Customer Reviews

Love, Eric: Delicious Vegan Macrobiotic Desserts

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This cookbook has the most beautiful pictures of vegan macrobiotic desserts. Pictures are on almost every page. I recently tried the Strawberry Mousse Pie. It was delicious and elegant.

I am not a macrobiotic cook but I am a vegan. I owned many vegan cookbooks but this particular one is dedicated to desserts. The style of the desserts in this book is European or French Japanese style so the desserts are not too sweet. I used to go to French Japanese bakeries in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles and love their desserts and pastries. After being a vegan, I was deprived of this kind of desserts. Not anymore! Thanks to Chef Eric Lechasseur. If you are looking for a very sweet fudgy brownie recipe, this cookbook is not for you. But if you looking for a healthy, elegant, but delicious European style desserts, this is the perfect cookbook!

There is NO REFINED SUGAR, DAIRY, and EGGS in the recipes. I would like to try more recipes like Tiramisu, Blueberry Pinenut Pie, Upside-down Berry Pie, Chocolate Raspberry Charlotte, and Adzuki Roll. Hhmmm....they all looks so good.

I have been to M Cafe De Chaya once and fell in love with their desserts. Eric Lechausser is the pastry chef of this restaurant and that's how I got his cookbook. He is brilliant! As the previous reviewer said, I live 1 hour away from M Cafe but it was worth it to fight the crazy traffic in Melrose Ave and 101 Fwy. to dine and eat desserts at M Cafe.

The almond anise biscotti is incredible. I have made it at least 4 times and it gets better each time. Fabulous pictures. Can't wait to try the other recipes.

First, I would like to say that this book is visually beautiful. Every dessert in here looks absolutely mouthwatering.

Now the disappointing news- I do not think anyone tested some of these recipes. If you look at some of the baked goods, you will find an overabundance of liquid per dry ingredients.

I have tried 2 of the recipes, neither of which came out well. I first tried the Kabocha Pound Cake. The taste was great but the batter was thinner than pancake batter and took over twice as long to bake. (It is NOT my oven as I keep an oven thermometer in it.) Looking at the recipe even before I made the cake, I thought the dry to wet ratio was a bit odd. I don't think the recipes were tested OR edited.

Next I tried the azuki rolls. Again- wet to dry was suspect. I had to pour off some water from the cooked beans, although that is not a step in the process. Even with that, the dough was so loose, I could not roll it up. I have worked with delicate dough before, including philo, and have never had an issue before. The baked rolls were good but were so crumbly they fell apart. They were more like super delicate shortbread than an actual roll.

I am now very wary of trying other recipes in the book. I really want to try all of them. Someone here mentioned that they tried the biscotti and had no trouble. I will definitely make them as the recipe has some positive feedback.

If you have the book, and have made some of the recipes, please post your results. I would be very interested to know which ones work. In the meantime, if I attempt to make any of the other baked goods, I will update my post.

I completely with Jazzbrat, I tried 12 recipes from this book and many of them had to be baked much much longer because of overabundance of liquid per dry ingredients. I am glad that you mentioned it.
Some of the recipes are great(macaroons,truffles,pain perdu), however some of the others were not tested by the author.

Eric's Apple Tarte Tartin is *so* good that after I gave away my copy of this cookbook to a friend, I wound up paying $90 for another copy. Had I known it was out of print I would *never* have given it away... It's $90 well spent.

Sometimes there are a lot of ingredients but the end result is wonderful. Healthy desserts that are healthy! Reasonably priced & I feel it was money well spent.

I totally recommend that you get this book. Especially if you're a person who is perpetually dieting to lose weight, or you're a person who has medical conditions that require you to eat a better diet. Macrobiotic food is a great way to change it all around. But, should you miss eating the deserts, well Eric's deserts are an awesome way to indulge that side of you. The cakes and tarts are the way to go. ; )

If you are in Los Angeles or live here, you can go to M Cafe De Chaya to sample Eric Lechausser's work, but he is no longer with M Cafe [and there are times I go there and the deserts are not as good as they used to be.]. So, to further enjoy Eric Lechausser's work, you can go to a restaurant called "Seed". "Seed" is owned by Eric and his wife Sanae. They have a book together called "Love, Eric & Sanae". Which is more dedicated to Macro dishes. Also, "Seed" has Macro cooking classes.

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After reading through this book and looking at the pictures, I found the desserts to be simply astonishing. Eric has put much love into this book, staying true to the title.

Eric's desserts are balanced nicely with the included drinks, like recipes for grain coffee, kukicha (twig tea), and ryokucha (green tea).

The book is organized well and is easy to follow. The recipes range from simple to elaborate, with a lot of variety. The vegan and Macrobiotic world is fortunate to have this book in its library, as is the rest of the world of food.

This is the book to get if you're looking for amazing vegan macrobiotic desserts! Enjoy!

I am so excited!!! Even though I haven't tried any of the recipes yet (my book is in the mail) I have tasted his extraordinary pastries, personally, at "M" cafe de chaya on Melrose in West Hollywood.

I live two hours away and travel there specifically to eat his fabulous creations. They are all healthy for you and well worth the trip into that ungodly traffic. The lemon and chocolate tarts at "M" are to die for.

I have seen the book. The layout/design are five star beautiful. It contains full color pictures for every recipe. Yum ... I can't imagine the recipes being anything less than perfect.

A work of art with heart.

This dessert book is, first of all, absolutely gorgeous!! the photographs are beautiful and the food styling is excellent - absolutely world class in every way!!

I, like some of the others reviewers, haven't actually made anything from the book yet but, i have had the desserts at m cafe and they are to die for!!! i love love love the strawberry shortcake and the cupcakes.

unfortunately, i live less than 2 blocks away from m cafe so it is way too convenient for me to have a dessert every day!!! not to mention that another veg place, busaba, has just recently opened across the street and they have to die for coconut sorbet. way too many dessert options in walking distance - but at least they are healthy desserts.

i met eric and his wife at a book signing recently at erewhon and was equally impressed with the man behind the talent. they were such nice people and told me that they self-published the cookbook themselves - simply unbelievably!! this cookbook is world-class in every way - presentation, writing clarity, and just sheer beauty.