Pierre Herme Pastries (Revised Edition) Hardcover – October 9, 2012

Other reviewers have noticed some typos and omissions in this book; clearly there are some, and I hope that the publisher will produce an errata sheet as soon as possible.Still, in sum, this is just a fantastic work in every other way and I'm not regretting having bought it at all; in fact, I'd recommend that anyone interested in French pastry buy it immediately. I was thinking of docking the book one star for these problems, but in retrospect, I decided that this book is so outstanding on other dimensions, that I still think its worth five stars to its intended audience.To give you some background about me, I went to cooking school in France and have been a fan of Pierre Herme's for years. I have a number of his French language books as well.There are simply very few English language publications that go through the entire oeuvre of French pastry and give carefully refined and well thought out versions of every one of the classics. This book does that, and it does it very well. It's just really nice having a definitive recipe for basic things like chocolate eclairs and vanilla mille feuilles. But, I just love the way he's structured it. For each 'classic,' there's also Pierre Herme's modern interpretation of the recipe, with new flavors and methods.I have no doubt that these are the precise and actual recipes used by Herme himself. It does not appear that anything has been left out or 'dumbed down' for the US audience. Sometimes this means that you may have go to a professional ingredient supplier to get certain items, but these days with the internet, this is not really a problem.All of the recipes are laid out with metric, weight measurements. As some have mentioned, the conversions to volume measures might be off in certain cases. If I were making one of these recipes, I would rely on the weight measurements and ignore the volumes. I think anyone tackling professional recipes like these probably owns a scale.Ultimately, this is a professional book, or for people with a very intense interest in pastry. These are time consuming but extremely interesting recipes which pass on many 'tips of the trade' that are missing from most American publications. It is also a beautiful coffee table book for those who don't plan to make any of the recipes (and those people won't care about the occasional typo.)About the only thing I wish this book had were some line drawing diagrams that show how the elements of each recipe actually get put together. Many of the more complex desserts have 6-8 different elements, and seeing visually how they come together would make it much easier to produce the recipe.

I have made several recipes out of this book and they have all been amazing. Looking forward to what is next!!

when you are on a diet and really just want to be spellbound, this is the book for you. the pastries are beautiful. They get you to salivate. This renowned french pastry chef is absolutely divine. If you ever visit paris, go and taste his work. The recipes are somewhat challenging and inspirational. You have to be really motivated to attempt some of them. However, they are worth your time and the challenge.

This is a very beautiful book, but unless you've attended pastry school and know where to get some of the extremely specialized ingredients and equipment, you're not going to be able to make many of the recipes. I've been particularly frustrated by the number of recipes that call for 'pastry cream powder' (whatever that is...) and the fact that the piping tip sizes are weird. That being said, some of the more basic recipes are quite accessible. I've made some of the sables and the Sachertorte, and both came out beautifully.The point of this book is ultimately inspiration. While not all of us can easily obtain yuzu rind or pistachio paste, most of us can take away ideas of technique and flavor combinations. Anyone who's done much baking should have little trouble taking away the ideas that form the essence of this book and should be able to create some beautiful and innovative desserts.

Haven't really tried any of the recipes yet, but the book is absolutely beautiful and soo inspiring! Happy that I got it:) I will get back to you, when I cook something.. so far I recommend it.

I'm already an admirer of herme's work for some time now, and this is not the first herme book i have.beautiful recipes, beautiful photos of both classic french pastry & pierre's modern interpretations.this book is great for both beginners in pastry as it provides background and introduces best known classics and for more ambitious bakers- pierre is truly inspiring.i recommend it to all readers who admire french pastry

Gorgeous photographs and historical snippets about each recipe that can be read in a few minutes make this a great book for your guests to peruse while you are mixing their drinks or taking a phone call. It's a great book to show off the culinary brilliance of Pierre Herme and induce you to visit his restaurant.But it's not for learning to make pastry. It assumes that you already know the techniques. I don't mind buying good quality and special ingredients for a recipe, but nearly every recipes requires several things (caviar, black truffles, yuzu, etc.) that I would have to order. The print is too small for reading while cooking, and the books is large and awkwardly shaped for placing on your counter or cookbook holder.If you want a book of food porn - this is for you. If you want to cook, buy something else.

This book is too good to be true! Really outstanding!I was afraid to buy it due to previous reviews I have read, so I waited patiently for the revised edition. Now that it was revised, the book is perfect! A must have! The recipes are complete and the pictures are breathtaking! Can't wait to do all this wonderful desserts! P. H. is indeed the great master of patisserie!