Customer Reviews

Fine Chocolates 2: Ganache: Great Ganache Experience

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Content: Chocolate processing, rheology, shelf life, sugar processing, starting out, praline recipes, fat-based recipes, ganaches, caramels, Nougat, fruit-in-liquer, marzipan, truffles, fruit dough.

This is an advanced book meant for advanced hobbyists or professionals. For example, there are no sections on how to pipe chocolate or how to melting chocolate - this book assumes you have that knowledge. Even more advanced knowledge such as how to use molds, using the guitar, or the enrobing machine is assumed.

My favorite section is the sections on chocolate tempering (precrystallization as this book calls it) and troubleshooting chocolate coatings. It goes through all the things that can go wrong - patches of dull chocolate, difficulty in unmolding, air bubbles, cavities, streaks - and goes through how to correct these problems and why they happen.


I also enjoyed the section on shelf lives and factors which can change them - such as the effects of chocolate:cream ratio, sorbitol, water, corn syrup, alcohol, and so on. This section was is something I have not seen with this level of detail in other chocolate books. All recipes come with an Aw rating, which measures the humidity of the center and its perishibility.

The second half of the book (in terms of pages) is recipes. The photography here is beautiful. The recipes are for professional and industrial use only, with a heavy bent towards preservation of centers. Ingredients such as sorbitol and invert sugar are used. If you are not professional, you may not use the recipes directly, because you may use simpler ganache recipes. But you still may get ideas from them.

The English translation has some "character" as well. If you are used to buying these translated French pastry books (Patiserrie of Pierre Herme, Au Coeur des Saveurs, and so on) it is about the same. Otherwise it takes some getting used to.

This book is the third addition to my chocolate library in the last few months. The other two are 'Chocolates and Confections' by Grewelling and 'Making Artisan Chocolates' by Shotts. All three are top quality books.
This one by Wybauw is an excellent book covering a variety of methods, procedures and products. It is a professional book as can be seen by the high price. If you are not very experienced with chocolate, but are adept in the kitchen, don't blow your money. Try your hand first, using the book by Shotts, which is very good and very cheap (see my review).
Wybauw does not only deal with chocolaterie in this fine tome, but with many aspects of candymaking, including fruit pastes, marzipan, caramels, nougat, candied peel etc. All types of chocolates are exhibited, including, molded, ganaches and enrobed. There are many recipes for different kinds of ganaches and fillings. The methods are clearly depicted in color photographs and products are alloted a full page photo each. Tempering techniques are explained in detail and there are troubleshooting sections and information charts everywhere.
Special attention is given to the preservation of centers. The author uses sorbitol, a derivative of glucose, that is used in several foodstuffs as a humitifier and preservative, and even in toothpaste!(it is the ingredient that gives you that cold refreshing sensation when you brush your teeth). Research is still being done as to the safety for the human health if it is consumed in great quantities.
The translation is not as bad as some other reviewers have depicted it. I still haven't found a sentence or instruction that I have not understood.
Weights are in Metric as is the case with all self-respecting professional books. Chocolaterie and candymaking need precise measuring, and cups and spoons will just not do. Too much space for error.
Now, a question that I have asked myself and I am sure that many others have asked themselves also: Considering the price of these books and having the choice of buying only one, which would it be? A difficult choice indeed but between Wybauw's and Grewelling's book I would choose 'Chocolate and Confections' by Greweling; more pages, more products, cheaper price, and you can use the difference between the two to buy 'Making Artisan Chocolates' by Shotts if you choose to. If you can affort it though, don't miss out on this book.

It is never a good thing to have to read a book that has been translated, but cookbooks that have been translated into the English language are usually quite acceptable. It is a shame that the translation of this book was not revised by a native English speaker. Some of the instructions are true riddles. And the terminology is more than a little odd. This fine edition would justify hiring a qualified translator.

Yes, it's rather pricey, but this is the only book on chocolate confections that you'll ever need to buy. Though the English translation is a little awkward in places, Wybauw communicates the information in a straightforward manner. And the photography is amazing!

One warning - this book is not for the casual novice. It's geared towards professionals and will be best used and most appreciated by such.

This book is an excellent text for those who have experience already working with chocolate. Mr. Wybauw assumes those using the book already have a basic understanding of how to work with chocolate and make confections. The recipes leave out many of the basic steps beginners may be looking for in a cookbook, but experts will find their way with ease. The first quarter of the book deals with the science behind chocolate and handling of the ingredients and their effects on self life. The recipes included have many very interesting combinations. This is a book that is meant to be used only after mastering the basics of chocolate making, and for those who are interested in production chocolate making.

This book is an excellent choice for professinal chocolatier's in the world.
Recipies are superfine and all chocolates confections are just more than expected.Trully recomend this book also for its knowlegde and techniques involved in it maden by an excellent chocolatier Jean-pierre Wybauw.