Product Description

Named one of the country's top ten pastry chefs by both Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design magazines and nominated five times for the James Beard Pastry Chef of the Year award, Ann Amernick is one of the nation's most accomplished dessert makers. Now, in The Art of Dessert she shares nearly 100 recipes for artfully distinctive desserts - the summation of her long and distinguished career as a baker. Amernick's creations often recall familiar foods and flavors - a cheese danish, for example, or a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup - but in her hands, the familiar becomes something truly extraordinary: Apricot and Custard Danish Sandwiches, or Peanut Butter Cream Truffles with Shortbread and Raspberry Gelee.

Spanning the whole range of dessert possibilities - cakes and tortes, pies and tarts, cookies and candies, cold desserts, warm desserts, and dessert sandwiches - The Art of the Dessert is filled with recipes that are as innovative and sophisticated as they are homey and unfailingly delicious. Chocolate Toffee Torte, Lemon Caramel Tartlets, Almond Lace Cookies, Amaretto Nougat Cups, Toasted Coconut Pecan Souffle Tartlets, and Pumpkin Custard Napoleons are just a few of the dazzling creations you'll discover. For each recipe, Amernick offers detailed, step-by-step guidance on preparation, as well as sidebars that offer options for embellishing the desserts when serving.

Sixteen striking full-color photographs accompany the recipes, along with Amernick's "Trucs of the Trade" and expert advice on pastry making, including basic and advanced techniques, information on equipment and ingredients, and helpful tips on creating all kinds of dessert components and garnishes, from tartlet shells to fruit leather. If you want to refine your baking skills and add some show-stopping new desserts to your repertoire, let this extraordinary cookbook by a master pastry chef be your guide.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #139700 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780471443810
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. As generous as she is accomplished, Amernick wants home cooks to be able to do what she does; even in the introduction, she explains that she regrets the organization of her 1992 book, Special Desserts, which required page-flipping between recipes to produce some of her more complicated pieces. The new book compensates by risking repetition: for instance, listing ingredients and technique for pastry cream twice in five pages, with a very minor variation—two tablespoons coffee extract for Coffee Eclairs after Robert and two tablespoons Pear William plus heavy cream for Custard-Filled Babas with Pear William. Some cooks will be delighted with the scheme and fascinated by the nuanced differences in the repeated recipes; others may feel babied. Similarly, readers with a feel for history will cherish anecdotes from the author's years in the White House kitchen and her fond relationships with bygone culinary stars, while those in a hurry to get baking may skim the interstitial matter. But everyone—newcomer and seasoned pro—will find solid and sometimes revelatory information about such basic matters as oven temperature. And the triple chocolate terrine she devised when working for Jean-Louis Palladin at the Watergate restaurant is a simple (though tricky) classic that's worth the price of admission. (Apr.)
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Review
As generous as she is accomplished, Amernick wants home cooks to be able to do what she does; even in the introduction, she explains that she regrets the organization of her 1992 book, Special Desserts, which required page-flipping between recipes to produce some of her more complicated pieces. The new book compensates by risking repetition: for instance, listing ingredients and technique for pastry cream twice in five pages, with a very minor variation—two tablespoons coffee extract for Coffee Eclairs after Robert and two tablespoons Pear William plus heavy cream for Custard-Filled Babas with Pear William. Some cooks will be delighted with the scheme and fascinated by the nuanced differences in the repeated recipes; others may feel babied. Similarly, readers with a feel for history will cherish anecdotes from the author's years in the White House kitchen and her fond relationships with bygone culinary stars, while those in a hurry to get baking may skim the interstitial matter. But everyone—newcomer and seasoned pro—will find solid and sometimes revelatory information about such basic matters as oven temperature. And the triple chocolate terrine she devised when working for Jean-Louis Palladin at the Watergate restaurant is a simple (though tricky) classic that's worth the price of admission. (Apr.) (Publishers Weekly, February 5, 2007)

“…an elegant collection of recipes fit for five-star restaurants.” (Jewish Tribune, Thursday 16th August")

From the Inside Flap
Named one of the country's top ten pastry chefs by both Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design magazines and nominated five times for the James Beard Pastry Chef of the Year award, Ann Amernick is one of the nation's most accomplished dessert makers. Now, in this deliciously inspiring cookbook, she shares nearly 100 recipes for artfully distinctive desserts—the summation of her long and distinguished career as a baker. Amer-nick's creations often recall familiar foods and flavors—a cheese danish, for example, or a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup—but in her hands, the familiar becomes something truly extraordinary: Apricot and Custard Danish Sandwiches, or Peanut Butter Cream Truffles with Shortbread and Raspberry Gelée.

Spanning the whole range of dessert possibilities—cakes and tortes, pies and tarts, cookies and candies, cold desserts, warm desserts, and dessert sandwiches—The Art of the Dessert is filled with recipes that are as innovative and sophisticated as they are homey and unfailingly delicious. Chocolate Toffee Torte, Lemon Caramel Tartlets, Almond Lace Cookies, Amaretto Nougat Cups, Toasted Coconut Pecan Soufflé Tartlets, and Pumpkin Custard Napoleons are just a few of the dazzling creations you'll discover. For each recipe, Amernick offers detailed, step-by-step guidance on preparation, as well as sidebars that offer options for embellishing the desserts when serving.

Sixteen striking full-color photographs accompany the recipes, along with Amernick's "Trucs of the Trade" and expert advice on pastry making, including basic and advanced techniques, information on equipment and ingredients, and helpful tips on creating all kinds of dessert components and garnishes, from tartlet shells to fruit leather. If you want to refine your baking skills and add some show-stopping new desserts to your repertoire, let this extraordinary cookbook by a master pastry chef be your guide.

Customer Reviews

ART OF THE DESSERT
I AM AN AMATEUR BAKER. I HAVE READ AND AN TRIED NUMEROUS DESSERT AND
PASTRY RECIPES FROM MANY FAMOUS PASTRY CHEFS OVER THE YEARS. MS. AMERNICKS BOOK "THE ART OF THE DESSERT" IS BY FAR THE BEST OF THE BEST. THE RECIPES ARE FLAWLESS AND ARE ABSOLUTELY THE BEST I'VE EVER MADE AND TASTED IN ALL MY YEARS OF BAKING. THE RECIPES ARE CONCISE AND EASY TO FOLLOW. THERE IS NO FLIPPING BACK AND FORTH FROM ONE PART OF THE BOOK TO ANOTHER TO FIND SOMETHING THAT WAS MENTIONED BEFORE OR REPEATED. EACH RECIPE IS COMPLETE. MS. AMERNICK HAS OUT DONE HERSELF AND IS TRULY IN A CLASS BY HERSELF. I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK HIGHLY TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO CREATE THE BEST DESSERTS THEY HAVE EVER TASTED.

Great! But...........
This is a great book. Not meant for the at home cook most of the recipies are very long detailed processes great for the professionals. I really wish it had more pictures.

Perfect
Thank you for writing this book. I love, love, LOVE it. The recipes turn out perfectly. This book has made me look good on many occasions.