I have loved French Pastry for as long as I can remember, all the way from my Mum’s kitchen as a kid in Belgium to my own kitchen here in Melbourne. I love it so much I quit my job as an architect 6 years ago to start a blog that focuses on baking and French pastry especially! This crazy experience took me all the way back to Paris to attend a French pastry program at Ecole Ducasse in 2019 and to publish my first cookbook on French pastry at the end of 2023.
This book by the cooking school Ferrandi is the most thorough, complete, and detailed cookbook I’ve ever read about French pastry.
It breaks down hundreds of traditional and classic recipes with step-by-step instructions and photos, as well as lots of tips along the way. It is packed with information to help you create a solid foundation on French Pastry.
If I could only choose one cookbook, it would be this one!
I have loved French Pastry for as long as I can remember, all the way from my Mum’s kitchen as a kid in Belgium to my own kitchen here in Melbourne. I love it so much I quit my job as an architect 6 years ago to start a blog that focuses on baking and French pastry especially! This crazy experience took me all the way back to Paris to attend a French pastry program at Ecole Ducasse in 2019 and to publish my first cookbook on French pastry at the end of 2023.
Another very extensive cookbook on French pastry, I love the unique and personal approach of Christophe Felder.
This book goes over a number of basic recipes but also contains an extensive number of more “old school”, traditional, and/or regional recipes that you might not find in other cookbooks.
I also particularly appreciate the chapter on savoury pastries.
Newly updated and expanded with 3,500 step-by-step photographs, all the classics of French patisserie are made accessible for the home cook. For every serious home baker, French pastry represents the ultimate achievement. But to master the techniques, a written recipe can take you only so far-what is equally important is to see a professional in action, to learn the nuances of rolling out dough for croissaints or caramelizing apples for a tarte tatin. For each of the 233 recipes here, there are photographs that lead the reader through every step of the instructions. There has never been such a comprehensive…
I’m an award-winning cookbook author, photographer, and culinary instructor with a passion for local food and dessert. As a trained chef, I’ve worked behind the scenes of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and the TV show America’s Test Kitchen.I’ve also been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and CBS Evening News. For cookbooks, I love beautifully styled photography that pulls me in and delicious, well-written recipes that work in a real home kitchen. I also like a cookbook that you can curl up with and read like a novel. I live outside Boston with my family, two high-maintenance cats, and a pair of well-worn roller skates.
Los Angeles-based pastry chef Rucker has compiled her favorite fruit-based brunch and dessert recipes into one tempting volume. Some of my favorites: Spiced Apple Wedding Cake, Huckleberry Blondies, and Kabocha Squash Pie.
There is some advanced technique here, but most of the ingredients are easy to find. With photography that is bright and inviting, this book is a good, modern addition to your seasonal baking library.
Fresh fruit-based desserts from beloved Los Angeles pastry chef and restaurateur Nicole Rucker.
Nicole Rucker is responsible for some of the most raved-about and Instagrammed pastries and baked goods in Los Angeles, first as the Pastry Chef at the hotspots Gjelina Take Away and Gjusta, then through her pie company Rucker's Pie and restaurant Fiona. In her debut cookbook, Rucker shares her obsession and her recipes with readers to help them achieve the same kind of magical alchemy she's perfected in fruit desserts.
To Rucker, fruit is every bit as decadent as chocolate cake and in this unique guide to…
Jackie Kai Ellis is a designer, bestselling author, pastry chef, entrepreneur, lifestyle writer, and other bits n’ bobs. Jackie left design to pursue her passion for pastry in Paris. After finishing her studies, she founded the award-winning pâtisserie, Beaucoup Bakery & Café in Vancouver – featured in countless publications and media including Bon Appétit Magazine. Jackie turned her passion for authentic storytelling and launched her bestselling memoir, The Measure of My Powers: A memoir of food, misery, and Paris,.
My apprentice, Betty Hung, who eventually inherited the bakery I founded, has written an award-winning recipe book on French pastries. It’s wonderfully photographed, well-tested and informative. I am always proud to see her create with such precision and success.
French pastry is often thought of as difficult to master, but Betty Hung-founder of the blog Yummy Workshop and co-owner of Beaucoup Bakery-makes the classic art of French baking more approachable than ever. Most of her recipes only take an hour, which makes it much less daunting for beginners.
Learn basics like pastry cream and pate sucree, and create favourites like Lemon Madeleines, Creme Brulee, Eclairs and Lady Fingers. Readers will be able to take shortcuts like using ready-made puff pastry, or, for the more adventurous baker, Betty demonstrates how to make it from scratch.
I have loved French Pastry for as long as I can remember, all the way from my Mum’s kitchen as a kid in Belgium to my own kitchen here in Melbourne. I love it so much I quit my job as an architect 6 years ago to start a blog that focuses on baking and French pastry especially! This crazy experience took me all the way back to Paris to attend a French pastry program at Ecole Ducasse in 2019 and to publish my first cookbook on French pastry at the end of 2023.
I’m a sucker for a good éclair, and choux pastry is probably one of my favourite things to bake, so this book is a real goldmine!
I love that it breaks down the basic techniques of choux pastry and cream fillings but is also packed with creative recipes, original flavour associations, and gorgeous desserts.
It may not be the best book for beginners, but if you are looking for inspiration, it is an amazing book to browse through!
The newest darling in the world of baking - the classic French pastry has been embraced by a whole new generation of bakers. Making this classic at home is much easier than you think. And it is made easy by the fact that this book is written by one of Europe's top pastry chefs, Christophe Adam. With its straightforward approach, full colour pages and hundreds of step-by-step photographs, it is as though Christophe were by your side giving you a lesson in your home kitchen. Over the last dozen years, Christophe has perfected the eclair and has turned it into…
On paper, it would be easy to think I’m the wrong person to recommend these books and write my own, which would fit easily onto this list. But as a lover of love and someone who has always enjoyed the company of men, particularly gay men, this is an area I have passion for - seeing hopeful and authentic love stories written for the masses.
I’m cheating with this book. One main character, Ethan, is in his forties, and the other, Roman, is in his twenties. So I’m splitting the difference and saying they’re in their thirties. It’s worth it so that I can squeeze this book onto this list.
I enjoyed it so much that I read it twice in a row. As soon as I finished it, I needed to go back to the beginning and start again. The dynamic of these two characters and the way their love story played out were enjoyable from start to finish, and I will absolutely be reading this one again and again when the mood strikes.
Under his new pen name, C. Travis Rice, New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice offers tales of passion, intrigue, and steamy romance between men. The third novel, SAPPHIRE STORM, once again transports you to a beautiful luxury resort on the sparkling Southern California coast where strong-willed heroes release the shame that blocks their hearts’ desires.
Ethan Blake has dedicated his life to satisfying other people’s appetites. At forty-three, he’s finally landed his dream job—head pastry chef at an exclusive resort. Now he’s got a jet-setting career that’s taken him to romantic locations all over the world. But years before,…
Whenever I’m asked about when I knew I wanted to be a pastry chef/baker, I always answer, “birth!” My maternal grandmother lived with us and she loved to bake; I was playing with dough as soon as I was old enough to stand on a chair next to the kitchen table. After college I faced a crisis: graduate school or culinary school – I chose the latter and I’ve never looked back. Adding teaching and writing to my love of baking led me to travel, taste, research, and learn new techniques and recipes to share. It’s a passion from which I’ll never retire.
In Good and Sweet, Brian Levy takes a radical approach to preparing delicious desserts – he uses no refined sugar but finds the necessary sweetness of his desserts from fruits (dried, juiced, or fresh), grains, dairy products, and nuts.
Before I tried any of the recipes, I have to admit that I was somewhat skeptical, but one taste of any of the recipes I tried made me realize that there are other ways to sweeten besides refined sugar. My favorites include Blueberry Biscuit Cobbler, Cherry Coconut Clafoutis, Figgy Cheesecake, Rosemary Lemon Shortbread, and Spiced Pumpkin Pie.
Levy also incorporates whole grain flour when appropriate as high-quality flour provides a sweetness of its own.
ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Los Angeles Times, Serious Eats
Groundbreaking recipes for real desserts—sweetened entirely by fruit and other natural, unexpectedly sweet ingredients—from a pastry cook who’s worked at acclaimed restaurants in New York and France.
Brian Levy spent years making pastries the traditional way, with loads of refined sugar and white flour, at distinguished restaurants, inns, and private homes in the United States and Europe. But he discovered another world of desserts—one that few bakers have explored—where there’s no need for cane sugar or coconut sugar, for maple syrup or honey, or for anything like…
Lei Shishak is the author of numerous cookbooks including Beach House Dinners, Beach House Brunch, Beach House Baking, and Farm-to-Table Desserts. A graduate of Culinary Institute of America, Lei is the founder of Sugar Blossom Bake Shop in San Clemente, California. She is one of Southern California’s most respected bakers, having been honored as the Orange County Pastry Chef of the Year in 2011 by Riviera Magazine.
Rose Levy Berenbaum is an incredible teacher, and this comes through in her cookbooks. The Pie and Pastry Bible includes over 300 recipes for pies, tarts, and any pastry you can imagine. There's even a chapter entirely devoted to crusts and another one solely on fillings and toppings! In every recipe, Ruth shares recipe variations, storage information, and pointers for success. As a bonus, recipes include both volume and weight measurements.
Lei Shishak is the author of numerous cookbooks including Beach House Dinners, Beach House Brunch, Beach House Baking, and Farm-to-Table Desserts. A graduate of Culinary Institute of America, Lei is the founder of Sugar Blossom Bake Shop in San Clemente, California. She is one of Southern California’s most respected bakers, having been honored as the Orange County Pastry Chef of the Year in 2011 by Riviera Magazine.
This was my textbook when I was a baking and pastry major in culinary school. In its third edition, this is the most comprehensive pastry baking book from the country's premier culinary school. I still refer back to it time and again for its reliable recipes and classic techniques. The chapters cover every specialty in pastry baking, including bread, chocolates, confections, wedding cakes, pastries, decorating, mousses, and frozen desserts. This book is well worth its price.
The leading learning tool for all levels of baking and pastry ability, newly illustrated and updated Praised by top pastry chefs and bakers as "an indispensable guide" and "the ultimate baking and pastry reference," the latest edition of Baking and Pastry from The Culinary Institute of America improves upon the last with more than 300 new recipes, photographs, and illustrations, and completely revised and up-to-date information on creating spectacular breads and desserts. Covering the full range of the baking and pastry arts and widely used by professionals and readers who want to bake like professionals, this book offers detailed, accessible…
Whenever I’m asked about when I knew I wanted to be a pastry chef/baker, I always answer, “birth!” My maternal grandmother lived with us and she loved to bake; I was playing with dough as soon as I was old enough to stand on a chair next to the kitchen table. After college I faced a crisis: graduate school or culinary school – I chose the latter and I’ve never looked back. Adding teaching and writing to my love of baking led me to travel, taste, research, and learn new techniques and recipes to share. It’s a passion from which I’ll never retire.
Cedric Grolet, the enfant terrible of Parisian pastry circles, astounded the world of desserts when he started preparing his fabulous life-like molded fruit desserts at the Hotel Meurice.
Soon after, a tiny retail pastry shop opened in the hotel, and now he has a full scale shop, Opera, a few blocks down from the actual Paris opera house. Fruit was his first book and though it details some of his most elaborate creations in the form of natural fruits, the book also concentrates on his personal twist on basic preparations such as pastry doughs, fillings, and presentations.
Some classic pastry books are happy to accurately chronicle how specialties were prepared in the past, but here is a book that shows the contemporary up-to-the-minute version of so many recipes recreated by a true pastry genius.
Innovative recipes for all types of croissant variations, astounding presentations of fruit tarts, and elaborate eclairs…
Cédric Grolet is simply the most talented pastry chef of his generation—he was named World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2018. Food & Wine called his work “the apotheosis of confectionary creation.” He fashions trompe l’oeil pieces that appear to be the most perfect, sparkling fruit but are, once cut, revealed to be exquisite pastries with surprising fillings. They are absolutely unforgettable, both to look at and, of course, to eat.
This lush cookbook presents Grolet’s fruit-based haute-couture pastries like works of art. The chef explains his techniques and his search for authentic tastes and offers a peek into his boundless…
