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Acclaimed pastry chef Dominique Ansel shares his simple, foolproof recipes for tarts, cakes, jams, buttercreams, and more "building blocks "of desserts for home cooks to master and mix as they please. Dominique Ansel is the creator of beautiful, innovative, and delicious desserts, from the Frozen S'More to the Cronut, the croissant-doughnut hybrid that took the world by storm. He has been called the world's best pastry chef. But this wasn't always the case. Raised in a large, working-class family in rural France, Ansel could not afford college and instead began work as a baker's apprentice at age sixteen. There, he learned the basics--how to make tender chocolate cakes, silky custards, buttery shortbread, and more. Ansel shares these essential, go-to recipes for the first time. With easy-to-follow instructions and kitchen tips, home cooks can master the building-blocks of desserts. These crucial components can be mixed in a variety of ways, and Ansel will show you how: his vanilla tart shell can be rolled out and stamped into cookies; shaped and filled with lemon curd; or even crumbled into a topping for ice cream. This cookbook will inspire beginners and experienced home cooks alike to bake as imaginatively as Ansel himself.… (more)
User reviews
Count me as a Dominique Ansel fan. I have paid attention to his work ever since his Cronut rocked the baking world. Last year, on my dream trip to the UK, after checking into my hotel, the first thing I did was visit Ansel's London shop a few blocks away.
So yes, I was excited to be approved to read his brand new cookbook. I do think the title is a bit off, though. I wouldn't recommend this book to brand-new bakers. However, it does offer a lot to experienced bakers who already possess some know-how plus a kitchen stocked with various ingredients and cooking implements.
The book is broken down into four sections:
Bases
Fillings
Finishings
Assembly & Techniques
What makes this book incredibly innovative is that there isn't, say, one chocolate layer cake in the whole book. No, Ansel provides a recipe for a sponge that can be used by itself or sliced into layers, and he recommends different fillings and finishes, and includes take-you-by-the-hand techniques. The book's voice is personable and easy to follow. Therefore, there are a myriad of ways to play with every single element throughout the book. There are loads of photographs as well (a MUST for a cookbook, far as I'm concerned).
The emphasis is on tarts and cakes. That's where you can truly mix'n match dozens of different takes. However, the book also has some loaf cakes like banana bread and vanilla pound cake, a cookie recipe, chocolate brownies, sable breton, and pate a choux. Fillings includes things like pastry cream, fruit curds and jams, chocolate ganache, mousse, and caramel. Finishings describe stand-bys like buttercream and mirror glazes, along with a clear nappage glaze for fruit, roasted fruits, meringues, struesel crumble, and even ice cream.
Honestly, as I read the book, all I could think is that this is like a guide to make a Great British Bake Off-style showstopper.
I have not gotten to try any recipes yet, but oh, I want to. As I write this, I am--like much of the world--under quarantine. Staples like eggs and flour now must be rationed, as they are difficult to find and perhaps prohibitively expensive when available. But there will come a time when I, and the rest of the world, can indulge again, and Everyone Can Bake is the how-to manual on going about that.