The Pastry Chef's Little Black Book

I took a couple of baking classes many years ago that were taught by a wonderful pastry chef in the kitchen at Alain Ducasse’s restaurant Adour at the St. Regis Hotel. I couldn’t help but notice how the chef would often slip a little notebook out of his pocket for reference or to jot something down. As the chef impressed me with his knowledge, talent, and passion, I remember thinking how amazing it would be to be able to leaf through the pages of his notebook which I imagined contained the secrets to perfect desserts. Well, fast forward about ten years and now I (finally!) have access to just such a treasury of professional information in “The Pastry Chef’s Little Black Book” by Chefs Michael Zebrowski and Michael Mignano. Better than trying to decipher someone’s perhaps rushed handwriting, this not-so-little equivalent of valuable information culled from two great chefs’ years of experience and hard work is so well designed and formatted that it makes even the most complex recipe accessible and not intimidating. The recipes in this book are easy to use, whether you bake measuring by volume or weight, and you can be confident they have been tested to work just as they are supposed to. The book contains more recipes than I could ever dream of wanting at my fingertips and they are presented in such a way that they are building blocks not just to the composed desserts mentioned in the book, but to be used by the reader in a multitude of different combinations, encouraging creating your own unique desserts. Add this book to your collection...whether you are a beginner or a seasoned baker, you will be happy you did.

This book is for the experienced baker and advanced home baker who love to bake. The last step dictates which temperature bakes, and it really depends on what kind of convection or conventional oven you are baking. As bakers, we test it by instinct, look, feel and if it comes out clean when you insert a toothpick, bbq stick, etcetera. These recipes really taste great, for some baked goods like cookies, if you go an extra mile and effort like refrigerating scooped cookie dough on baking sheets overnight. This allows the flavors to develop and meld together. Next day, bake these cookies. Yummy!!! As bakers, we take many factors when baking these baked goods, humidity, the ambient temperature of the kitchen and workplace, the oven's temperature, ingredients used and how they behave, etcetera. This book is so comprehensive in recipes by these 2 awarded pastry chefs. This is probably one of the few books you need on your kitchen cookbook collection or can be stored in your kitchen. You know what's really funny about this book- it is not little black book because it acts like own, but this is a huge black book for pastry chefs.

Five stars! Love it! I mostly purchased this book because I needed another pastry book that didn't have the same old recipes. So I bought it, expecting to have a small almost novel sized book. I was shocked when it came to my door and turned out to be a textbook, but I couldn't be happier. The amount of recipes and their variety of them is amazing. In addition to the style, how the pages are set up makes it very easy to read, plan out, and use. Especially if you're making a product that utilizes only this books recipes!

A wonderfully written book, each recipe was very easy to follow. Each page brings a excitement for those who want to learn from two great pastry chefs. I’ve learned something new each time I’ve done one of the recipes, gaining more amazing knowledge and creating art, happiness and yummy goodness for others to enjoy! Definitely worth the investment and a great teaching element that can be passed down to others.

I echo all of the great reviews this book has. This book is written by two French Chefs. I received this book as a gift and I can't wait to try some of these divine recipes. In looking through the book, many recipes call for gelatin sheets and within the first 10 pages of explanations it says they weigh 2.5 grams per sheet and all of the recipes need to be measured by weight, not volume (cups) so a good digital scale is crucial to have in order to use this cookbook properly. They have two columns on each recipe, one for US measurements and one for metric. Another recipe item referred to mixing the ingredients FROM 1 dough packet (De'Trempe) and a few more French terminologies like that. Hopefully, I can find what I am looking for when researching them. All in all though, most of the recipes I can understand and I love the book and I even look forward to the more challenging recipes to perhaps learn something I did not know.

I love that this is a professional kitchen cook book. It gives very specific measurements and in forms that you can use in the kitchen without having to figure out how many 8 inch cake pans can make 1 full sheet tray, things if this nature. To this day I have not had any problems with the recipes and all has come out as intended. This would be a great gift for any professional in the pastry industry.

Get this book if you want to be as good as a French pastry chef.

When I bought this book, I didn't realize is was so geared towards professional and serious chefs. The instructions are minimal and assume a fair amount of experience. But the recipe selection is amazing. I've had to search the web for how to do certain things but the recipes, overall, were straight forward. I like that all the measurements are provided in both metric and standard. This book has quickly become my go-to book for desserts and other baking.

Must have for every pastry enthusiasts..

Contemporary recipes, well made , easy to read, great formating

Good book got all the basics to good pastry work.

This is a very detailed text outlining a large number of pastry techniques. A fascinating read but not for a novice!

Amazing book everything you will need for a professional kitchen. And home cook