Every cook owes a huge debt of gratitude to those dedicated foodies who have meticulously documented their work with food, giving us the benefit of their mistakes, successes, experiments and flashes of genius.
Working in chocolate can be exasperating sometime. I once bought a giant Easter Bunny mould – at least 2 feet high – with clasps on the sides to hold it together. I had never worked with a mould that size, … Read More
Posted in On My Bookshelf | Tagged chocolate, cookbook, recipes | Leave a comment‘Professional Touches’ is a well-written, advanced book about cake decoration, with meticulous step-by-step instructions and captioned illustrations, making it methodical and practical. The author walks the reader through a couple dozen of her own creations, with names like ‘The Sheep … Read More
Posted in On My Bookshelf | Tagged cake, icing, Wedding Cake | Leave a commentThis book is a passionate work by a skilled and imaginative chef, Frederic Bau. He is an expansive writer – he goes through every ingredient and how it is useful, explains how to look for the best quality, what to … Read More
Posted in On My Bookshelf | Tagged chocolate, frederic bau, pastry | Leave a commentA great wedding photographer is one of the most important wedding decisions you will make – preserving the memory of an important day through time. More than once we have talked to brides after their wedding, and heard the regret … Read More
Posted in Community, On My Bookshelf | Leave a commentNot just limiting itself to cake decoration, ‘Finishing Touches’ also delves into marzipan, working with chocolate, using figurines and other such embellishments. It has some great pictures, some stencils and recipes, and gives instructions without really discussing overall technique. In … Read More
Posted in On My Bookshelf | Tagged cookbook, recipes, sugar, Wedding Cake | Leave a commentThis is a fun book, written by someone who obviously loves her cookies! It is the only cookbook I know that uses texture to group the recipes, under such categories as ‘Cakey Cookies’ and ‘Crispy Chompy!’ It has a lot … Read More
Posted in On My Bookshelf | Tagged bars, cheesecake, cookbook, cookies, recipes, sandwich cookies | Leave a commentThese three books are fantastic instructionals – I was so lucky to get my hands on them! One of the restaurants I was working for decided they were useless, and threw them in the garbage – boo-yah! A lot of … Read More
Posted in On My Bookshelf | Tagged cake decoration, Wedding Cake | Leave a commentIs there anything more fun than making chocolates? This book is an absolute gem – I have tried so many of these recipes, with consistently wonderful results. Roger Geerts uses a lot of butter, glucose, and fondant in his fillings, … Read More
Posted in On My Bookshelf | Tagged belgian chocolate, chocolate, chocolate mint, couverture, mint | Leave a commentHappy Bastille Day! or, as the French call it, Fête Nationale – the day that celebrates the beginnings of the French Republic. For a long time in my professional career, I wanted to go to France. It seemed the holy … Read More
Posted in On My Bookshelf | Tagged france gourmet, french cuisine | Leave a commentThis is another sweet gift from my mentor, George Wagner; a German instructional book filled with design and illustrative ideas for cakes. I haven’t tried any of this stuff yet, it is a relatively new gift; and everything I take … Read More
Posted in On My Bookshelf | Tagged cake, cake decoration, recipes | Leave a comment