Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner

I love making chocolates. I was first introduced to shelled chocolates in baking and pastry school. We didn’t spend a lot of time on them. I fell in love. I have been doing some research on my own to finally but my dreams into action . Of course before getting started I wanted to know about everything. The different types of sugars, water content , shelf life, temperatures and so much more. After reading some of the reviews I decided this was it. I am so happy with the purchase. It was delivered exactly when stated. In pristine condition. Upon opening the book , I was flabbergasted at the amount of information. I have not started to read it , I only received it yesterday. I am so excited to get started. If you’re on the fence about spending the $50 don’t be. It’s so worth it. It is going to save me a lot of time because it’s comprehensive and easy to read, learn and understand. Love , love , love the book. My best investment to date.

This is a culinary textbook with background and how-to, written for intermediate to advanced skill level and professionals. Beautiful production value with photographs, illustrations, solid binding and heavy paper. Probably weighs >5#.Introduction section includes handy lists specify basic and advanced tools and equipment targeted to daily/hourly production volume; recommended shop layout, and process flow diagrams. Love the background and science on ingredients, their function/role in confection, and source information. If you’re really into the textbook approach, it’s a great book by an experienced professional who teaches other professionals how to do this (for a living!). A challenge for some may be needing an assistant (teacher) to assist in the practice of some recipes and techniques. Mise!...gotta keep mise en place!Oh, the marshmallows, oh my. And the relatively easy meltaways (mint, peanut butter). Mmm!I’m an advanced hobbyist, love cooking and reading cookbooks, and this is almost too much for me. (Almost.) This is way (way, way!) more than a hobbyist or dabbler needs. If you don’t have much experience in confection-making, I highly recommend Liddabit Sweets Candy Cookbook - Gutman/King) But if you like to learn and appreciate pushing yourself and your skills, this is fantastic!

I recently took several chocolate making classes from Chef Marco Ropke, head pastry chef at the Beijing Ritz Carlton during the 2008 Olympics, and in class, he basically suggested that if we were to buy any one chocolate book, THIS book was it.Why? It's a comprehensive 4 in 1 book:1) The science behind chocolate, sugarwork and the various components. Why might you want to include glucose in your chocolate and not just any sugar syrup? What is the difference between using agar-agar, gelatin, pectin and cornstarch in making gummies and jellies? This type of information helped me better understand why some of the steps to chocolate making mattered, and also gave me more comfort in knowing where I could deviate from recipes (e.g. I can add whatever liquid flavourings I want so long as I add them at the right time and keep my fats to liquid ratio consistent).2) Techniques - how do you temper chocolate? how do you make aero-bar style chocolates? what's the proper way to handle ganaches or molded chocolates? how do you make a praline or marzipan? what's the secret to those meltaway type chocolates? what about the honeycomb material inside crunchie bars?3) Troubleshooting - invariably a chocolate recipe will go wrong. how do you save a ganache that's been separated? why did your pates de fruit sweat and what can you do about it?4) LOADS of really delicious recipes from chai tigers to a thai lemongrass truffle or toucan passionfruit chocolate to marshmallows, nougats, chocolate bars, candy crisps, caramels, fudges and more. I made several recipes (scaled down since the recipes are for ~180 truffles each!) from the book and they have all been hits. I have ordered more chocolate and I can't wait to try more.The book also included suggested equipment and a brief explanation of some of the tools and why they were important.The one thing missing from the book that I wish they spent time on was decorating in general -- the different techniques for finishing chocolates such as adding chocolate swirls, etc. To be fair each recipe has a description for how to finish the chocolate such as adding bits of salt or adding candied fruit bits and they did show you how to make spiked chocolates, but I wanted to know more about selecting colours and other types of chocolate flourishes.In all it's a pricey, but valuable book that I anticipate I will be referencing a lot as I continue to learn and make chocolates.

Which is....: a good description of the theory behind a technique, followed by a (base) recipe in both metric and american measures and percentages, in professional quantities. Base recipes are mostly extended or followed up by some (flavor) varieties. There are troubleshooting "defects" charts which give you clues on where you went wrong.I like this book so much that I've bought this second edition (which is extended with some extras) even though I already own the first print. That one now sits on a shelve in between lots of different sugars it has forced me to buy, at work.I use these sort of books to teach myself (a reasonably technically accomplished savory chef), some of the more in depth pastry techniques. It saves me lots of money on courses and gives me a feeling of achievement doing it this way, but the delicate nature of the main ingredients, chocolate and sugar in this case, do take quite a bit of practice to handle properly I find.This book holds its place on my main shelve at home next to Migoya's "frozen desserts", wich has a very similar approach and layout to its own subject (also CIA). I do own some other descent pastry books by Valrhona (ecole du chocolat) and Ducasse for instance. But, in my bookcase, the way and clarity in which the recipes are initiated and presented (a table chart) can only be topped by Modernist Cuisine and they don't do the sweet stuff I'm afraid.I'd like a similar book on dough's and batters in this format, so tips are welcome.

I now have both versions of this book and find them to be excellent reference books.I did my apprenticeship as a chocolatier over 30 years ago before I became a food technologist.This book has bought it all flooding back to me and has made me want to make chocolates again. It is well written and crystal clear. What I love about it is, that it is in imperial,metric and also gives a recipe percentage so everybody everywhere can use it. It is well illustrated and perfectly bound. The first section on ingredients and equipment beats any other book hands down and believe me I have many books on the subject. After that it just gets better and better as you progress through the book. There is only one very small downside and that is it is written for the American market and because I live in Australia there are some products that I can't source or have to work around ie: "Coco Lopez" to achieve. Like I said it is a small downside. If you like Chocolate and want to work or play with this medium do yourself a favour Buy this book or better still Buy both versions you won't be disappointed believe me.

In the process of reading so I can't give it 5 stars yet. This is a massive book of knowledge the size of an encyclopedia, remember how big those books are? Well pretty much anything and everything you want to know about confections is in this book. Wow do I have a lot to learn! I also wanted some theory behind all the reactions that take place in making confections. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, they are a little more complex then I'm used to. Some of the ingredients I'm unfamiliar with, (yes Amazon you are great at finding them for me.) So far I've been pleased with the little nuggets of wisdom this book has produced. To be continued.

This was an amazing cookbook. I don't say that lightly. I was genuinely and delightfully surprised that I really want to & will make ALL the recipes in this book in the coming months/years. Usually in cookbooks there are a great many recipes you pass over and don't want to make - you buy the book for the few that you do like. This book is the exception. It exceeded my expectations in recipes and instruction. This is a intermediate or advanced cookbook, but easy to follow. The pictures are beautiful. The photos help you see what the end product will look like.This cookbook is also a great reference with charts, photos, trouble shooting, and step by step technique. This is easily in the top 5 cookbooks I own. I would recommend to anyone wanting to know how to make confections like: homemade marshmallows (not as easy as you would think but DEFINITELY worth the effort), gourmet lollipops in every flavor you can come up with, jellied childhood favorites, to every kind of chocolate delight you will find in a chocolaterie. Highly recommend. I will be looking for more books by this author.

This was very useful in my chocolate class

The book is damaged! We returned the book. And we ordered a new book!

Chocolate&Confections è un ottimo manuale per aprire gli orizzonti di chi già si occupa prevalentemente della lavorazione del cioccolato.Naturalmente è un manuale per chi è già esperto, ma soprattutto traccia una significativa demarcazione tra la cioccolateria americana e quella europea nell'uso degli zuccheri.Per un riferimento e delucidazioni sul libro mi potete contattare liberamente: [email protected]

Deu tudo certo!

Loooove!!!!I've made about 25% of the recipes so far. Yumm, double yumm!

Très beau livre, les explications sont très claires et précises. J’ai pu réaliser quelques recettes déjà. Je suis très contente.