Chocolate: Deliciously Indulgent Recipes for Chocolate Lovers

If there’s one thing that all chocolate lovers agree on, it is the pure pleasure one gets from eating it. In this definitive cookbook, Maxine Clark begins with recipes for Small Cakes and Cookies, such as her exquisite Chocolate Macaroons with Raspberry Buttercream. In Cakes and Teabreads, Maxine invites you to make a beautiful, dark Reine de Saba cake to impress your dinner guests, or to update a childhood classic by baking grown-up Sticky Chocolate Gingerbread. The Tarts, Pies, and Meringues chapter includes a sumptuous chocolate paviova piled high with strawberries. Hot desserts are not for the faint-hearted: Rich Pain Au Chocolat Pudding and Chocolate Rum and Raisin Rice Pudding transform old favourites. In Ice Creams, Sorbets, and Mousses there are lighter options such as Chocolate and Chestnut Mousse. Truffles and Confection will inspire you to make Mini Florentines, Chocolate Maple Fudge, or snowy White Chocolate Coconut Truffles. With Drinks, Sauces, and Glazes, you have an indispensable resource for sauces, ganaches, and custards. And for a treat, the Chocotini Cocktail will spice up any cocktail party. *60 mouthwatering recipes for chocolate aficionados everywhere. *Includes mini essays on the history, culture, and types of chocolate. *Sumptuous photography by Peter Cassidy.

Rating: (out of 2 reviews)

List Price: $ 24.95
Price: $ 12.46

Chocolate: Deliciously Indulgent Recipes for Chocolate Lovers Reviews

Review by Lin Zhong:
After having had great success working with recipes from Maxine Clark’s awesome book on tarts (Tarts – Sweet and Savory), I became a huge fan of Ms. Clark, and purchased this chocolate book with high expectations. I teach quite a few classes using recipes from Ms. Clark’s tart book at my pastry school. This chocolate book has the same format as the tart book, with the most fantastic looking photos of the end products for each recipe, and the methods of preparation are described with just the right level of details.

The disconnect is that the recipes are all in cups, by volume, rather than by weights (ounces or grams).

Any serious baker would be looking for recipes in weights, not volume. I’ve tried to convert the quantities to weights but it’s a real pain and not very precise. As chocolate desserts are typically more difficult to make, requiring a lot more experience and knowledge on the part of the baker, and the recipes presented in this book are quite complex and professional – all the more reasons for the recipes to be in weights.

I refer to the book now mainly to cross reference other recipes on a similar product, turning to recipes in this book only as a last resort. I’m sure Ms. Clark can appreciate that as so many things can go wrong in the baking process, that the last thing the baker should have to worry about is the accuracy of the ingredient quantities.

Buy Chocolate: Deliciously Indulgent Recipes for Chocolate Lovers now for only $ 12.46!

Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes and Home Made Candy Recipes

The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: cooking / Courses

Rating: (out of 1 reviews)

List Price: $ 20.00
Price: $ 19.99

Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes and Home Made Candy Recipes Reviews

Buy Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes and Home Made Candy Recipes now for only $ 19.99!

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

Chocolatier magazine editors share their passion for chocolate, with recipes and techniques for creating spectacular chocolate desserts.

Blending passion with expertise, this book will become a chocolate lover’s instant favorite. Fifty-four luscious new recipes developed and tested by editors at Chocolatier magazine celebrate chocolate at its best, including the whimsical Tahitian Vanilla Swirls, the elegant Milk Chocolate Mousse Roulade, and the smooth, sophisticated Black Satin Chocolate Raspberry Cake. With separate sections on white, milk, and dark chocolate, and gorgeous full-color photographs of techniques and finished desserts, Chocolate Passion makes it easy to learn and master the secrets of working with every type of chocolate.

Tish Boyle (New York, NY) is Food Editor and Timothy Moriarty (New York, NY) is Features Editor of Chocolatier and Pastry Art and Design magazines. They are the authors of Grand Finales: The Art of the Plated Dessert and A Modernist View of Plated Desserts.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

• ISBN13: 9780471293170
• Condition: USED – VERY GOOD
• Notes:

Rating: (out of 13 reviews)

List Price: $ 50.00
Price: $ 24.56

Chocolate Passion: Recipes and Inspiration from the Kitchens of Chocolatier Magazine Reviews

Review by Springerle:
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.

Review by jerry i h:
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.

Buy Chocolate Passion: Recipes and Inspiration from the Kitchens of Chocolatier Magazine now for only $ 24.56!

The Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook: Recipes and History from America’s Premier Chocolate Maker

America is experiencing a chocolate renaissance, and the epicenter is in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Ghirardelli has long been the standard-bearer for great chocolate. Domingo Ghirardelli first began making chocolate drinks for miners during the Gold Rush. In the more than 150 years since, the chocolatiers who have carried on the company’s grand tradition have made Ghirardelli the leading premium manufacturer in the country. Growing consumer demand for higher-quality cacao and specialized chocolate products prompted the experts at Ghirardelli to revise this collection of classic cookies, bars, cakes, and drinks. The recipes range from simple sweets to show-stopping desserts, while a special section on hosting a chocolate party comes just in time for holiday baking and entertaining.

• ISBN13: 9781580088718
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Rating: (out of 7 reviews)

List Price: $ 19.99
Price: $ 12.40

The Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook: Recipes and History from America’s Premier Chocolate Maker Reviews

Review by H. Grove:
The Ghirardelli cookbook is presented beautifully. Many of the recipes come with lovely photographs, and the recipe layout is extremely clean and easy to read. It’s a very attractive book that would make a lovely gift.

The true star of this cookbook, however, is the results. The recipes perform flawlessly. Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are simply to-die-for. The double-chocolate banana bread is perhaps the first banana quick bread I’ve had that used enough banana for a noticeable banana flavor—and it’s also one of the first double-chocolate recipes I’ve had that wasn’t overwhelmingly chocolaty.

As awesome as those recipes were, however—and believe, me they’re amazing—they’re nothing compared to the chocolate bread pudding. Pardon me; I must swoon for a moment at the memory.

These recipes are hardly what I’d call good for you, but they don’t tend to gratuitously use large amounts of, for example, butter, when they can get by with less; they use enough to ensure a delicious recipe without overdoing it.

In short, if you love chocolate, buy this cookbook! It has recipes for chocolate-lovers of all kinds, including some wonderful white chocolate delicacies (cupcakes, mousse, and more!).

[Advance review copy courtesy of 10 Speed Press]

Review by Veggiechiliqueen:
Ghirardelli chocolate was originally founded by an Italian immigrant, Domingo Ghirardelli, in San Francisco in 1849. Since then, it’s been bought and sold several times, having survived the Gold Rush, Great Fire of 1851, and two world wars. The cookbook features an informative introduction into the company’s early years, including reproductions of vintage posters. A handy chocolate primer tells how to effectively store chocolate (think: cool, dry place, low humidity), how to garnish pastries with chocolate, candy making, and chocolate substitutions (using only Ghirardelli products, naturally). There’s even a snobby little guide on how to appreciate a good chocolate (much like wine tasting, minus the swishing). Looking to host a choc-tail party? That’s in here too.

Once you hit the cookbook section, recipes are arranged straightforwardly by type, beginning with cookies (chocolate chip, lemon, sugar, shortbread, peanut butter, macaroons, biscotti), chocolate brownies and bars (the peppermint brownies are worth the price of the book; I’ve made them four times, and they just keep getting better!), chocolate cakes, cupcakes, tortes, pies, tarts, candies and bonbons, and chocolate breads and breakfast.

The recipes are easy to follow, although the font is a little small, and the photos are beautiful. One of the problems I ran into was the fact that some recipes called for Ghirardelli products that were not readily available at the first few stores I tried (such as the ground chocolate and cocoa powder, although a substitution is listed in front).

I decided on the Ghirardelli cookbook after looking at several chocolate cookbooks from Scharffen Berger (Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate) and Marcel Desaulniers (Death by Chocolate: The Last Word on a Consuming Passion). The Ghirardelli Chocoalte Cookbook had the highest ratio of recipes that a) appealed to me and b) actually looked doable by an intermediate baker. I was right on both counts, and everything I bake is a smash hit.

Buy The Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook: Recipes and History from America’s Premier Chocolate Maker now for only $ 12.40!

Green & Black’s Chocolate Recipes, Revised Edition

Here are recipes that cannot fail to tempt. Chocolate is one of the most luxurious and satisfying foods, full of texture and flavor. Above all, chocolate can be molded to suit every occasion and so the chapters include Abracadabra (quick and easy recipes), Licking the Bowl (for children and birthdays) and Wicked (irresistible concoctions). As well as the more traditional ideas for cakes, puddings and biscuits there are also more surprising recipes for chicken mole or muffins with a hint of chili. Woven into the book are stories about the Maya in Belize and the cultivation and production of chocolate, as well as tips on cooking techniques and handling chocolate. With stunning recipe and location photography, Green & Black’s Chocolate Recipes is a veritable feast for all the senses.

Rating: (out of 2 reviews)

List Price: $ 19.95
Price: $ 9.33

Green & Black’s Chocolate Recipes, Revised Edition Reviews

Review by Lisa Schipper:
I have made a couple of recipes from this book. The pictures are stunning, and I like to support a company that has a social conscience. I really like the Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake (which can be cut into pieces and frozen and keeps really well) and the chocolate mousses. However, I made the brownies and there were way too sweet. Then I started looking at the quantity of sugar that most recipes call for, and discovered that they are really overly sweet. I think you can probably make most of these treats with only half the sugar. In any case, a worthwhile buy.

Buy Green & Black’s Chocolate Recipes, Revised Edition now for only $ 9.33!

Brownie Mix Bliss: More Than 175 Very Chocolate Recipes for Brownies, Bars, Cookies and Other Decadent Desserts Made with Boxed Brownie Mix

In COOKIE DOUGH DELIGHTS, Camilla V. Saulsbury worked magic with refrigerated cookie dough. With BROWNIE MIX BLISS she turns her attention to the familiar box of brownie mix and the many possibilities contained herein. Incredibly, all 175-plus recipes in BROWNIE MIX BLISS begin with a standard box of brownie mix. What’s more, all the recipes have been streamlined for easy, everyday baking. The problem, if you can call it that, will be deciding which treat to make first. How about Mocha Buttercream Brownies? Or Snickers Supreme Brownies? Or maybe Mint Julep Ganache Brownies? And that’s but the tip of the chocolate iceberg. While brownie mix can be used to create all manner of mouthwatering concoctions, it can also be transformed into countless other very easy, very chocolate desserts ranging from sophisticated biscotti, soufflé cakes, madeleines, and cheesecakes to nostalgic drop cookies ice cream novelties, gooey layered bar cookies, and so much more. In addition to the recipes, Saulsbury offers “Brownie Points,” or tips for baking success. For the accomplished baker as well as the novice, BROWNIE MIX BLISS takes the chocolate dessert to a new level of, well, bliss!

• ISBN13: 9781581824445
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Rating: (out of 19 reviews)

List Price: $ 16.95
Price: $ 9.99

Brownie Mix Bliss: More Than 175 Very Chocolate Recipes for Brownies, Bars, Cookies and Other Decadent Desserts Made with Boxed Brownie Mix Reviews

Review by Elizabeth Wright:
I made my first recipe from this drooly good book this weekend for my husband coming home from the hospital. He ADORES caramel. I accomplished the Turtle Brownies, using a Ghirardelli mix (this mix was recommended by Cook’s Illustrated – vs – homemade brownie) it has chips in it already, so I reduced the chips called for in the recipe by just a little. Very easy – DON’T FORGET TO UNWRAP THE CARAMELS (the recipe calls for 16 unwrapped caramels – you have to assume to unwrap them before melting – duh)I also just melted them slowly in the wave verses the stove top – I’m a horrible cheat)!! oooey-gooey, must have verry good vanilla ice cream along side. Can’t wait to try more. I’ve got the book pretty well tabbed up for future excursions! I had to bring the bulk of the treats to work today so we don’t get chocolate sicked at home. You’d a thought an antelope had fallen into a piranna pond the feeding frenzy that insued. Make sure if you take these into a crowd – drop the plate quick and stand back!!:-) kindest regards…

Review by C. McGowan:
Worth buying for the carmelicious turtle brownies and chocolate dulce de leche bars alone. Made both for a company picnic–they were 2 of about 20 desserts and they disappeared in about five minutes. The recipes are easy to follow and they’ve all turned out great thus far (made one of the biscotti recipes, too. I had never made biscotti before but these were great). There are some very yummy-sounding treats in here. Buy this if you love chocolate.

Buy Brownie Mix Bliss: More Than 175 Very Chocolate Recipes for Brownies, Bars, Cookies and Other Decadent Desserts Made with Boxed Brownie Mix now for only $ 9.99!

Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate

The first cookbook from America’s premier chocolate makers, filled with recipes, kitchen tips, and dazzling photographs As Americans have become fascinated by chocolate, and especially high-quality chocolate, one name has risen above the rest: Scharffen Berger. Founded in 1996 by Robert Steinberg, a physician and amateur chef, and John Scharffenberger, an award-winning vintner, the company’s confections have won a following among food professionals and home cooks alike. Now, in their first cookbook, the duo shares their passion with the world. The Essence of Chocolate features more than one hundred spectacular — and often simple — recipes drawn from the Scharffen Berger files and from two dozen top pastry chefs. It is divided into three sections: “Intensely Chocolate,” which includes such decadent treats as That Chocolate Cake, in which the sumptuous flavor of chocolate is the star; “Essentially Chocolate,” with lighter chocolate desserts like White Velvet Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache or Brown Butter Blondies; and “A Hint of Chocolate,” with recipes that use chocolate’s spicier qualities to their best effect, like Vegetarian Chili and John’s Cocoa Rub. And all will work magnificently with any high-quality chocolate. Filled with helpful tips, sumptuous photographs, and the story of how chocolate is really made, here is a book that is every bit as seductive as its subject.Established in 1996, Scharffen Berger has become America’s preeminent maker of cooking chocolate. Essence of Chocolate, by the firm’s founders and food writer Susie Heller, offers more than 100 recipes for a broad selection of delights like Chocolate Pudding Cakes, Chocolate Marbled Gingerbread, Cocoa Caramel Panna Cotta, and Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake, as well as savory edibles made with chocolate like Tortilla Soup and Chile-Marinated Flank Steak. Unusual recipes also include the likes of Chocolate Chunk Challah and TKOs, a homemade

Rating: (out of 20 reviews)

List Price: $ 35.00
Price: $ 17.57

Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate Reviews

Review by B. Marold:
`The Essence of Chocolate’ by Scharffen Berger Chocolate founders, John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg is a `culinary memoir duet’ where the principal authors take the roles more of `Executive Producer’ than true writer or even editor. Most of the recipe writing chores are assumed by a fairly large stable of well-known chocolatier practitioners such as Alice Medrich and David Lebovitz plus a number of other culinary luminaries such as Rose Levy Beranbaum, Michael Chiraello, Michael Richard, Jacques Pepin, Thomas Keller, and Rick Bayless. Most of the yeoman’s work on the book appears to have been done by Suzie Heller (a collaborator with Jacques Pepin and Thomas Keller), the recipe tester and (I suspect) editor, Ann Krueger Spivack (a collaborator with Cat Cora and Michael Chiarello), and `Bouchon’ photographer, Deborah Jones.

Scharffenberger and Steinberg are former vintner physician respectively, who joined up in the early 1990s to create what has become the only native American producer of very high end chocolate. Scharffenberger contributed a knowledge of the food business and Steinberg primarily contributed the scientific background which enabled these two chocolatier newbies to make a go of it in a small space with a small budget and with practically no experience in the chocolate business. Their most substantial contributions to this book are memoirs on how they got together and got into this business, plus essays on the future of cacao agriculture in the primary cacao sources in Central America.

I was just a bit surprised that the more technical culinary content of this book is as light as it is. There is discussion of the more difficult subjects such as tempering chocolate, but other books, such as Alice Medrich’s excellent `Bittersweet’ book on chocolate is actually a better source of both understanding and technique for the really serious chocolate baker.

What this book provides is a great collection of recipes specifically designed to work with the kind of high end chocolate you can get from Scharffen Berger and the big European sources such as Vahlrona. Even better is the fact that the book doesn’t go off on a tangent and deal only with fancy recipes. Rather, it provides a great source for a wide range of sentimental favorites based on really relatively easy recipes. The book includes great recipes for a simple chocolate cake, S’mores, fudge, egg cream, brownies, chocolate ice cream, chocolate mousse, and the humble chocolate syrup. What’s better, these recipes are divided up in a rather unique manner, in three (3) great chapters covering, intense, basic, and `hint’ levels of chocolate. Samples of the `intense’ recipes are fudge, brownies, and truffles. Samples of the `basic’ recipes are S’mores, egg creams, and biscotti. Samples of the `hint of chocolate’ are gingerbread, white velvet cake with chocolate icing, and chocolate chunk muffins.

In fact, the authors make a point to say that when you are dealing with really good chocolate, you don’t want to muck things up with a lot of ingredients and thereby detract from the virtues of the complex chocolate flavor. This is quite understandable, in that chocolate is easily one of the most complex `raw’ ingredients. I suspect it is even more complex than most wines and very old balsamic vinegar.

I invariably give a good rating to books that come up with at least one surprising and surprisingly good idea. The `signature’ idea in this book is the pairing of fine chocolate with single malt scotch, taken together. This notion is so good, I’m surprised the authors didn’t give a recipe to pair the two, as with a scotch filled bon-bon. I guess they left that to the imagination of the reader.

All the little things I like about culinary books are on the mark here. The book begins with an excellent table of contents, including an entry for every recipe. The price is `standard’ at list, for a culinary book. And, the book includes not one but two bibliographies, which are just one more way of showing that the book is as much about the economics and `culture’ of chocolate as the recipes. I’m just a bit surprised that the book contains no history of chocolate, but then, several other good books, especially the chocolate book from David Lebovitz already covers this territory.

This is not an `essential’ book for all foodies, unless you happen to be a chocaholic and like to bake with chocolate often. This will give you more than enough reasons to do this even more!

Review by BakingandBooks.com:
What’s Good: There are many things to love about this book. Let’s start with presentation – it is beautifully bound and nearly every recipe is accompanied by a gorgeous photograph. Though I understand that not every cookbook can include photos I still give them bonus points when they do. It’s not just about seeing what the finished product will look like; I also love to sit and leaf through the recipes, enjoy a sort of visual feast. “The Essence of Chocolate” is entirely satisfying on this front.

The recipes are both unique and varied, ranging from favorites such as cakey brownies and chocolate drop cookies to more exotic things like cocoa chiffon cake, banana caramel cake and candied almonds. The recipes are not limited to desserts. This book also includes unexpected dishes that incorporate chocolate, for instance, chili-marinated flank steak and BBQ sauce. The Chocolate Pull-Apart Kuchen I made last month came from this book, as did my Apricot & Chocolate Challah, which was based upon this text’s recipe for chocolate chunk challah. (See: Baking and Books dot com) Content is organized both by type (dessert vs. savory dish) and by the amount of chocolate required.

In addition to recipes, “The Essence of Chocolate” has incredibly helpful sections on chocolate techniques and types of chocolate. It also includes information about the history of chocolate and the Scharffen Berger chocolate company. I enjoyed the fact that I could cozy up with this book and indulge in a fascinating foray into the “legend and lore” of chocolate. Where else would you learn about the role it played in Mayan and Aztec rituals or about its part in Marie Theresa’s marriage to King Louis XIV? I can honestly say that, until I read this book, I did not know that the term `devils food’ comes from the Pilgrims. Apparently one of Amsterdam’s biggest chocolate houses was located in a neighborhood populated by Pilgrims. Considering that they stoned people for adultery and shunned all things enjoyable, it’s no surprise that, when they saw all the chocolate house patrons cavorting next door, they decided their behavior was the work of the devil. They soon began calling chocolate “devil’s food,” and even outlawed it in Plymouth Colony once it was established. Years after the Pilgrims left Amsterdam their influence remained and when bakers began making a cake made of chocolate they decided that the dark, obviously sinful, cake should be called Devil’s Food.

Like I said – who knew? (My husband says he knew but he’s a smarty pants.)

What’s Bad: There is only one thing I did not like about this book and that’s how so many of the recipes assume you have a high-quality stand mixer at home. This doesn’t pose much of a problem when you’re whipping up a batch of cookies since using a hand held mixer will achieve similar results. It does come into play, however, with the bread recipes. Here you will often be told to “switch to a paddle attachment… and continue to knead the dough for five minutes,” which is all well and good if you have a stand mixer. But what about those of us who don’t? Where are the alternate instructions for mixing and kneading by hand? Though my experience baking bread allowed me to compensate for this oversight I would have been pretty dissapointed if I were a novice baker. It’s more than likely that someone without bread baking experience would simply skip over these recipes, perhaps figuring a stand mixer was required, and that’s a shame since the finished products are so delicious.

Conclusion: If you are a chocolate lover looking for a book with a wide variety of delicious recipes “The Essence of Chocolate” would be an excellent addition to your collection. One small caveat for those interested in using the bread recipes: if you don’t own a stand mixer (and can’t afford to buy one, like me) you may want to also purchase a fabulous bread book. My recommendation would be “The Bread Bakers Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread.” Or, you could look at the `by hand’ instructions I included for Chocolate Pull-Apart Kuchen and Chocolate & Apricot Challah. (These instructions are listed on my blog.)

Buy Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate now for only $ 17.57!

Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate

It is hard, today, to imagine a time when the word bittersweet was rarely spoken, when 70 percent of the chocolate purchased by Americans was milk chocolate. Today’s world of chocolate is a much larger universe, where not only is the quality better and variety wider, but the very composition of the chocolate has changed.

To do justice to these new chocolates, which contain more pure chocolate and less sugar, we need a fresh approach to chocolate desserts—a new kind of recipe—and someone to crack the code for substituting one chocolate for another in both new and classic recipes. Alice Medrich, the “First Lady of Chocolate,” delivers.

With nearly 150 recipes—each delicious and foolproof, no matter your level of expertise—BitterSweet answers every chocolate question, teaches every technique, confides every secret, satisfies every craving. You’ll marvel that recipes as basic as brownies and chocolate cake, mint chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate mousse, can still surprise and excite you, and that soufflés, chocolate panna cotta, even pasta sauces can be so dramatically flavorful.

For the last thirty years, Alice Medrich has been learning, teaching, and sharing what she loves and understands about chocolate. BitterSweet is the culmination of her life in chocolate thus far: revolutionary recipes, profound knowledge, and charming tales of a chocolate life.In Bittersweet, Alice Medrich continues her mouthwatering crusade to educate chocoholics everywhere about her passion. With 30 years experience, first at her famous Berkeley bakery, Cocolat, and then as an award-winning cookbook author, there is little Medrich doesn’t know about chocolate. And what sets this book apart from all others is her willingness to share what’s she’s learned. As the American palate has changed, and we’ve learned to appreciate better quality chocolate, more and more of it is has become

• ISBN13: 9781579651602
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Rating: (out of 27 reviews)

List Price: $ 35.00
Price: $ 18.00

Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate Reviews

Review by L Goodman-Malamuth:
Alice Medrich opened her first Cocolat shop when I was an impoverished undergraduate at Berkeley in the mid-1970s. I learned an important lesson from her: Since even the poorest student could buy a single Cocolat truffle, just that one truffle, made with care from superior ingredients, would delight, satiate, and inspire in a way that a bag of M&Ms never could.”Bittersweet” offers bakers (at any level of expertise) enticing new ingredients and technique that go into the creation of memorable chocolate desserts. She revisits old favorites, such as brownies, and offers variations; in my opinion, the Lacy Coconut-Topped Brownies alone are worth the price of the book. Mousse also gets the Medrich treatment, including a very successful variation that can be whipped up completely dairy-free, if desired.Medrich also suggests some surprising ways to incorporate unsweetened chocolate into savory dishes, such as an astonishingly delicious Italian dolce-forte (“sweet and strong”) meat sauce for pasta.This is a fun book to read, which can’t always be said of a cookbook, and the photographs are stunning. Memoirs are currently all the rage in the publishing industry, but here’s one that doesn’t leave the reader with a raging case of indigestion. Though many people consider Alice Medrich to be America’s reigning chocolate queen, she isn’t the one telling you so. In this unpretentious, informative book, her desire to share the joy of a bittersweet-chocolate moment shines through on every page.

Review by Josh Mandel:
I’ve made many of Alice Medrich’s recipes from her previous books, and none of them has ever disappointed. But this book is a standout. It is not at all just a collection of recipes; it actually has the ability to change the way cooks look at and use chocolate.The theme of the book is that, over the past decades, most American cookbooks dealing with chocolate have been written assuming that the home cook is using typical supermarket chocolate, which may be servicable, but which is undistinguished. In the past few years, though, superior chocolates have become very widely available, chocolates with complexity and sophistication. Past recipes, with their heavy reliance on added sugar, fats, and flavorings, may work for less remarkable chocolates. But these recipes may overwhem and mask the unique characteristics of a finer chocolate. Assuming the home cook is using such a fine chocolate, Ms. Medrich analyzes and reconstructs many traditional recipes, and creates new ones as well, with an eye towards showcasing fine chocolate’s personality rather than muting it.The recipes are incredible just to read (the half-dozen I’ve made myself so far have been easy to construct and superb to eat). Ms. Medrich’s attention to detail is, as always, excellent; most of the recipes even includes notes describing how to adjust for chocolates with varying percentages of chocolate liquor. (If you’re baking with a 60% chocolate bar, for instance, you’d use different quantities of added sugar and fat than you’d use if baking with a 72% chocolate.)Medrich also offers detailed explanations of the origins and philosophy behind certain dishes (mousse, for instance, or truffles). She devotes a large section of the book to the use of, and recipes for, roasted cocoa nibs. I’ve never before seen a book treat them as a serious ingredient in their own right.There is also a wonderfully broad selection of recipes that utilize chocolate in savory dishes and entrees…miles beyond Chicken Mole.Aesthetically, Bittersweet is elegantly designed and contains a decent number of color photographs (I crave more, though). For chocoholics, this book really is an eye-opener. Unreseveredly recommended.

Buy Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate now for only $ 18.00!

The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural & Natural History of Cacao with Recipes

This lively and meticulously researched book on the history, production, and global economic and environmental impact of cacao makes it the preeminent go-to reference for anyone seeking a fascinating survey on the “food of the gods.” Consumer interest in chocolate continues to grow as its numerous health benefits become more widely acknowledged. Maricel E. Presilla is one of the world’s foremost experts on chocolate and cacao, and her approach to the subject is scholarly as well as passionate. Recipes both savory and sweet round out the book, ensuring that chocolate lovers find inspiration as well as information in this insightful look at one of the world’s most popular foods.

• ISBN13: 9781580089500
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

List Price: $ 35.00
Price: $ 21.19

Celebrate with Chocolate: Totally Over-the-Top Recipes

He’s the champion of chocolate. The king of cocoa. The guru of ganache. He’s Marcel Desaulniers, award-winning cookbook author and chef-owner of Williamsburg, Virginia’s renowned restaurant, The Trellis. And he’s back with a whole new collection of festive recipes that turn any day into a holiday in Celebrate With Chocolate. Whether you want a romantic cake for two, a “Big-Ass” cake for twenty, cookies, pies, or anything in between, Marcel will show you the way. In Celebrate With Chocolate, he takes you to the outer limits of the chocolate universe, with over-the-top combinations that are surprisingly simple to make. Want something that towers over ordinary chocolate deserts? Try Marcel’s “She Ain’t Heavy” Chocolate Cake, which stacks three layers of extravagantly light, cocoa-saturated cake, all coated with a smooth cocoa icing. Or for a lunchtime favorite turned sweet treat that satisfies any child from 3 to 103, just pour a glass of milk and check out the Chocolate Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Cookies. Whatever you make, with Marcel’s guidance, this book will keep your ever-growing fan club happy. No holiday is required to Celebrate With Chocolate with Marcel Desaulniers. Just have a true love of chocolate. Don’t we all?Don’t let the relatively diminutive size of Marcel Desaulniers’s Celebrate with Chocolate fool you. In this age of coffee-table cookbooks, the 45 recipes and 16 pages of color photographs in this book might lull you into thinking that these desserts are simple. But look carefully at the cover and see the important subtitle, Totally Over-the-Top Recipes.The almost 20 pages of clear, easy-to-follow information on equipment, ingredients, and techniques give the confidence needed to tackle projects like the five-page Dancing Gingerbread Men Peppermint Fudge Cake: super-spicy, mildly chocolaty, moist sponge cake layers are separated by voluminous white chocolate mousse mixed with mini chocolate

Rating: (out of 9 reviews)

List Price: $ 24.95
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Celebrate with Chocolate: Totally Over-the-Top Recipes Reviews

Review by H. Grove:
I’m a sucker for Marcel Desaulniers’ cookbooks. Around the holidays I was in a bookstore and saw “Celebrate with Chocolate” (and oh dear, I was having a chocolate craving at the time)–I just had to bring it home. We immediately used a recipe out of it for my birthday cake (err, cakes–it produced a bunch of little cakes that look just like dominoes), and it was as superb as every other Marcel recipe I’ve ever had! Those little cakes were so densely fudgy that we ended up splitting them and topping them with ice cream so as to avoid falling over dead of a chocolate overdose.Sadly this cookbook lacks the gorgeous photos you’ll find throughout Marcel’s death by chocolate series. Normally I don’t really care one way or the other, but he’s so darn artistic with his food that the photos really bring something extra to his cookbooks. At least there is a small section of photos in the middle so you aren’t entirely deprived.These are incredibly rich recipes, as evidenced by this note from the ingredients chapter: “My admiration and love for butter has never wavered.” Like Marcel’s other recipes, these come in pieces. That is to say, instead of having one continuous recipe, a recipe is put together in stages and then assembled. Take Rolf’s Old-World Black Forest Cake, for example. It includes a vanilla sugar cookie base, an old-world cocoa sponge cake, glazed cherries, “just a hint of chocolate” buttercream frosting, whipped cream, and chocolate curls. This makes it very easy to mix-and-match recipe components. As usual Marcel’s recipes are long, but again this is because he details every step, ensuring a wonderful result. You don’t need to be an expert in the kitchen to make his recipes, but you *do* need to be willing to spend real time and effort on a dish–these are show-stoppers, not simple fare.If that isn’t enough to convince you, here are a few recipe titles to get your mouth watering: Cocoa cinnamon chocolate chip shortcakes. White chocolate pumpkin cheesecakes with blackberry pixilation. Slammin’ citrus squares with white chocolate-lemon balm icing. Champagne fritters with chocolate grape surprise and sparkling cream. Caramel orange-chocolate orange masquerade ice cream terrine…

Review by rodboomboom:
Just when you thought it was safe, having experienced the Death By Chocolate and Decadent Desserts with Chocolate, the consummate chocoahlic main man, Marcel Desaulniers does it again, with this celebratory effort with chocolate!It has his accustomed “user friendly” features of helpful primer on ingredients and equipment and techniques and sources, and my favorite: “The Chef’s Touch” where he comments on substitutes, background, source help,etc.But the same expected super-creative, super chocolate recipes are over the top in this one! There’s cakes and cookies and frozen concoctions, and more!What can one say about this variety of tempting over the top desserts such as: Champagne Fritters with Chocolate Grape Surprise and Sparkling Cream; Chocolate-Chunk Pineapple Rummies; White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Blackberry Pixilation; Dancing Gingerbread Men Peppermint Fudge Cake; Chocolate Cookie Crumble Spiked Berry Ice Cream Cake; Chocolate “Just the Two of Us” Birthday Cake; Chocolate Hazelnut Christmas Tree Stump.With this one joining his other outstanding cookbooks, any home chef is loaded with great ammunition and idea starters for terrific dining! His testing out of the recipes on home equipment and ingredients insures in this reviewers experience that we can duplicate his magnificent creations.

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