Customer Reviews

Grand Livre De Cuisine: Desserts: Alain Ducasse's Desserts and Pastries

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased the Desserts and Pastries at the same time as the other Grand Livre de Cuisine on savory food. My professional expertise was in breads and pastry, so it is easier for me to appreciate the example recipes in this book. The book is by no means exhaustive. It is an excellent resource with some fantastic pastry ideas and good ingredient combinations. It is also easier to find most of the ingredients in this volume than the savory book.

The photography is superb, but don't expect to be able to reproduce the look of the photographs without some professional baking or pastry experience. The recipes lack explanations and expect you to know foundation techniques.

My wife and myself are both professional chefs with an extensive cookbook collection. This is a must-have! Great recipes and phenomenal photographs make this a book that we would recommend to anyone!

I purchased this book after doing a considerable amount of pastry, breads, desserts, etc. This book offers hundreds of recipes, easy to follow, great photos, clear explanations. It is a must have for anyone serious about their collection of cookbooks, and for anyone searching for the perfect dessert recipe. Any one of the recipes can be used as a guide to creating your own inventions. I would highly reccommend this book, and it is pricey, but considering I am a passionate cook, this was a must have and a true reward for myself! Enjoy! [...]

Alain Ducasse is a master of his craft. To enjoy this book, though, one must have a clear understanding of the pastry arts. There are not recipes for every element; however, the methods that are presented are easily followed. Not recommended for the novice, unless you want a beautiful book to display on your shelf. The photographs are phenomenal.

Great book, great pictures but maybe a bit difficult to execute for a non professional chef.

Some say that this Desserts and Pastries volume of Grand Livre de Cuisine is more for professional chefs, but I found it accessible.

Ducasse's savory recipes in his Livre de Grand Cuisine did not match my tastes, but the sweets book is divine. So much information efficiently presented. In one page, Ducasse gives a recipe for Tropical fruit sorbet with variation ideas, gives instructions for how to roast tropical fruits and also how to dry and candy the fruit, and then gives instructions for assembling it all with a pretty puff pastry presentation. On the facing page, there is a full page luscious photo of the dish.

Ducasse's sweet book also has little side recipes which come in handy, like his Kirsch milkshake. I am sure that any liqueur can be substituted. Just the idea alone is useful, even if one wanted to substitute ingredients.

I bought the book after reading a critical review which showed a photo of one of the dishes, which featured what I call an origami approach to pastry. Ducasse used semolina pastry to sculpt what looks like a Japanese fan or a book with pages fluffing/fanning (It is supposed to be a book, so called Livre). He gives precise instructions on folding and flouring. He also shows how to make Riviera Fougasse, which looks like Monstera leaf, cut with a cleaver where a leaf would have a central stem and side ribs, then decorated with vegetables and herbs like colored peppers, basil, (purple) artichokes, scallions, garlic, olives, confit tomato petals (slow-roasted peeled tomato slices), anchovy, etc. Definitely one of the prettiest breads I have ever seen. (I looked at Jeff Blumenkrantz's blog for the Martha Stewart recipe and his comments on tomato petals.)

Another one of the many breads which Ducasse covers is Rustic Sourdough bread made from an apple mash starter which takes 5 days to ferment (and is strained before adding to the flour). The Rustic Sourdough bread recipe is quite large (humongous!), but after going thru the trouble of making the apple mash I could see myself freezing that dough for future use and gifting it as starter to family and friends.

I was interested to see that Ducasse also uses unpeeled fruit pulp to make sourdough for his Panettone! Because the sourdough is being started from scratch, there is a 48 hour proofing period, then a refreshing of several times. Not a simple throw it in the bread machine in one go type of recipe. However, Ducasse does give precise temperature guidelines to optimize success, and tells you what to do if you do not succeed, along with other tips. I will probably try Ducasse's recipe at least once, but I am pretty happy with my Carol Fields Panettone recipe. Still, for those who like to make Sourdough breads, Ducasse offers a good deal of sourdough instruction. If making the Panettone from Ducasse's recipe, then it would be wise to start early, not the night before you are going to gift the Panettone!

I bought this book as a reference book when it first came out, I read French with a little difficulty, but with a list of a few keywords the ability to reproduce recipes were not difficult. The pictures are great, and they layout of the book based on ingredients make doing a quick search a dream. I would add this to you library of Pastry Must Haves. This is a book for Professionals, but a really good understanding of the 12 basics of Pastry you can make anything in this book.

It's nice to look at but quite hard to copy these recipes. It's a good source of inspiration at the highest level.