Customer Reviews

Heavenly Chocolate

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

 

 

The VERY FIRST recipe I attempted from this book led me astray. Although sugar was listed in the ingrediants for the Chocolate Chip Muffins, it was sadly missing from the instruction text. By the time i realized it (as in, "hey,these have no flavor") it was too late. I guess no one double-checked these recipes before printing them. I can only guess how many others in the book are incorrect. Pretty pictures, but so far a waste of my time and money.

I don't have the first edition of this book, which I assume the previous reviewers had. When I checked what they said about the missing ingredients in instructions, that wasn't the case. So I assume the editors heard from others that the recipes hadn't been proofread and made the corrections in the second printing/edition.

A couple of the recipes in this book are absolutely outstanding, mainly the Soft and Fudgy Brownies and the Rich Dark Chocolate Sauce. But in truth, the book contains very few recipes, so if you sit down with this book, looking for a chocolate recipe, you'll be through in three minutes and might not have found something you think is right for the occasion.

I agree with the other review. The chocolate almond cardamom cake recipe called for baking powder in the list of ingredients, but in the directions, no mention of using it in the recipe. I thought the technique was off. The recipe called for "very soft butter" rather than melted which would have made the base mixture much easier to handle (it was super stiff). I have another recipe for a chocolate almond cake that calls for melted butter and it makes a much nicer (looser) batter that makes it much easier to fold in the beaten egg whites. This batter was so stiff I thought it was seizing up on me. The chocolate didn't seize up, but it seemed to be heading in that direction. Also, the baking time was way off---my cake was done in about 35 or 40 minutes, but the instructions called for an hour in the oven, which would have led to an overbaked and dry cake. And finally, it didn't taste very good. I had high hopes because I love cardamom in pastries, but it just didn't pair very well with chocolate. But that's just my personal opinion. Someone else might like it. But for all the other problems, I give this a thumbs down. Seems like a very sloppy untested book of recipes that was rushed into print.