Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner

Every baker or pastry chef that spends time reading to improve their skills knows that out of the multitude of available books for each subject, a handful stand out. Books that can dramatically improve one's skills or even open new paths of creativity. This is one of these books. Excellent in every way. From the theory to the recipes and from the explanation to the products this book stands out. I am a professional baker/pastry chef and I have rarely seen such professional work in a book.If one acquires this book ,along with 'Fine chocolates' by Wybauw and 'Making artisan chocolates' by Shotts, then they are on a good road to master the techniques of chocolate and candymaking. This book includes chocolate work, candy making, nougats, dipped goods, ganaches ,moulded products, jellies and many more. The theory is detailed and clear and the photos are luscius and a treat to the eye.There is a multitude of recipes all using mostly easy to find ingredients and traditional methods, with no preservatives. This book is not the same as Wybauw's. His is similar but, with a special interest in preservation. As another reviewer wrote, the two books are complementary. Another aspect of the book that I like is that all recipes are in the Metric system, the Imperial system and in percentage formula form. Also all temperatures are in Celsius and Farhenheit. With almost 400 pages and at this price this is a must for the serious candymaker and chocolatier.

Contents of book: cream ganaches (liquor, orange, amaretti, chai, pear, passion vanilla, habanos, hazelnut latte, etc...) , butter ganache (gingerbread, orange, raspberry, lemon, etc...), hard candies (caramels, taffies, soft caramels, toffees, etc...), sugar candies (cherry cordials, different fudges, etc...) , jellied candies (candied fruits, jellies...), and nougats. Incredible comprehensive book. Greweling takes a scientific approch to chocolate making, so you get all the science behind the everything. In that way, it is similar to a textbook. In terms of techniques, this book is a rigorous as you will find. For instance, the technique of molding chocolates is described in 18 steps and 9 pictures. Chocolate molding and dipping defects are described over 3 pages. Preventing 'broken' ganches are described over 5 pages. It talks about freezing. And so on. In terms of recipes, extremely comprehensive. 28 cream ganache recipes, 11 butter ganache. And that's only up to p173 out of 375. Because of the emphasis on technique and science, this book teaches you to teach yourself. That's the real beauty of the book. On top of it all, the photography is beautiful. In terms of difficulty level, I think it's for all levels. A true beginner can skip through the science and just just try out a few recipes. An advanced chocolatier can still find useful information in the tips and recipes. In terms of ingredients, some of the ingredients in some recipes are tough to find for beginners (invert sugar, invertase, co2 cartridges), but a beginner can still pick through and find a recipe to make. Must have for the serious chocolatier. Compared to other books, Jean-Pierre Wybauw's book is similar in its 'science and technical' nature, covering similar but not always exactly the same stuff. These two books are complementary, and both excellent. It is also complementary to Shott's book, which is less scientific and slightly less on technique, but has very nice recipes and a little cheaper.

This is a hefty tome that covers virtually every base out there with regards to candy making. Sure, it says "chocolate" in the title, but you'll find enough info on gummis, gels, marshmallows, nougats, caramels and nut pastes to start your own little candy empire. It's expensive, but I've never seen such a thorough discussion of the properties of agar anywhere else, and it's well printed and well bound. I learned at least 10 new things in the first five minutes worth of flipping through the pages at random, so I consider it a wise investment.

For the past year I have been trying to re-create a common candy, with very poor results. I have been unable to find the recipe in any book, and the recipes found on the internet caused miserable failures. Then I found this book. Part textbook and part cookbook, it makes me feel as though I am reading a book of trade secrets. It contains several versions of the "secret" recipe I've been searching for, and goes into scientific detail as to how to make the recipe succeed. I don't mean any of the usual "at high altitude increase temperature" or stuff like that. I mean DETAIL as to why the ingredients do what they do, and how to identify a solution if your experiment should fail. The photographs are gorgeous and serve to inspire even a novice like me to become an artisan candy chef. With a chapter dedicated to explaining the right equipment to guide me, I feel I may even succeed.