Chocolate Passion: Recipes and Inspiration from the Kitchens of Chocolatier Magazine (Hardcover)

by Tish Boyle (Author), Timothy Moriarty (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
To the growing cadre of books about chocolate, add Tish Boyle and Tim Moriarty's Chocolate Passion. For it, the authors, both editors at Chocolatier and Pastry Arts and Design magazines, have collected more than 50 recipes celebrating chocolate--the world's favorite flavor, as they dub it. These include formulas for cakes, cookies, mousses, tarts, and candies. If most of the recipes involve multiple preparations, a sufficient number are simple enough to appeal to everyday cooks, and readers with any interest in the subject should enjoy the book's exploration of chocolate history and lore.

Beginning with this investigation, the book then presents information on chocolate making; ingredient, equipment, and technique definitions; tempering instructions; and other chocolate working material. The recipes, organized by chocolate type--white, milk, and dark--follow, most illustrated with color photos; included also are comprehensive notes on chocolate and other suppliers. If the recipe organization is puzzling (few would choose a chocolate recipe based on the type of chocolate it contains) and the writing often infelicitous ("Milk chocolate, America's favorite chocolate delivery system..." is an instance), the recipes are tempting and clearly presented. Among these, Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies with Milk Chocolate Frosting and Black Satin Chocolate Raspberry Cake, for example, have instant appeal. White-chocolate lovers will be happy to explore an extensive chapter devoted to the likes of White Chocolate Strawberry Mousse Cake; ambitious cooks will want to try their hand at the Gianduja Marjolaine, a chewy meringue and chocolate mousse cake layered with mocha buttercream and topped with ganache, among other full-dress recipes. In the end, the power of chocolate is such that, once under its spell, nothing will do but to have some. The book provides numerous delightful ways to make that happen. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly
Boyle and Moriarty, both editors at Chocolatier Magazine, offer 54 recipes for truffles and candies, souffl?s, meringues, mousses and cakes. Marble Tuiles with Pistachio Praline White Chocolate Mousse (a chocolate-flavored cookie cup filled with pralines and mousse and topped with tangerine sauce) falls on the complicated end of the book's spectrum. But even simpler recipes don't lack flavor: Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies with Milk Chocolate Frosting is juiced with Frangelico liqueur. There's Flourless Bittersweet Chocolate Cake with Milk Chocolate Drizzle, retro selections, such as Individual Baked Alaskas and the unusual, such as Ganache-Filled Fried Wontons with Ginger Ice Cream and Chocolate Sorbet. Home cooks' initial enthusiasm may diminish after reading instructions for these elaborate creations: except for a handful, the desserts take upwards of 1 1/2 hours to prepareAand that doesn't include time spent baking, chilling and freezing. Devoted home bakers and professionals who have high kitchen tolerance, however, will be inspired enough to invest the time. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (October 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471293172
• ISBN-13: 978-0471293170
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #422,869 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very, very good, November 11, 1999

By	Springerle "zz36" - See all my reviews

I have recently received this book and I find it an excellent book. It is not only beautiful (it has lots of spectacular photos) but also its recipes are wery good, and also its explanations of ingredients and techniques. It is true that it is elegant and you can find that many of the recipes are only for special ocasions (however you can adapt them!), but not too sophisticated (as it is Torres' book, which I find extremely sophisticated). I find this book beautiful and useful.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Mixed Bag, September 1, 2004

By	jerry i h (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

One of the authors is the head recipe tester for Chocolatier Magazine, and the recipes in this cookbook are similar to the ones you will find therein; it has the same advantages and drawbacks. Specifically, it is a productive resource for the professional or the veteran amateur pastry chef. The recipes are probably too ambitious and the instructions too vague for the average home cook.

The introductory chapter is a mixed bag. The essays on types of chocolate, tempering, and tools are exemplary. On the other hand, the sections on non-chocolate ingredients and various techniques and procedures (such as whipping egg whites or proper batter folding technique) are virtually absent. It also has the obligatory and disposable information on chocolate history and manufacturing.

Interestingly, the book has three main sections, one each for milk, dark, and white chocolates. Here, you will find recipes mainly for cakes, cookies, and confections. In a rare moment of honesty, the authors admit that milk chocolate has such a weak chocolate flavor that it is easily overwhelmed in a recipe. There are slightly more than 50 recipes, and they are all listed and cross referenced in the table of contents.

The recipes themselves are problematic. The main error here is the listing of ingredients in volume (e.g. cups) with no equivalents given in weight. This is a major problem for professionals who will try to multiply the recipes, and also for any recipe that has flour. They all list prep times, but never the cooling or baking times. Many of the recipes are complicated affairs that have several components. The result is a recipe that takes up several pages, but even so the instructions are quite scant; they are sufficient for professionals, but not detailed enough for the inexperienced. There is no advice on how to coordinate the execution of a complex recipe with several different sub-recipes. Each recipe has a picture, which is a good thing, but the presentation and decorating instructions in the recipes sometimes do not match the food styling in the photos. These problems will not be a hindrance for the experienced, but will be major trouble for the average home cook.

The most interesting feature of this book is the variety of truffle recipes. Each one has detailed instructions from A to Z for using the fancy, plastic truffle molds that can be bought on the internet in a bewildering array of different types and shapes. There is also a recipe for using chocolate transfer sheets.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What else needs to be said except for Chocolatier magazine?, December 30, 1999

By	T. Kantz (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This cookbook is to die for. I have been a subscriber to chocolatier magazine for years and every time I make something from the magazine, people think I've had it catered. The recipes are not as difficult as people might imagine and the photos make your mouth water to the point that you can barely contain yourself until you try every single recipe!