The Art of French Pastry – Deckle Edge Author: Visit Amazon's Jacquy Pfeiffer Page | Language: English | ISBN:
030795935X | Format: EPUB
The Art of French Pastry – Deckle Edge Description
Amazon.com Review
Featured Recipes from The Art of French Pastry
Download the recipe for Christmas Sables
Download the recipe for Ganache
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*Starred Review* Nowhere else do chemistry, physics, and aesthetics combine so elegantly and tastily as in the hands of a great pastry chef. Alsatian-born Pfeiffer now teaches a demanding Chicago culinary program, and his years of experience with classic French baking have come together in a volume that’s the next best thing to actually learning directly from the master’s hands. Rigorously detailed instructions transmit essential techniques for producing not only pastry itself but also concocting custard creams, jams, fillings, sauces, icings, and glazes. Both photographs and graphics show how ingredients come together for each individual creation. Some of the book’s most valuable information appears in sidebars. Here Pfeiffer reveals tricks of the trade and secrets that mere ingredient lists never fully explain, such as how a day’s humidity level can affect a particular pastry’s success or failure. Anyone studying to be a professional baker will profit from Pfeiffer’s guidance, and the amateur cook can vastly improve family desserts. --Mark Knoblauch
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- Hardcover: 432 pages
- Publisher: Knopf; First Edition edition (December 3, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 030795935X
- ISBN-13: 978-0307959355
- Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 8.3 x 1.4 inches
- Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Update on January 18, 2014
I added a star since the original review. I have now tried several of the recipes in the book, and I am pleased to report that the results were fantastic. The most significant discovery for me was the pie crusts. That alone was worth the price of admission. Two pie recipes - wild blueberry and lemon -- were very successful, although I cheated and left out the complex meringue topping on the lemon pie and used lime instead b/c that's what I had handy, the results nonetheless were amazing. Be aware that the chef's approach to technique can be daunting and overly precise, but I prefer that to too lax and imprecise. You can always adjust (as I did witht the lemon pie) thanks to his detailed explanations of the ingredients and reasons for the techniques used. As for the Kindle version, I discovered that when using the desktop computer Kindle app, navigation works nicely. So, the problem is with the software on the Kindle iPad app. Can't fault the book publishers for that.
I still stand by my original criticism about the lack of instructive photos, video links, and the overload on Alsatian-based recipes including pretzels. In the bigger scheme of what the book actually delivers -- beautiful results - those are just nitpicking details. Just ironic for a book called the Art of French Pastry. Funny how a title can effect expectations. Anyway, I look forward to learning more proper pastry technique. I would have given this four and a half stars if that were possible.
The Original Review: I pre-ordered the Kindle version believing that there would be a savings in pre-ordering. Hmm. wrong. Within a few days of the release, the price plunged six dollars. So much for pre-ordering.
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