Customer Reviews

Death by Chocolate: The Last Word on a Consuming Passion

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Book covers: chocolate fillings and toppings, cookies, truffles, mousse (non egg), lots of ice creams, brownies, tarts, souffles, layer cakes, and some fancy ways to put them together at the end.

I think this is a great book, maybe tied with 2nd among the chocolate books I own (behind cocolat, with Chocolate Bible, and better than int. cho. cookbook) Has a section on equipment but not ingredients.The presentation is absolutely beautiful, great photography and presentation of recipes. Recipes are written in a clear and easy to read manner. Nice little history and/or understanding of each recipe with each recipe. Lots of nice pictures illustrating technique There are actually a lot of barely-chocolate recipes in here, so keep that in mind. The recipes are definitely varied. Maybe the only thing is this book isn't quite as long as some of the others out there (just 143 pages). But that's sort of nitpicking.

Given the sumptuousness of the desserts found in this cookbook, the photo of slim, trim author Marcel Desaulniers found on the back cover flap simply astounds. What's that old saying? Never trust a skinny chef? Well Marcel must have diabolical connections, because after trying this cookbook I trust him completely when it comes to the kitchen!

When I first bought this cookbook I was in a lamentable phase where chocolate just seemed to be "too much" if it wasn't tempered with other flavors. Despite that I found much to love in this cookbook: Sliced Blood Oranges with White Chocolate Sauce and Caramel Banana Chocolate Chip Ice Cream are fabulous. Fresh Berry Tulip with White Chocolate "Ice Cream" is spectacular, strewn with strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries. Chilled Orange Cappuccino Cream with Grated Chocolate could melt you straight into a puddle. No matter what your dessert fetish, you'll find something for it here.

Each recipe comes with a delectable photo that will leave you reeling with choices. Do we make the Dark Chocolate and Pumpkin Cheesecake this weekend? Or the Tipsy Chocolate Pecan Crunch Ice Cream? We'd make both if it weren't for the fact that these are *not* light dishes by any stretch of the imagination.

At first the recipes may look daunting. Don't let this worry you, though. While some of these recipes are indeed complex, many of them are simple. And most of the long pages of directions are a result of the author's wish to detail every step with precision so that you *don't* get too confused or overwhelmed. Few of the recipes call for unusual ingredients (the blood orange recipe is one of them), and any equipment from the lists that you don't have you can probably substitute for (although it really helps to have a stand mixer).

Besides, how can you possibly resist recipes with names like: Danielle's Temptation. Caramel Rum Delerium Ice Cream Cake. Chocolate Demise. Chocolate Devastation. Chocolate Phantasmagoria (yum!). Double Mocha Madness. And of course, Death by Chocolate.

Marcel Desaulniers is self-described as being consumed and possibly driven by his passion for chocolate -- a trait that endears him to many. "Death By Chocolate" is an indulgence for all your senses. It's pages are filled with scintillating photographs of desserts so enticing it is difficult to decide where to begin. In addition to the beautiful photography, he has included chef's tips in sidebars to give presentation and storage helps. His recipes are indeed readable and easy to follow and once you finish a recipe, hold on for an intense chocolate experience. I got a headache after consuming one too many of "Granny Twichell's Cupcakes." If you are a true chocaholic you will understand the positive significance of that statement. This book is a necessity in my kitchen

I'm the first to admit that Desaulniers is a master of marketing. This becomes obvious if you visit his restaurant. And the series of cookbooks on the Death By theme are an example of taking the ball and running...and running... . But the truth is, these books are great, especially the first two, Death By Chocolate and Deserts to Die for.

These aren't simple recipes; they require patience, attention to detail, and most of all time. But I've never had commitment so rewarded. They almost always turn out just right. And when they're a little off, no one notices or cares. I've no professional training, and I haven't been cooking all of my life. But these recipes have been so popular that I've actually made cakes for a co-worker's Uncle's birthday party, a baby shower and two wedding showers - including my own (well, my wife's actually). Every family holiday I get requests. I would test the recipes and bring the results into work, and my team was always looking for more. And people rave and rave.

Over and over again, people tell me that I should do this professionally. But it isn't really me; it's these wonderful books. If you care enough about the end product and the oohs and ahs to invest lots of time and attention - these recipes pay off.

The king of gnache gives us an outstanding chocolate collection. Here are recipes which are tested and tried and made with ingredients easily obtainable for the home cook.

Especially encouraging is his concern and detail in slowly, carefully, taking you through each step, not just assuming as some do that one is already familiar with the technique. There is also the first section which talks about buying the chocolate, what types they used, even the type of ovens used to create and test this cookbook.

Each recipe lists equipment needed, then the details on how to make, followed at the end by my favorite standard of Marcel, "The chef's touch."

Favorites from this book include "Chocolate Trinity Parfaits" "Chocolate Pecan Chocolate Chunk Pie" "Chocolate Strawberry Mousse Cake" "Chocolate Cashew Brownie Cake" and "Chocolate Raspberry Toasted Hazelnut Ice Cream."

Oh, did I mention that the photos are as mouthwatering as the recipes! Long live the King of Gnache!

This is a fantastic book. Filled with recipes that can almost make one feel full simply to read them...so rich, so chocolatey...Absolutely wonderful full-color photographs of most of the recipes, and plenty of helpful drawings. This is a beautiful book, but also a magnificently usable cookbook, with a wide variety of recipes.

The authors have spared nothing in presenting recipes that can take hours and hours, even a couple days, and some fine-tuned equipment to make. But they also offer many recipes that, in terms of making sweets, are fairly quick (like maybe an hour or so). The authors also do a very commendable job offering helpful suggestions, hints, and directions on how to get around some ofthe tricky stuff. They also include an "appendix" of equipment and how to use it. Lastly, before putting any recipe in the book, they went out to a local grocery store in Williamsburg to make sure the ingredients are easily findable. It is their belief that amazing things can be created with plain old regular ingredients.

This is a wonderful, wonderful cookbook, that should be in everyone's collection. Go find it! You must have it, if you like chocolate. Even if you hate cooking, if you love chocolate, you'll want this book for the full page pictures of perfectly executed desserts.

Cookbooks simply don't get more luscious, heavenly, or pompous than this one. The simplest recipes in this book take hours to make: the more complicated are recommended to take several days. One of the best (and certainly the best flourless) chocolate cakes I've had in my life came out of this book: I had less luck on my own making a simpler cookie recipe.

The directions are amazingly detailed, but this book simply isn't appropriate for beginners or people with quasi-normal kitchens, and you're left to your own devices if you want to adapt them. Fair warning: this book requires serious skill and care.

I really liked that this book was broken up into sections that went from really easy to really, really hard, so you could pick a section and start with something you were comfortable doing and then working up to the harder and longer recipes. I thought that that was a real organizational bonus to what is a really nice cookbook.

The beginning recipes were very doable, and I'm starting in on the harder ones. It's fun to drool over the seven element creation, but much more fun to tackle and easily do (given all the techniques they teach in the book) the most incredibly chocolate cookies I've ever attempted or eaten.

I bought this book six years ago, and it hasn't failed me yet. (In fact, when I visited the US, I put Williamsburg on my itinerary just so I could eat some of Marcel's creations in his own restaurant!) The white chocolate and pistachio buttercream chocolate cake is a crowd-pleaser every time (and worth the three days it takes me to make it).
Yes, the recipes are time-consuming. Being someone from the metric majority of the world, I find the metric conversions are a bit silly (they are done better in the later books). Some of the instructions are overly pedantic - I don't have the same kitchen equipment so instructions like 'beat for 3 minutes' don't always work. But with a bit of commonsense you can work things out. The other comment I'd make is that the suggested number of serves are extraordinarily generous: whenever the book recommends 12 serves, I know I'll get 24.
I own a couple of Marcel's other books - but this is by far the best. As a friend of mine said after looking at the book: 'I want to lick the pages . . .'

I have had this cookbook for a few years now, and the edges are tattered, the pages bent, and smudges of flour and chocolate throughout.
One of the reasons this book is so great is that in addition to having solid recipes, Desaulniers does an excellent job of explaining how to make each dessert, as well as how to cope if your kitchen is not equipped with some of the more extravagant baking utensils. This is a problem that many cookbooks fail to address, but not this one.