Career Diary of a Pastry Chef: Gardner's Guide Series Review

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(More customer reviews)As a person who is not only baking-challenged but kitchen-challenged in general, I was surprised at being caught up in the reading of this delightful non-fiction diary covering 30 days in the life of professional pastry chef Yuko Kitazawa. Kitazawa finds creating a wonderful dessert like doing magic every time she completes the task; this attitude affects the reader, motivating the reader to do some magic of the reader's own in the kitchen.
One of 16 titles in the Career Diary Series, Kitazawa's diary successfully reflects the love and enthusiasm she feels for her profession; her mistakes and successes as she creates desserts for a restaurant in which the last of its clients might be ordering their entres at midnight; her insights and hints into the preparations and cooking of delicious sounding desserts; and how she faces the physical demands of the job on her body through yoga training.
Kitazawa is honest, humorous and personal in her writing, drawing the reader into her life and her work from mid-morning when she gets up to midnight or later when she leaves the restaurant still feeling "high" from the enjoyment of having tried something new or improved upon the process of something she had been doing all along.
Kitazawa's easy and quick-read diary covers entries for 30 days between March 28 and May 20; the format for each 1-2 page entry opens with her predictions of her work assignments; her actual day with the primary focus on her work; and each entry ends with a reflection time called "lessons learned." Kitazawa's book should be required reading in high school Home Economics (where she actually got turned on to the profession) and college Consumer Science classes on food sciences but certainly it is a wonderful piece for anyone interested in food preparation in general. It brings home to the reader that successful food preparation, whether dessert or entree, is both an art and a science.
Kitazawa completed a liberal arts degree in philosophy at U.C. Berkeley and an Associate of Occupational Studies, Culinary Arts degree at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York. After working at restaurants on the East Coast and Chicago, Kitazawa landed her dream position as Pastry Sous Chef in Los Angeles in 2006 "at a restaurant regarded as one of the top fine dining destinations in Los Angeles..." She has published reviews, recipes, short stories and interviews with famous chefs; in addition she was recognized for "Best Desserts in 2007 by CitySearch.com for her original dessert Kabocha Tart and was featured on the MetroMix.com website, a nationwide on-line entertainment guide, for her original dessert Kabocha Crumble Pie.


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This series examines a wide array of professions; each book goes behind the scenes and on the job with a professional in a particular field. These books provide a glimpse of some of the projects, challenges, and rewardsof a jobon a day-to-day basis.Highlighting the professional life of a pastry chef as she whips up eclectic desserts for a large, fine dining restaurant in Los Angeles, this intimate portrayal offers an honest introduction to the world behind the kitchen doors. A professional in the business describes her daily tasks, pausing occasionally to muse on the beauty of a perfect meringue, and delving into the challenges and rewards of her chosen path. In addition to the lively narrative, real insights are offered on the relevant issues of the profession, including the pros and cons of a culinary education, the reason behind the frequent employee turnover in the industry, and the joys and demands of working in a culturally diverse environment. This diary presents a real slice-of-life that aspiring chefs and avid foodies alike can sink their teeth into.

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Patisserie, Second Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the book that i used when i was at college in my home city in england.Patisserie is a professional book for students, Bakers,Chefs,Confectioners and Teachers.Patisserie is a craft/trade (some say it's an art) so housewives may find it a little confusing,for example, Bread making is a technology and carn't be learnt from a book. If you have a basic understanding in Fermented goods,pastry,confectionary hot and cold sweets and cake decorating then you will love this book. The book covers everything i needed to complete my studies of Bakery,cake decorating and patisserie and i still use it in my work.Hanneman himself was a lecturer in charge of the bakery school at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology as well as head of food at lancaster and Morecambe college and also a former chief examiner for the 711-01 pastry cooks and patissiers exam.

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The Modern Cafe Review

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(More customer reviews)Francisco Migoya has done it again, a wonderful book on a variety of pastries, entremets(cakes), savories, and more. It is divided into sections of business such as the pastry shop, bakery, etc. Mainly made for commercial use with servings of 6 cakes to 20 individual portions and special supplies. There are some mistakes in the components of some recipes such as 12 cake layers instead of 2 but if you read through the recipe first you'll be prepared. Overall it is nice but geared toward larger sizes and specialized machines so it might not be suited for the avid home baker but a good book.

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Includes nearly 250 recipes plus 150 sub-recipes, more than 100 photographs, and approximately 75 illustrations
Breaks the café down into its five key components -- the bakery, the pastry shop, the savory kitchen, beverages, and the retail shelf -- with expert advice and contemporary recipes for each area
Author Francisco Migoya is an assistant professor at The Culinary Institute of America, where he teaches the Café Operations class for the Baking and Pastry Arts program

With information on all aspects of the café business-finances, human resources, food production, recipe/menu development, and even décor-The Modern Café offers both inspiration and instruction for anyone who wants to operate a successful café.
"The Modern Café is an impressive volume in both breadth and dept h that elevates standard café fare to something worthy of the term cuisine. Francisco Migoya generously shares his years of experience and research, offering a fresh, contemporary approach to casual dining. His technical skill and eye for detail are inspiring, resulting in respectful yet inventive interpretations of the classics. Migoya has given all of us professional cooks, pastry and savory alike, another invaluable resource. " —Michael Laiskonis, Executive Pastry Chef, Le Bernardin
"What a high level of professionalism in a book full of originality and creativity! Francisco Migoya has created a new work with technology, sensitivity, and passion—an invaluable contribution to the world of gastronomy. Enjoy it!" —Oriol Balaguer, Pastry Chef and Owner, Oriol Balaguer Boutiques
"Francisco Migoya's The Modern Cafe is a beautiful book that will be used as a practical guide and inspiration for professionals and home cooks alike. " —Grant Achatz, Chef and Owner, Alinea
"This book is just amazing—there is so much information, detail, and inspiration. You can really see Francisco's passion for pastry. This is an outstanding follow up to his first book, Frozen Desserts." —Patrick Coston, Pastry Chef and Chocolatier

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Professional Baking (Trade) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a book that is designed to be a text book for baking. While recipes are measured in both English and Metric, they are primarily measured by weight, not volume. Also many of the proportions are not for the home, but for industrial use. The book covers many areas of baking by going delving into ingredients, and their special characteristics. There is an almost 40 page primer on baking specifics such as yeast, temperatures you want you kitchen to be for rising of breads and much more. If you are looking for information about is about baking in general this book would more than serve you well as it covers so much, but its primary use would be best suited for a professional kitchen.

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Advanced Bread and Pastry Review

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(More customer reviews)This is without doubt the largest, most informative, most inclusive bread and pastry book in existence. Just imagine the 'Professional French pastry series' and the 'Special and decorative breads series' in one huge tome.The book does not have 880 pages as stated in the description, but 1043 including the indexes.
Mr Suas has created a comprehensive, easy to follow textbook for advanced baking and pastry. The book uses the French tradition in baking/pastry apprenticeship and includes both American and French products. Mind that this is not a coffee table book but a student's guide to advanced baking/pastry. So the author approaches the reader as a teacher would approach the student. There are explanations for every single detail and at the end of each chapter there are questions. A word of caution; this is a book strictly for professionals. One cannot just open it and start measuring cups and spoons to make a cake. Anyone lesser than an apprentice will probably get lost in the plethora of information. So if you are not a professional or a very knowlegable amateur, don't blow your money.
The book starts with a history of bread and pastry making and is divided into three main sections: Bread, Vienoisserie and Pastry. Each section is then subdivided into many others. The chapters are:
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
a) History
b) Food safety
PART 2: BREAD
a) Baking process and dough mixing
b) Fermentation
c) Advanced flour technology and dough conditioners
d) Alternative baking processes
e) Bread formulas
PART 3: VIENNOISERIE
PART 4: PASTRY
a) Cookies
b) Quick breads
c) Pastry dough
d) Pies and tarts
e) Cake mixing and baking
f) Syrups,creams,custards,egg foams,icings
g) Mousses
h) Classic and modern cake assembly
i) Petit-fours and confections
j) Frozen desserts
k) Plated desserts
l) Advanced decoration
m) Chocolate
There are photos throughout, including procedures and most of the products, the paper is glossy, and there are tables with information interspersed between the text. All formulas are given in Metric, Baker's percentage, US decimal, and Lbs and Oz. Also there are instructions to sites in the internet where one can expand on what is in the book and get additional information. These are throughout the book and in all the sections.
In the bread section, all the different breadmaking procedures are discussed, including the straight dough method, retarded dough method and sourdough method. This is the only book I know that in some products uses two different sourdoughs to produce a bread. Another innovation is the inclusion of a whole program for breadmaking on a professional scale, with days and times for each procedure spanning several days. There is also an extensive discussion on par-baked goods which are being favored lately by many bakers.
Bread products include: Baguettes, ciabatta, San Francisco sourbread, challah, rye breads, naan, tortilla, pita, pan de los muertos and many other European and American breads.
The Viennoiserie section is one of the most comprehensive and inclusive and can be only compared to the ones in the 'Traditional and decorative breads'. All the known products are here, including croissants, danish, kugelhopf, brioche, panettone. Different methods are given for the production of the same product eg retarded croissant, sourdough croissant etc.
The pastry section is larger than the bread one by 200 pages. The theory is divided between the chapters, as each family of products has its own technology and science, besides the basic science that goes for all pastry.
There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of products in this section. Most of the classics are here, as well as modern pastries. Too many to mention.
On the downside. Some recipes (not many) use shortening, a blasphemy against both health and taste. I also noticed a few typographical errors in some of the recipes and the temperatures, eg 375F is given as 96C in one recipe, while it should be 196C.
These faults though, are a drop in an ocean of excellence.
To conclude, at this low price this book is a give away. Just think that for the same money you can only get one tome of the 'French pastry series' with 200 pages and here you get more than a thousand pages.
Top quality, top price, the best money can buy.


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Advanced Bread and Pastry, A Professional Approach is a comprehensive guide to bread, viennoiserie, and pastry that is designed for students, professionals, and enthusiasts. Balancing a respect for tradition with modern approaches to method and technique, Advanced Bread and Pastry unites appealing presentation and indispensable instruction. It is written to help today?s baker respond to the recent evolution of ingredients, products, and presentation. The recipes (called formulas) are based on a variety of classica methods and processes. With this strong foundation of knowledge, a baker or pastry chef can develop further skills, experiment with new ideas, and understand any formula.

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The Dessert Architect Review

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(More customer reviews)The Dessert ArchitectA Pastry Bible
Chef Robert Wemischner's new book is geared to the serious pastry-chef wannabe.
By Tim Fischer | Thursday, 11 February 2010 | 15:00

If you've ever thought about becoming a pastry chef or want to know how a restaurant dessert makes its way from an idea to the kitchen to the plate and ultimately to your table, Robert Wemischner's, "The Dessert Architect" would be a wonderful addition to your library. Wemischner has taught baking and pastry at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College for 18 years. He has written four culinary books, was a pioneer in the gourmet-to-go trend and is a regular contributor to Food Arts and Pastry Art and Design magazines.
Written for pastry students but accessible to anyone interested in learning the essentials, "The Dessert Architect" (available at [...]) is an informed look at what it takes to work in the business today. Featured throughout the six chapters are sidebars from several professional pastry chefs like Gale Gand, Claudia Fleming and Pichet Ong, writing about personal experiences in their own kitchens, offering inspiration and helping to expand this clearly written book into a satisfying baking tool.
Wemischner begins with a chapter on the four cornerstones of pastry: flavor, texture, temperature, and contrast. He uses charts to categorize each, demonstrating, for example, ingredients that are dominant flavors (chocolate, hazelnut), sour (lemon, cranberry), and pungent (ginger, cardamom). As a result, readers are better equipped to understand how the layering of these elements can make a dessert complex. The chapter's final recipe, "A Couple of Doughnuts," incorporates all four cornerstones: caramel coated poached white peaches with white doughnut peach and violet mousse, and a highly recommended buttermilk spiced doughnut precariously perched on top. I have never made doughnuts before so I was eager to try this part of the recipe. With a beautiful assortment of spices including mace, nutmeg and cinnamon, and straightforward instructions that were easy to follow, I could not have been happier with the final results. Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with a gallon of spiced frying oil.
Other chapters focus on ingredients and equipment, creating a dessert menu, beverage pairings, and particularly interesting, plating. Wemischner establishes guidelines on how much sauce to use (too little can be just as bad as too much) and illustrates basic shapes for cakes and ice creams. The tip that I found most useful for home bakers is to draw your design before you put the dessert on the plate.
The book's more than 50 meticulously detailed recipes (you'll need your kitchen scale -- ingredients are measured by weight) are accompanied by full-color photographs by Elon Schoenholz. Recipes, designed for restaurants, are comprised of several components. For instance, the Chocolate Melting Moments Torte Flavored with Assam Tea includes the chocolate tea torte, malted milk chocolate ice cream, a tea-infused plating sauce and an Isomalt (a sugar substitute) and tea garnish. As a home baker, I find it extremely helpful that alongside each recipe is a list of equipment needed and the order in which to make each component. After finishing a recipe, Wemischner challenges his students to think of ways to create that same dessert using the recipe only as a guideline and incorporating alternate flavors or different techniques.
The appendix is filled with information on ingredients, specialty produce, equipment, a concise glossary, and website addresses for spots like the Culinary Institute of America, the French Culinary Institute, even King Arthur Flour, that offer educational opportunities for students.
After finishing Wemischner's book, readers will have a much clearer understanding of what it takes to be a part of a pastry kitchen. But what I enjoyed most about "The Dessert Architect" is Wemischner's commitment to his students: He never lets them stray too far from the fundamentals, and always encourages them to push harder.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Fischer managed The Cook's Library in Los Angeles, named one of the "Top 10 Cookbook Stores in the World" by Saveur. He also has been a judge for the IACP Cookbook Awards for four years.



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A complete guide to building versatile and creative desserts, The Dessert Architect offers valuable insight into developing a well-balanced dessert menu and modern plating techniques while featuring 50 detailed multicomponent recipes that can be mixed and matched for endless combinations.This landmark work offers suggestions for pairing beverages with desserts, sources for ingredients, and an overview of essential tools and equipment. Its wealth of recipes is thoughtfully organized by main ingredient for easy retrieval. Full-color photographs of each completed dessert?along with step-by-step process shots?serve as a visual reference for the major techniques used in the recipes.The Dessert Architect is an invaluable resource for professional pastry programs and a source of inspiration for chefs worldwide.

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The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for the Baking and Pastry Professional Review

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(More customer reviews)I am in the hotel industry and don't know how I survived all these years without this book! It assists me when I talk to customers so that I can easily explain items and show pictures to them. The only problem is that I need to get another copy so that I have one at home and one in the office. I think that anyone who likes to bake or is a "foodie" needs to BUY THE BOOK!The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for the Baking and Pastry Professional

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With more than 4,800 terms and definitions from around the world plus ten appendices filled with helpful resources, The Pastry Chef's Companion combines the best features of a dictionary and an encyclopedia. In addition to the current terminology of every component of pastry, baking, and confectionary arts, this book provides important information about the origin and historical background of many of the terms. Moreover, it offers coverage of flavor trends, industry practices, key success factors, a resources list, illustrations, and phonetic pronunciations.

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