Professional Pastry Chef, The (3rd ed.)
Van Nostrand Reinhold
1996
0442015976
1154
US$59.95
If you are serious about teaching yourself how to bake professionally, then this is the book for you. (It is also a great book if you just want to bring unusual and impressive baked goods to parties.)
Foreward by Ferdinand Metz
Foreward by Hubert Keller
Foreward by Jacky Robert
Preface
Introduction
1: Mise an Place
2: Basic Doughs
3: Breads and Rolls
4: Breakfast Breads and Pastries
5: Cookies
6: Tarts
7: Sponge Cakes and Tea Cakes
8: Decorated Cakes
9: Individual Pastries
10: Desserts for Plated Presentation
11: Charlottes and Bavarois, Custards, Mousses, and Souffles
12:Meringues
13: Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts
14: Light Desserts
15: Country Desserts
16: Holiday Classics and Favourites
17: Chocolate Decorations and Chocolate Candies
18: Sugar Work
19: Decorations
20: Sauces and Fillings
Appendix A: Ingredients
Appendix B: Equipment
Appendix C: Conversion and Equivalency Tables
Index
While not the definitive book on baking technique (E.g.: there are only about 10 pages on sourdough breads), there are more than enough wounderfully detailed recipes, techniques, and background information in this book (actually books now that the 4th ed. has been split into two volumes) to keep you busy for years.
If you are really serious about learning to bake, then read the introduction carefully and work on becoming comfortable with making everything in the first two chapters. You will have to hunt through the book looking for the recipes that utilize everything in these chapters, but for me at least that was the fun part.
I have had the book for almost 6 years now and have still not made more than 1/4 of the items in it. And while some of the recipes are not the absolute best version of an item that I have ever had, they almost always rank in the top 3. (Brownies and pound cake come to mind right off as examples of items where the recipes I already knew that I felt were better than the ones in this book.)
I can not recommend any other book(s) more highly for the serious baker or wanna-be pastry chef.
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