Customer Reviews

Grand Finales: The Art of the Plated Dessert

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Of the three plated dessert books that Boyle and Moriarty made together (the other two are Grand Finales: A Neoclassic View of Plated Desserts,and A Modernist View of Plated Desserts), I would say that this one is the best. The pictures here are as gorgeous as always, but the presentations and recipes are much more feasible than the other two. Unlike a lot of the dishes from Modernist View, these ones are actually servable in a restaurant, or at a dinner party. They are not over the top dishes that are just for show. I would give this 4 1/2 stars if I could. The one thing that prevents it from being a 5 star book is the lack of glossary and the constant use of 'non-edible garnishes'. I am not a fan of huge sugar garnishes that no-one is going to eat, or if they do it would break their teeth. Don't get me wrong, they look really pretty, but I believe that everything you put on the plate you should be able to eat. Just difference in styles, I guess.

First there is the beautiful photography that displays these creations marvelously. Just seeing these desserts can inspire an individual. You don't have to copy the dessert to a tee but pick and chose your garnishes to suit your own individual style and ability. The book is also loaded with recipes. Recipes that work. The use of weight to measure is much more accurate than cups and for those who only use cups and spoons, you can convert the recipes easily. Any cookbook has charts in it to help you. The book is well worth the price. Although it may seem intimidating many recipes are very do-able

This book is great for presentation ideas, but really is only for accomplished pastry chefs. The recipes are given only in weight, and the presentations are so elaborate that they are really unpractical, even for most restaurants. Other books give more specific directions for some of the garnishing techniques. The biographies of the pastry chefs are interesting. A nice picture book.

Every artisan, in every profession has one aspect of their job, that he/she does not particularly like (or utterly dislikes). As a pastry chef I have to admit that for me this is the plated dessert. A little sauce here, a chocolate curl over there, a marbled swirl on the side, a matching base with a matching cream and a matching ice-cream and the whole thing is devoured only minutes after its preparation, only to start again the next afternoon. I like to produce and decorate the pastries, line them in trays in the display cabinet or on the counter, watch the customers as they come and see them, answer their questions as to the ingredients and the quality, pack them in a nice box and give them away, in a space of one to two days. Many times I just pass by the trays and the cabinets and just admire the beauty of it all.
So why would I review a book about plated desserts? Because I bought it. And why did I buy it? Mainly to have a reference book on plated desserts. Secondly, to adopt the decorations to pastry shop products.
On both counts I was disappointed.
Some of the desserts are too elaborate to be practical for either the restaurant or the hotel. Some just take too long to make and cannot be easily mass produced, so they are in effect useless to even the most efficient pastry chef. It is not so for all the desserts though. Most look great and are easy and fast to make. Some decorations look a bit dated (it is a 1996 book after all).
Why then 4 stars? Because as a pastry shop pastry chef (what a play of words) I don't care if the desserts are elaborate, I will never make them.
I have discovered another treasure within, the recipes! A plethora of recipes:
Mousses, cookies, biscuits, sponges, creams, ice creams, sorbets, custards and many more are to be found in these pages. So to me this book is not what the authors intended it to be, but an excellent source of recipes that I can utilise, not on a plate but in any other way imaginable.
Another plus is that the recipes are in both the Metric and the Imperial system and temperatures are in Celsius as well as Fahrenheit.
So if you do want to spent the money I recommend this as a good source for plated desserts, but as an even better source for recipes.

If you are a home baker, this book is going to be VERY intimidating. Some of the things in this book take considerable skill and patience to accomplish and are NOT for the faint of heart!

That being said, even if you never make any of the desserts in this book as they appear, the book is worth the price. Most of the recipies for parts of the desserts can be used in other ways than shown. A good recipie is a good recipie, no matter how it is used.

At the very least, it will make a great coffee table book because the photography in the book is steller.

A magnificent book, well worth the purchase price. You can't help but be inspired in your own desserts after seeing the pictures of the desserts in this book. Some of the interviews with the pastry chefs are also interesting.

As a professional in the industry, it gave me great pleasure to read this wonderful book. The pictures are creativity itsself. And, as any professional baker would know, it is written in the proper weights and measurements. Truly fabulous. My only complaint is that it only contains American Chefs and doesn't include any Canadian or European chefs.

the pictures are amazing and i yet haven't tried any of the recipes, but i bet they would be lovely. it's not really how to make everything, but some of these things will take some talent to plate up. i haven't seen any books on plated desserts besides the one by this author so i took the plunge and got all 3. i am looking for a book more based on different techniques used. these books show u more rare unusual things, and not much teaching involved.

This unusual book is clearly for confident amateurs, pastry chef wannabes and real-life chefs who are looking for insights into the processes involved in creating and preparing modern plated desserts. Sources of the recipes are the acknowledged top pastry chefs in the United States. I'd recommend this book highly for anyone who is interested in the challenge of attempting something unusual, or who just wants to look at stunning photos of desserts served in America's most elite eating establishments.

I needed this book for a class. It is interesting and useful, but not something that I would normally purchase.