Patisserie: Mastering the Fundamentals of French Pastry - Updated Edition

Description

All the classic French pastries made accessible for the home cook, with 3,200 photographs. For every serious home baker, French pastry represents the ultimate achievement. But to master the techniques, a written recipe can take you only so far--what is equally important is to see a professional in action, to learn the nuances of rolling out dough for croissaints or caramelizing apples for a tarte tatin. For each of the 210 recipes here, there are photographs that lead the reader through every step of the instructions. There has never been such a comprehensive primer on patisserie. The important base components--such as creme patisserie, pate a choux, and chocolate ganache--are presented as stand-alone recipes. Once comfortable with these, the home baker can go on to tackle the famous and more complex creations--such as Eclairs, Saint-Honore, Opera--as well as feel empowered to explore new and original combinations. An entire chapter is devoted to decoration as well as sauces, syrups, and fillings. Whether used to develop skills or to refine techniques, to gain or simply broaden a repertoire, Patisserie dispels the mystery around classic French pastries, so that everyone can make them at home.

Christophe Felder is one of the world's most respected pastry masters. After working at Fauchon and Guy Savoy, he served as the pastry chef at the Hotel de Crillon for fifteen years. He has published more than twenty cookbooks in France, but this is the first to be translated into English. In 2009, he founded his own school devoted to teaching pastry skills to the home cook, located in Strasbourg, France.

"An excellent pastry and baking guide such as this doesn't come along every day - don't miss out on it." ~Cookbook Digest "Patisserie is a must-have for the reference shelf." ~thekitchn.com "Immensely talented, Chef Christophe offers a rare glimpse into the intricacies of French pastry-making never before seen in such detail. Pastry chefs are like chemists, and this book opens the door to the secrets of timing and texture that are so important in French pastry. With a guiding hand, Christophe makes patisserie more accessible for the home chef and reveals details that separate an ordinary pastry from an extraordinary one. People will love discovering Christophe's talent through this book." ~Francois Payard, pastry chef of FP Patisserie and Francois Payard Bakery "Christophe Felder is a rarity: a stunningly talented pastry chef with a true gift for teaching. He can make everything from butter croissants that flake into a million shards to simple coconut macaroons easy to understand and equally easy to prepare at home-and that's just what he does in this new book. A treasure for bakers from beginners to pros." ~Dorie Greenspan, author of Baking: From My Home to Yours and Around My French Table "This monumental work by one of the best pastry chefs in France will delight anyone looking to re-create the all-beloved French classics at home. Bakers everywhere will be thrilled to have Christophe Felder's easy-to-follow recipes in their kitchen-and even happier with the sweet rewards!" ~David Lebovitz, author of The Sweet Life in Paris "I can't think of a better introduction to the classic canon of French pastry! Broad in scope and yet easy to manage, the detailed recipes are outdone only by the clear and concise step-by-step images that accompany each one. Christophe Felder is a true master of the art and this long-awaited translation of Patisserie is sure to become a benchmark for ambitious bakers." ~Michael Laiskonis, creative director at the Institute of Culinary Education