Paris Sweets: Great Desserts from the City's Best Pastry Shops

The recipes are great, front to back it's a great read, I can hardly wait to try any of the recipes. The only thing I minded was the fact there are no photographs, I like to see what the finished product should look like.

I read the book first, cover to cover, before making any of the mouth watering recipes. Basic cooking skills only are needed and being able to follow written directions. Standard ingredients easily available. The stories she writes about recipe history and the chefs who designed them are well done and the pictures made in my mind while reading make me want to book a vacation centered around all the places and bakeries she describes.

The big caveat about this book is that it has no photographs. That has come to be an expectation for today's better cookbooks, and some of the recipes (such as Gateau Saint-Honore) demand them. However, Greenspan's descriptions are so clear and evocative that you not only have a very good idea of what the pastry in question should look like, you are also transported (or so you feel) into the author's emotions and memories associated with the pastries, bakeries and chefs. The whimsical drawings also help, although they are more of place and ingredients than finished products. While classics such as madelines, Opera Cake and the aforementioned gateau can be found, many of the recipes are updated versions of classics, such as the chocolate pound cake, Earl Grey madelines and Tigres. There are very few "new" recipes, though the ones included (such as the Chocolate Thyme Mousse) sound delicious. Many recipes are also surprisingly simple, such as the Chocolate Grandmother's cake. Plus, her recipes are so straightforward and easy to follow that you feel like you can tackle something like puff pastry and not encounter any difficulties (for the most part!). I currently have this book out of my library, but I think it's going to require a permanent space on my bookshelf.

I love Paris, and no vacation is every long enough. "Paris Sweets" helps bring back a small part of Paris' charm with detailed observations of the city's patissieres and other such anecdotes. Most importantly, the recipes are clear, concise, and delicious. Some of the recipes are time-consuming, and others are simple, but all are worth the effort. Although the recipes are what make up the core of this book, it is Dorie Greenspan's passion for pastry and Paris that sends me flipping through the pages again and again.

I adore this book. I based a trip to Paris this summer because of this book. Not only are the recipes wonderful, but learning the history of these famous pastry shops and what pastries they are famous for is enchanting. I also love the tips she gives you on the differences in butter, vanilla, etc.

Contemplating recipes in this new book from Dorie Greenspan, subtitled `Great Desserts from the City's Best Pastry Shops' is much like shopping for antiques in that furniture whose style and construction have survived either decades or centuries of wear and changes in taste is almost invariably of a higher quality than last month's great new thing. You don't even have the disadvantage of having to pay a premium price, as Ms. Greenspan's book list price is lower than many books containing mostly new recipes original with the author and her support team.Ms. Greenspan is not only reporting recipes from what she believes are the greatest patisseries in Paris, she is telling us from which shops these recipes come, and where these shops are located. Happily, some of these shops even have satellites in New York City. Yum.All of these recipes are classics. The Madeleine cookie is so important and so well known that Ms. Greenspan gives us three recipes from three different shops. Apparently, there are so many different recipes for Madeleines, she could have assembled a book from them alone.Cookies are the subject of the first chapter. Following chapters cover cakes, tarts, `pastries and small treats', and `grand gateaux'. The `pastries and small treats' chapter includes such standards as Crème Brulee, Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Bread Pudding, Ali-Babas (similar to baba au rhum), Tiger Tea Cakes, Soft Apple Cakes, Whipped Cream-Filled Meringues, Coffee Eclairs, Strawberry and Orange Flower Water Marshmallows, and Hot Chocolate. The `grand gateaux' chapter includes pastries such as Bacchus (raisin filled cake plus ganache and glaze), Opera Cake, Chocolate-Thyme Cake, Chocolate Temptation (ooh la la dessert), Blanc-manger (a very, very old French version of panna cotta), King's Cake (traditional after Christmas), Mille-Feuille (Napoleon), and Gate Saint-Honore. Decedent doesn't even begin to these homages to butter, cream, sugar, and eggs.The final chapter of `Base Recipes' contains just a few important pantry staples. Even though they look very familiar and are probably in the repertoire of every experienced pastry chef, they deserve a look, as they may be a bit different than what you are used to. The recipe for pate sucree, for example, includes almonds and vanilla, things which are not commonly in American sweet tart dough recipes.The recipes in this book are the main attraction, but they are not the only charm. There are lots of headnotes, asides, and sidebars on the recipes, the shops and their bakers who contributed the recipes, and the French take on classic ingredients such as butter, salt, vanilla, water, and eggs. A take on fleur de sel worth repeating is Dori's comparing it to extra virgin olive oil, the most desirable first yield from the olive oil harvest. The stories on the shops make me wish I was more in tune with French pastry when I was in Paris many, many years ago. Even the addresses of shops on streets such as the Boulevard Haussman an

I don't know how Ms. Greenspan charmed these renowned bakers into giving her their treasured recipes. Her descriptions of the bakeries are so evocative that photographs are not needed; all you need is your imagination. If you are interested in food or on your way to Paris, you should read this book. When you return from Paris after having tasted all those wonderful pastries and breads, you'll be able to relive the experience again in your own kitchen. There are a variety of recipes given, most basic enough for the average home baker, some requiring a little more effort. A sweet book indeed.