with long drawn out instructions. I'm now making things that I never in a million years thought I would be able to make. This is the book I turn to for any technique. In fact, I've taken ideas from other books and then put them together using the techniques in this book. Quite simply this is the best book ever!!!! I love it and I recommend it to everyone.
Great book for learning how to make deserts. Good recipes too!.......2007-04-11
I like the book. The best part is that Chef Mesnier has a brief introduction to each recipe. He gives instructions or advise which I found most helpful.
I have thousands, yes thousands, of recipes but few come with thoughtful comments about them. Chef Mesnier makes even difficult techniques seem possible for the average person.
In short, if you like to learn about making deserts get the book. If you are a professional chef who knows everything about cooking, this book is probably not for you.
Classic Patisserie .......2007-03-21
In Dessert University, Roland Mesnier, the White House Pastry Chef from the Carter Administration to the current Bush Administration, skillfully merges renowned expertise with effective teaching. Like the venerable, tenured professor of an esteemed academy of higher learning, Chef Mesnier has spent many years in many kitchens developing his extensive knowledge and creative interpretation of patisserie. His career parallels the evolution of a scholastic researcher continually refining his understanding while seeking new realms of discovery.
Chef Mesnier's personal love of learning is conveyed to others in his first opus. Dessert University is a varied collection of clear and reliable recipes. Most often they are prefaced by lively and personal commentary. By so doing, the reader senses the presence of the engaging teacher and master chef, ever ready to support and to nudge forward to new culinary challenges. Some recipes are accompanied by helpful sketches or stunning color photographs.
A quick glimpse into Chef Mesnier's classroom reveals a range of tantalizing options. There are basic dessert recipes for novice pastry students, such as Oatmeal Cookies or All-American Apple Pie. Chef Mesnier simultaneously offers multiple recipes for those students inclined to enlarge their pastry repertoire. A few, tempting samples are: gossamer Apple Butter Crepes with Marsala-Laced Vanilla Sauce, an ethereal Warm Strawberry soufflé, a delicate Quick Chocolate Mousse with Ginger, or a chapter on the intricacies of pulled and blown sugar artwork.
If research, complemented by a passion for teaching, epitomizes the highest values of scholarship, Dessert University has achieved the gold standard of excellence. Chef Mesnier does this without any Ivory Tower overtones that detract from his dual passions of learning and teaching. He warmly shares his pastry expertise within a clear and devoted mentorship style. Dessert University is certain to become a classic reference for any student of patisserie.
Pastries are great, instructions even greater.......2006-06-22
Pastries & dessert making isn't my greatest skill. So I bought this book hoping to find at least a handful of easy to make desserts. I was surprised to find most recipes quite easy to follow. I still have a long way to go making them look good, but at least my pastries taste good for a change.
wonderful concept brought foward, but flawed.......2006-04-26
This book appears to have been designed to provide value and economy for a wide audience and the author accomplishes this. The book is well designed and executed. It features good line drawings, interesting topics, and thorough instructions. For this, the book earns 5 stars.
From a professional point of view however, having been in the culinary field for over 20 years, I feel the title is a bit misleading. The term "dessert university" brings to mind a reader who has some prior knowledge of the culinary arts but upon reading this book, I see recipes for basic recipes like chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, and plain poached pears.
On the other hand, I see recipes for sophisticated cooks like peaches with chestnuts and figs with cantalope. Some of the recipes were just too bizarre. A good example is rum raisen ice cream with pears in red wine. My complaint?
There is too much going on in this book to present a clear point of view.
There are chapters for fruit, soft desserts, frozen desserts, cakes, cookies, and so on. For the experienced cook and baker, many of the recipes for these chapter headings are better found elsewhere, not that they are really needed here anyway.
The chapters that offered more information on meringues, crepes, chocolate work, and sugar work were the only advanced subjects that you would not find in a common bakery book.
Although this book is a great resource for people who want just one complete guide for baking, most of the consumers who really are interested and in need of instruction from a "dessert university" are likely to buy more than one book on the topic anyway.
But for my own opinion as someone in the business, I would of liked to see this book geared more for the truly advanced person in the field of culinary arts. I would of liked to see a chapter on the use of eggs with meriques and souffles together and also a chapter with molded desserts together (frozen and creme). I would want to see more ways to use crepes that was shown in the chapter.
Lastly, I would definitely want to see many more photos on the use of complicated processes like sugar work and chocolate decorations. For the reasons cited in the above paragraph, my personal rating for this book is 3 stars.
Book Description
Like its cousin, Essentials of Grilling, Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking is the ultimate sourcebook for the modern home baker.Whether creating easy muffins and quickbreads, artisan-style yeast loaves, or special occasion cakes and pastries, the reader will find what they need within the pages of the book.Over 130 recipes for contemporary baked goods will be supplemented with thorough discussions of basic baking equipment, ingredients, fundamental baking techniques, and instructions for preparing dessert sauces, fillings, frostings, glazes and other adornments.
Customer Reviews:
Doesn't live up to its promise.......2007-07-18
Although the pictures in this book are quite beatiful, I find the instructions and recipes a bit vague at times, and down right misleading at others. The croissant recipe was a total failure when I tried it, and I think there was too much liquid in the dough to adequately fold it. I've used other croissant recipes and had great success, so I fault the recipe. In addition, the sour dough bread recipe has an inconsistency about whether or not to use milk or water for the starter, and when I called Williams-Sonoma, they were unable to resolve my question, directing me to contact one of their stores for help. Some of the recipes are in fact quite good, such as the currant scones, and the honey whole wheat bread, but I no longer trust the book, not being sure of a recipe until I've tested it myself. I'd expect to be able to trust that the recipes have been tested and that the text has been reviewed before publishing. In short, I wouldn't recommned this book.
Beautiful pics, debatable instructions..........2007-06-06
I received this cookbook as a gift, and was amazed with its beautiful pictures. Unfortunately, of the three recipes I've tried (profiteroles, ginger cookies, and pizza dough), none came out right. I'm a regular baker so have adjusted them accordingly, but it's still disappointing when you can't trust the written recipe.
Essential for the Beginner Baker.......2006-12-07
For sweet and savory and absolutely YUM recipes, this cookbook is a must! This book does not assume the reader has in depth knowledge of baking and details everything from necessary equipment, ingredients and techniques, all with beautiful photographs!
With recipes from breads, tarts, cookies, cakes and frostings, sauces and toppings, this book includes everything for you to make absolutely delicious treats at home. Highly recommended!
FYI: Since posting this review, I have made banana bread and creme caramel from this book and both turned out very well and were a hit. I used half and half instead of heavy cream in the creme caramel and it did not affect the taste.
Delicious recipes with clear instructions.......2006-11-19
I collect cookbooks and can never resist buying another one that sounds promising. This cookbook is a keeper. I have tried 12 of the recipes so far with perfect results and compliments from the eaters! I like a well-illustrated book with easy-to-read print and clear but not pretentiously over-explained directions. This cookbook meets all my criteria. I am very impressed. The Apple Cake with optional Maple Icing got rave reviews at a recent bake sale, and my grandchildren love it as a snack without the icing. The Vanilla Wafers are tender and delicious. The Lemon Chiffon Cake turned out looking exactly as illustrated. The recipes are all interesting but do not require one to be a professional chef to achieve professional results. Highly recommended.
JUST WONDERFUL.......2006-08-25
From all the Williams and Sonoma books I have, this one is my favourite. Well explained, wonderful pictures and great recipes. The best book I bought last time I was in USA.
Book Description
Nothing satisfies or delights the appetite quite like bread, from rustic sourdough sandwiches and crostini piled high with Roma tomatoes to Sunday morning French toast and savory Thanksgiving stuffing. No one knows better than Panera Bread that well-made bread is the centerpiece to a great meal. Now America’s favorite bakery-cafe offers a practical guide to baking artisan breads at home, along with more than 120 recipes for tantalizing dishes that begin with handcrafted bread—whether you’re baking your own or starting with a warm, crusty loaf fresh from your local bakery.
Panera’s expert bakers guide you through the six easy steps to successful bread-making at home, outlining the ingredients, tools, and techniques that guarantee a perfect loaf. Learn how to work with fresh yeast, adjust recipes according to the baker’s percentage, and craft more than a dozen varieties of white, wheat, and rye breads.
Too often, great bread is relegated to the sidelines during a meal, so the Panera Bread team also serves up creative ways to cook with artisan breads in appetizers, breakfast and brunch fare, sandwiches, soups, salads, sides, and even desserts. Innovative sandwiches such as Fuji Apple and Fontina Panini and new twists on family favorites like Bananas Foster French Toast showcase the bold flavors and remarkable textures of breads like Kalamata Olive, Raisin Pecan, Three-Cheese, and Focaccia. Panera Bread also shares, for the first time ever, a handful of recipes from their award-winning bakery-cafe menu.
A thorough introduction to bread-making for beginners and an indispensable reference for experienced bakers, The Panera Bread Cookbook is a celebration of this eternal comfort food—a must-own for bread lovers and bakers everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
don't expect the real asian chicken salad dressing recipe here........2007-07-24
What a ripoff! I bought this book solely for the intent of re-creating
the asian sesame chicken salad. This recipe in this book IS NOT, the same as in the restaurant.
You have been warned.
Excellent results.......2007-04-11
I tried several of the recipes and got excellent results for the most part. The text also provided interesting background information and a bit of history of the art of breadmaking. I shared the info and bread that I'd made with quite a few people, some I knew well and others I became acquainted with, so it ended up being way more than just an interesting book to read! I may never attempt the tricky appetizers but the basic bread, i could handle.
Some good recipes, but don't expect restaurant bread recipes.......2007-03-26
I checked this book out from the library hoping to find the recipes for many of the breads Panera makes and markets. No such luck. Like previous reviewers state, the only authentic Panera restaurant recipes are for a few sandwiches and soup items. Still the focaccia bread recipe was very good as was the sourdough (though this recipe is available on Panera's web site). I don't think I'll buy the book because I can get recipes similar to the basic bread recipes the book offers just by surfing the net.
Panera Recipes.......2005-03-29
Like the bread and was disappointed when I read that only the basic breads were in this book - wanted the actual Panera Bread Recipes. Changed my mind about buying it for this reason.
Good book, but very few authentic Panera Bread Recipes.......2004-11-26
The Publishers Weekly review was correct in stating there no authentic Panera "Bread" recipes in this book. The only authentic items are a few sandwich and salad recipes (and these recipes are not very hard to figure out after eating the product at the restaurant). The bread recipes in the book are basic, such as white, wheat, rye, etc.
The other chapters on Sandwiches and Soups and Salads, etc., are decent, but are dominated by recipes that I would not expect to be in a Panera Bread book. The few recipes from Panera Bread include the Tuscan Chicken Sandwich, Asiago Roast Beef sandwich, and Asian Sesame Chicken Salad. The recipes that are stunning but definitely not expected in this type of book are: Boiled shrimp and Tomato Bahn Mi wiht Lime Mayonnaise and Avocado, Curried Egg Salad Croissant with Daikon Sprouts and Roma Tomato, etc. When purchasing this book, I did not expect to search out 'speciality' indgredients (daikon sprouts, Hungarian Paprika, etc.). Many supermarkets do carry these, but many do not. So just be forwarned before purchasing the book.
In short, the recipes look good, but were definitely not expected! I was expecting a book with lots of bread recipes, soups, salad, sandwiches, and desserts, like those at my local Panera Bread. However, I obtained a book with a broad spectrum of recipes that look good, but was not what I wanted.
My advice: Flip through the book at a bookstore before buying! Happy Eating!
Customer Reviews:
Great Book.......2005-05-05
This book has a glossary of cake decorating terms. It has pictures of a variety of tools used in cake decorating. There are recipes for not only basic cakes, but all types of icing used in cake decorating. The cake recipes are in chart form so you can make anywhere from a 6 inch cake on up to larger cakes. This book also has instructions on preparing cake boards and cake assembly. It's a great book to have as a resource. There are also lots of nice pictures.
A basic book.......2005-02-14
The Essential Guide to Cake Decorating provides beautiful colour illustrated pictures on common sugarcraft flowers and cakes.It also provides the basic requirements for cake decoration e.g. types of equipments used, covering cake using marzipan, royal icing, sugarpaste etc. The book is so well design and has useful step by step instructions to cake deco.Plus the cake pictures makes me keep looking at the book over and over again!
great overall explanation of the subject!.......2004-08-16
I am just entering the world of cake decorating and this happened to be the 1st book I skimmed/read! It is wonderful. I was looking for details and that is what I got! Merehurst Ltd even gives a brief history on the subject- which was very interesting! There are lots of different cakes you can make yourself and also detailed pictures and explanations! I just borrowed this book from the library, so I have to return it...but I'll definately be buying it. I think it's a must-have for cake decorators everywhere!
basic & great.......2004-01-31
the cake recipes are easy, and very good!
Average customer rating:
|
Best-Ever Bread Cookbook (Cook's Essentials)
Manufacturer: Southwater Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Bread
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1842151568 |
Book Description
Here is how to create family favorites as well as more unusual breads for any time of the day.
Average customer rating:
- the Essential Baking Cookbook
- good basic
|
The Essential Baking Cookbook (The Essential Series)
Manufacturer: Whitecap Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1551108526 |
Book Description
Baking is the heart of cooking: a tradition passed down through families that leads to the wonderful aroma of fresh biscuits, the satisfaction of kneading bread, and the celebration of a special cake. From slicing a fruit loaf straight from the oven to mixing together a batch of muffins, the pleasure of baking is as much in the making as in the eating. Featuring sections that guide beginners through easy, quick-mix recipes to more challenging techniques, this latest book in the best-selling ESSENTIAL series also contains step-by-step photographs and professional tips to make it easy to perfect your baking. Temptingly presented with full-color photographs, this book is the must-have secret ingredient for every kitchen. Previous books in the cookbook series include ESSENTIAL CHRISTMAS, APPETIZERS, SEAFOOD, ASIAN, DESSERT, PASTA, and VEGETARIAN.
Customer Reviews:
the Essential Baking Cookbook.......2006-07-01
I don't have a lot of experience with bread making and other yeast risen foods. This book explains things in so much detail and the pictures are wonderful. I always thought anything with yeast in it was extremely difficult. It's not! It's easy! I have made several types of bread now, pizza crust, and pretzels and they have all been succussful. I am having so much fun baking.
good basic.......2001-07-20
This is a good, broad, basic baking book. It includes every category of baking from cakes to crackers. The pictures are great. It includes sections that detail what you might have done wrong if your dish does not turn out the way it was supposed to (very helpful, pictures in these sections too). The only problem I have run into is that the book is not written for an American audience. It uses different words for some ingredients like cornflour or casting sugar.
Average customer rating:
|
Essentials: Bread
Manufacturer: Parragon Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1405436387 |
Product Description
The Essentials collection of delicious recipes for your bread maker. Illustrated in full color. Simple recipes guide you through the preparation to presentation of the completed dish.
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