Patisserie at Home

This is a beautiful book containing classic pastries like Paris-Brest, Napoleons, and macarons. The architectural drawings of the pastries help you understand how they're put together, and the recipes are extremely clear and well written. Will you make pastries with an average of six layers of things that must be combined, cooked, and constructed? Maybe not. Nonetheless, you'll enjoy this coffee table book on pastries and appreciate the classic patisserie much more when you eat it.

I bought this for my wife who enjoys making cakes and has always dreaded making pastries. However, this book has changed everything as the book goes through every process step-by-step and now we have our own French patisserie at home! A must buy for those seeking to make French delicious pastries at home.

Hands down best baking book that I have purchased. I went to pastry school and just loved the design and layout of this book, and the diagrams/drawings are super cute and helpful. The recipes are relatively difficult but laid out in step-by-step instructions making them a bit easier. Hoping more like this will be published!

An excellent book for an adventurous home baker. It has a bunch of base recipes which are then used to construct many classics of French patisserie. It does require a certain level of knowledge and an understanding of process, but I think it strikes a good balance between instructional and aspirational. The reviewer who claims some recipes are incomplete is wrong. I’ve read every one and didn’t spot any howling omissions or errors. (Except for the Epiphany cake which lists 100g of vinegar in the puff pastry instead of 10g – yikes!) Recipes instruct you to make a sponge or cream or meringue from the base section then direct how to use these elements to make the final product, just like in college or a pro kitchen. Occasionally, the time management seemed a little off, placing elements halfway through a recipe that would perhaps be better made the day before, but this may be a stylistic choice to enable things to be made in one day. However, the authors do note when elements can be held overnight, so it's easy to plan differently if necessary. Being French, it requires mostly rings and frames rather than tins and pans, and you might have to get one or two silicone moulds and other assorted paraphernalia if you want to recreate everything exactly (like nozzles, acetate, thermometer, etc.) Thankfully, I haven’t noticed anything too wacky, ingredient wise. Definitely worth a look if you’re keen to learn more technique and go beyond the ordinary.

Superbe livre, surtout pour les pros.