[.ca] The New French Baker: Perfect Pastries and Beautiful ... (ISBN 0688143253)

Almost the entire patisserie and a boulangerie, too:
This is a very ambitious book, blending the art of the French pastry baker with a bit of regular bread baking as well. The book is weighted towards the pastry, with everything from the traditional apple tarts, fruit tarts, napoleons, pithiviers, palmiers to regional sweets like clafouti (fruit baked in a sort of custardy pancake) to ices, sorbets, chocolates, petit fours. The breads include walnut bread, which is nice, as that is a distinctive European bread not often seen in the US, and crusty French breads made with the poolish or starter method. There are some stupid mistakes; for example, insisting that pineapple inhibits gelatin from jelling because it is high in citric acid. Nope. It's bromelain, an enzyme that cuts the gelatin and prevents it from solidifying. Even more stupid, the next paragraph has the fact that papaya DOES contain an enzyme that inhibits the jelling of gelatin (right! so why get pineapple wrong?) And then the book omits the fact that kiwi and fresh figs also contain enzymes that wreak havoc with anything thickened with gelatin. This book assumes you know something about baking pastry and breads; with so many different subjects, the book cannot be fully instructive on the difficulties arising in bread baking or the dangers you face when making millefeuille or croissants. But if you want a very comprehensive tome, with many many recipes of exotic cakes, tortes, tartes and sweets, you might find this a highly useful volume.

TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR FRENCH PASTRY MAKING:
The tips and techniques in this book alone are worth the purchase. It is a book for the beginner-intermediate student of pastry making. The writing style is on par with Dorie Greenspan, who wrote "Baking with Julia" - both authors are highly engaging and give excellent step-by-step instructions. The author shows us how to roll croissants, line dozens of tartlette tins quickly and easily, make a quick brioche loaf. This is accomplished with balls of dough placed into a loaf pan and proofed. This inspired me to create a braided look by staggering the balls of dough in the pan. I have used this technique several times producing such gorgeous loaves I didn't think was possible. I hope the author will forgive me for revealing my own modification to the recipe, but I want to show the many useful techniques and inspiring possibilities of this book. As for the lack of photographs - note that the publisher makes up for it by giving it the most professional binding of all - the book's pages are sewn, not glued. This means the book opens flat, without cracking at the spine. Professional textbook quality.

I agree, good but not great ....:
THis says French baker but it doesn't really show you how to make the heavy duty stuff. However it accomplishes its intended purpose very well -introducing novices to the subject. I still found many techniques from piping chocolated designs, to rolling crossaints. Illustrations very, very good. Pictures, thumbs down. There are about 5 or 6 for 200 recipes. That is definitely an area the publisher should improve on. If you are not familiar with french pastry you have no idea what the result is going to look like. I also was not too excited about her sorbet and ice cream recipes, I felt she could have done better in that department. You dont' really need a French style cookbook to learn how to do a Raspberry sorbet. I also felt she should give us more authentic, and traditional recipes instead of phyllo-doughing everything in sight. Overall though, I will recommend this book, it is a fine edition to your library if only for the spectacular plum tart, one of the few recipes pictured in the book. For those who are interested in real French pastry making, please check out Healy-Bugat, The art of the cake. It is a masterpiece.

Authentic and Delicious:
While all French women seem to be born with a natural affinity for cooking, only a few know how to bake. If you're ever in France, try looking for a book detailing classic French baking and you'll see what I mean. They just don't exist. Of course, the French do love baked goods, but tradition has dictated that we leave their creation to the masters. Even the tiniest village in the French countryside will have an assortment of boulangeries (bakeries) and patisseries (pastry shops). And, if you walk through the village early enough in the morning, most of the people you encounter will be coming home with their daily baguette. When our bakeries and pastry shops close for their own month long summer holiday, we usually just do without. The New French Baker has literally, for me, at least, brought the joy of authentic French baking to France. In one big, wonderful book, Sheila Linderman has gathered together authentic and delectable recipes for classic French breads, pastries and desserts. Linderman first details the basics and she also explains exactly how to make the various French pastry doughs, something most French cooks aren't well acquainted with. All of the favorite classics are included: Tarte Tatin, Tarte au Citron, éclairs, millefeuilles, palmiers, choux à la crème, crepes, crème brulée and more. Linderman's step-by-step instructions make sure you always create the perfect brioche and the most impeccable raspberry tarte. There is even a special section on the proper handling of fresh ingredients such as butter, flour, eggs and chocolate. The chocoholics in your life will love Linderman's truffles as well as her Four-Tiered Chocolate Mousse. Although the recipes in this book are certainly delicious, they are all quite difficult to make. This is not a book for the beginning baker; it is more suited to one with some experience who wants to expand his or her horizons in the areas of breads and pastries. The only problem I have with the book is a small one: the inclusion of more photos of these wonderful (and gorgeous!) pastries would have been a definite plus and would have added to the value of the book. But thanks to Sheila Linderman and The New French Baker, my family and I are now enjoying delicious classic French pastries right from our own kitchen for the very first time! C'est magnifique!

Absolutely the Best!:
My sister, Summer and I are French so we adore pastries and other baked goods. The talent for baking, however, has been bestowed upon me, as Summer busies herself with piloting our plane and decorating our homes. Since we are both French, we know, without a doubt, that the recipes in this book are truly authentic as well as delicious! I bake the fancier ones for Summer and I to serve at our parties in Provence, but we adore the buttery croissants every morning ourselves. Not everyone is lucky enough to be French, as we are, but with this book, everyone can at least enjoy the delicious taste of authentic French baked goods in their own home! Presented by.........................Winter!