Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a beautiful book that tells you a bit about the background and personal philosophy of Dominique Ansel, then shares just 31 recipes, including ones for the Cronut(TM) and Kouign Amann. The book opens with a foreword by Daniel Boulud, a brief introduction, then there are seven short essays on Dominique's approach to pastry and his journey up until now: 1. Time is an Ingredient 2. Beyond the Comfort Zone 3. Don't Listen 4. What's in a Name 5. Create and Re-Create 6. Everything but the Flavor 7. Never Run Out of Ideas. I've always felt a little bit badly about not liking madeleines, but in the first "chapter", Ansel explains why I find them dry and not that exciting. It's so nice to know that madeleines truly are meant to be eaten fresh, within five minutes from the oven. Now I have a reason to try baking them myself! In chapter 7, Ansel discusses why he decided to make the lime tart customizable for the customer, and how he designed a groove in the tart to let customers participate in having exactly the sweet/salty/sour lime tart they wanted. His recipes are split into three sections: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Every recipe is accompanied by a photo of the final product, and every photograph is stunning. It's bizarre, but in the kindle version, the gluten-free label appears with almost every recipe in the beginning section. Some recipes are actually GF, but others call for all-purpose flour. The beginner section contains: Hot chocolate (GF) Chocolate pecan cookies (GF) Mini madeleines - kindle version labels as GF, but the recipe calls for all-purpose flour. Mini me's (meringues) (GF) Popcorn Chouquettes - kindle version labels as GF, but the recipe calls for all-purpose flour. Marshmallow Chicks (GF) Vanilla Ice Cream (GF) Apple Tart Tatin - kindle version labels as GF, but the recipe calls for all-purpose flour. The Purple Tart Intermediate: Cannele de Bordeaux Vanilla Religieuse Cotton-soft Cheesecake Paris-New York Perfect Little Egg Sandwich (savory) Black and Blue Pavlova (GF) Pink Champagne Macarons (GF) Apple Marshmallow (GF) Sunflower Tart Christmas Morning Cereal (GF) "Lime Me Up" Tart Frozen S'mores Arlette (this is a cookie) Advanced: Chocolate Caviar Tart The Angry Egg (GF) Dominique's Kouign Amanns Magic Souffle The At-Home Cronut(TM) Pastry Ganache - Vanilla Rose, Whipped Lemon, Champagne Chocolate Flavored Sugars - Vanilla, Maple, Orange Glazes - Rose, Lemon, Champagne Chocolate Iberico and Mahon Croissant - kindle version labels as GF, but the recipe calls for all-purpose flour. Sweet Potato Mont Blanc Gingerbread Pinecone Baked Alaska Finally, these recipes are followed by a techniques section, with step-by-step photos of critical techniques: Cooking custard Pate a choux Piping Tempering chocolate Lamination Many of these recipes do call for "specialized" or uncommon kitchen equipment, like specific molds, an airbrush, tart rings, blowtorch, smoking gun, apple wood chips, precision scale, piping bags, fine/medium-fine sieves, deep-fryer (Cronut), Ateco/Wilton tips, ring cutters, terrine mold, ice cream machine, etc... It's important to note that with the exception of the first two recipes, almost every single recipe presented here requires at least two days from start to finish, and some are certainly more time-intensive than others. These recipes require serious dedication and time commitment. The recipes are very well-organized, starting with a photo, skill level, time requirement, and yield. This is followed by a Timeline section, then a Special Tools section, and next an ingredients section with what you will need for each component detailed separately in weights and volumes. Finally, the step-by-step guidelines are broken up by day and by component, then the final assembly. This is followed by notes/advice, serving instructions, and storage instructions. To make the Cronut(TM) [because, honestly, that has to be the first recipe I try from this book] you need to make the ganache and the pastry dough (which is a two-step process with 2-3 hours in between) as well as the butter block two days ahead of time. The day before, you laminate the dough. The day of, you cut and fry the dough, make the glaze and flavored sugar you've chosen, and assemble.