The Professional Pastry Chef: Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry

I have had this book for a while now. It is designed for a professional chef. There are no simple recipes in this book. Many of the recipes require ingredients which I cannot find in my current location. Many of the recipes require you to have spent time creating almond paste, creme patisserie etc... BEFORE you start the recipe. The index is all-encompassing. The index for the word "chocolate" is about two pages long. The techniques described in the book are written in a way which is easy to understand. The croissant recipe is complicated but worthwhile. The cinnamon twists are amazing. I have learned lots of techniques from this book. It is expensive but invaluable, in my humble opinion. I would not recommend this book for a beginner looking to bake a quick cake. It will put them off for life. The author is a total perfectionist who has spent years deciding what is the best combination of techniques and ingredients to achieve baking perfection and this passion comes across in every recipe. No 5 minute muffin recipes here.

I really like this book. It takes a little getting used, I didn't open and go "wow! I love it!" but it's a grower and I think they are the best. It's dense, there are very few coloured pictures. It's very big and it is intended as an accompaniment to a pastry student. I am a keen novice and home cook but for me I want to know the hows and whys and I want to be able to recreate the best things at home. It would take a long time to work your way through this book but it's great to dip into in the mean time. There are tons of recipes, as another reviewer mentioned you will likely need to sclae down if you're a home cook but it does offer you quanties for a half batch for many recipes, so if you have a large family or hungry friends this may suffice. It's very clear, it offers you background to some well known bakes. It tells you how to make pastries, doughs and fillings, it explains things like the bakers percentage/ratio, it explains what you are looking for and encourages you to bake in order and plan ahead to create efficiency. It's got a nice explanation on getting a good rise and flavour from your bread and lots more! I'm only beginning to scratch the surface of this book and I have not yet baked many recipes from it but I have used the fundemental priciples it explains in recipes from my other books and it's really making a difference. It gives you tips on how to do so many things, it's not colourful, it's not instant gratfication spoon fed to you but once you get beneath the surface of this book it's a gem.

As someone involved in the catering business and pastry studious, this book is absolutely second to none. Set on really eye-catching print, with very well laid out recipe content, and photographs that will have you drooling copiously in your dreams, this book is extremely addictive. The amount of information in Classical repertoire techniques, and topics covered explained in great detail by the Masterchef are such a wealth, and the appendix of weights, measures and yields at the end is really a great addition. All of this is reflected on the heavy albeit deserved price tag. Given the size of the book, further expansion on hand drawn illustration techniques and some more photographs would have made this great book even greater, that is my only criticism. I have owned this book along with the Advanced edition, and tried now a great amount of recipes ranging in complexity, and I can say they all work flavourwise. Having said that, some recipes don't show you the best possible method, which can now be surpassed in efficiency following more modern and contemporary techniques that were not so prevailing at the time, however you will have an effective method and something that is proven to work.

Excellent as a reference book. Probably too bulky to be at hand all the time but if you ever have a question about anything you might imagine in pastry the answer is probably there. It covers most techniques you will ever encounter and clearly explains why we do things this way. The recipes and presentation of certain pastries are a little outdated to my taste but it is probably the best book on techniques, tools and ingredients I currently own. And I don't think after buying this one I'd need any other to cover this part of the domain.

This is a substantial book, a full 1000 A4 pages of probably a good 900 recipes - it's more like a dessert bible rather than a Jamie/ Gordon/ Hugo cookbook. I am a not particularly able amateur and so far I have tried around 5 recipes and each has been wonderful (flourless spice cake, danish pastries, shoehorn pastries, almond macaroons and chocolate gugelhupfs). The instructions are clear and easy to follow, there are plenty of photographs littered through so you can compare your efforts to Bo's and (what was my favourite bit) a marvellous little introductory to each recipe, detailing some of the history of the cake, some personal anecdotes, descriptions of the end result, etc. I have frequently sat down and just skimmed through the book reading these. Obviously this has been written primarily with the professional in mind and so each recipe is generally for 90 pastries or some other such huge number but all it takes is a calculator and digital scales and this is easily overcome. Another thing to bear in mind is that some recipes can take a while, especially yeast based ones as (no shortcuts) Bo will have you leavig them to prove three times for around an hour each. This isn't true for all of them, the macaroons in fact being turned out in less than half an hour, cooking time included. Overall, this is a brilliant book and one of my most treasured cookery reference books. I only wish it came on Sony Ebook reader.

This book is definitely for professionals, it's got loads of advice, and suitable for everyone, saying that, you need to put an extra effort though to make the recipes, as there is hardly any photos, all in all is a brilliant book.

This huge book is for you if you want to learn everything from basics! Its like full school course in the book. Different techniques, examples, some pictures and lots of different pastry goodies!

As part of my studying, to be a pastry chef, this book completes all the loose ends. It have methods of the very basic, and above all this book tell the why - so it is get easier when I am approaching new recipes. Thanks Bo Friberg

El libro me gusto mucho!! Pero debo admitir que para persona que hacen estas cosas como hobby y no como profesional, a veces es difícil de hacer la receta correctamente porque muchos detalles no están explicadas y muchas recetas tienen descripción bastante general. Por eso con unas recetas he tirado muchas productos a la basura por probar varios veces sin éxito final. También el parte de panes está bastante pobre. Y claro que como el autor es suizo con influencias americanas, unos ingredientes habrá que esforzarse para encontrar o la manera más fácil es simplificar la receta y omitir unos ingredientes normalmente, el pastel final no sufre mucho :) Pero en general el libro está muy bien, por el precio que tiene es de muy buena calidad. Hay muchísimas recetas y la mayoría me han quedado perfectos y muy muy rícos

My book was a bit damaged when i received it. Some of the pages were ripped and stuck together with glue. Not very happy about that.

This book is the same used by our professional cooking students at a local college and my staff (we serve up to several thousand meals a day) so I bought a copy for myself, as I am not a baker by trade. I found it very enlightening and filled in many of the gaps that I lack in the baking field. Since I normally work in cups and spoons, using the weights was different for me (buy a scale if you plan to use this book). I would have liked to see a little more info on blown and manipulated sugar (but then I suppose that is what the next book is for) and a few more recipes for phyllo pastry usage, pies, and petit fours. The author is clearly a high level professional and his instructions are clear. He explains much of the science behind the way the food is produced, which aids greatly in production. I don't recommend this book for the casual home baker as many of the quantities are huge and have to be paired down as well as some recipes talk about using equipment that you would find in a commercial kitchen (i.e. steam injectors for ovens when cooking bagettes). However, having prepared several recipes from this book I am very satisfied.

I purchased this book during my senior year of college as a culinary arts students at Johnson & Wales University in 2002. Even now, 14 years later, I still cherish it dearly. It is well written, the formulas are fantastic and the baked breads, pastries and desserts turn out great and tasty. What I loved most when I originally purchased it back then, is that it was written in the style of a veteran chef, speaking to and teaching younger apprentices the fundamentals and foundations of baking. It is filled with little anecdotal stories, best practices tips and scientific breakdown of the baking process. What I love most about it now, after having worked in the industry, is that I see and know first-hand, the artistry and wisdom in the formulas. I have made countless creations using Bo's formulas and although I have tweaked some over the years, I still keep the essence of what the original formulas were trying to convey. Whether a professional chef or culinary student at home, this book is highly recommended. Due to the yield sizes and techniques, it may be a bit intimidating for home bakers.

Erg blij met het boek. Mooie recepten. Klein puntje, ik wil altijd graag de bakvormen gebruiken die vermeld staan bij een recept. Een aantal recepten vragen om een bakvorm die niet standaard zijn. Omrekenen dus of een zoektocht over de wereld via internet. Recepten worden ook in grammen vermeld, voor mij een groot voordeel.