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The Professional Pastry Chef: Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry
The reference of choice for thousands of pastry chefs and home cooks
A favorite of pastry lovers and serious chefs worldwide, The Professional Pastry Chef presents comprehensive coverage of basic baking and pastry techniques in a fresh and approachable way. Now skillfully revised and redesigned to meet the needs of today's pastry kitchen, this classic reference is better-and easier to use-than ever.
The new edition contains more than 650 recipes, which offer a new emphasis on American applications of European techniques with yields suitable for restaurant service or for entertaining at home. It shares encyclopedic guidance on everything from mise en place preparation and basic doughs to new chapters covering flatbreads, crackers, and homestyle desserts. Throughout, award-winning Executive Pastry Chef Bo Friberg explains not only how to perform procedures, but also the principles behind them, helping readers to build a firm foundation based on understanding rather than memorizing formulas. Illustrated step-by-step instructions demystify even the most complex techniques and presentations, while 100 vivid color photographs bring finished dishes to life with a sublime touch of visual inspiration. Whether used to develop skills or refine techniques, to gain or simply broaden a repertoire, The Professional Pastry Chef is filled with information and ideas for creating mouthwatering baked goods and tantalizing desserts-today and for years to come.
A favorite of pastry lovers and serious chefs worldwide, The Professional Pastry Chef presents comprehensive coverage of basic baking and pastry techniques in a fresh and approachable way. Now skillfully revised and redesigned to meet the needs of today's pastry kitchen, this classic reference is better-and easier to use-than ever.
The new edition contains more than 650 recipes, which offer a new emphasis on American applications of European techniques with yields suitable for restaurant service or for entertaining at home. It shares encyclopedic guidance on everything from mise en place preparation and basic doughs to new chapters covering flatbreads, crackers, and homestyle desserts. Throughout, award-winning Executive Pastry Chef Bo Friberg explains not only how to perform procedures, but also the principles behind them, helping readers to build a firm foundation based on understanding rather than memorizing formulas. Illustrated step-by-step instructions demystify even the most complex techniques and presentations, while 100 vivid color photographs bring finished dishes to life with a sublime touch of visual inspiration. Whether used to develop skills or refine techniques, to gain or simply broaden a repertoire, The Professional Pastry Chef is filled with information and ideas for creating mouthwatering baked goods and tantalizing desserts-today and for years to come.
1040 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1989
43 people are currently reading
2172 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 28, 2014
Extensive Yet Lacking Science
1. Lacking the Fundamental Science
I bought this book for the purpose of understanding the world of pastry and baking, but instead I got basically lists of recipes. This book basically contains recipes upon recipes, so many recipes (which is good). But I was hoping for a deeper understanding approach to baking. I wanted comprehension not just recipes.
Reviews in Amazon says science is abundant in this book, that's just not true. The appendix has lots of info on ingredients and terminology and equipments, but what is truly important is the science and understanding behind the dish. And what you will find is mostly just a background story, history, and not so deep intro and explanation. Of course it doesn't mean science is absent, oh no! It is far from absent! But for a book that thick, I expect way deeper science! So instead, this book is more like a gigantic collection of recipes!
EXAMPLE: Making cakes, I expect to read a comprehensive understanding on cake. But unfortunately, instead you will find that on Bo's next book: The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef. I look inside the preview in Amazon and I find the explanation that I need about cake in the Advanced book. Wow! I wonder if that knowledge is "advanced". There is nothing advanced in knowing that flour must be incorporated completely before adding the melted butter! It's a very basic and essential knowledge that should be placed inside the Fundamentals book, NOT the Advanced one!
In this sense, the book is disappointing. I hate following recipes blindly without stepping forward in understanding.
2. The recipes are mehhh. You can read in other reviews too. Even my old Julia Child's book has much more delicious mousse! The recipes are not very scrumptious. Another disappointment.
But I am still in the process of reading. So far, many recipes I've tried are just average (in terms of deliciousness). But Bo's Chocolate Decadence is yuuummm! When I've made more, I will update this review.
3. Lacking in photographs. Photos are not placed next to the recipes but compiled in between certain pages.
———
The POSITIVE sides that makes this book wonderful:
• Lots of recipes! 1000 pages and you get much more than you can think of (for a fundamental book!)
• The appendix itself is a book within a book! I looove the information on chocolate, sugar, the table about edible flowers! So you still got an amazing amount of infos!
• Lots of illustrations. Most are VERY helpful and essential to the fundamentals of baking!
1. Lacking the Fundamental Science
I bought this book for the purpose of understanding the world of pastry and baking, but instead I got basically lists of recipes. This book basically contains recipes upon recipes, so many recipes (which is good). But I was hoping for a deeper understanding approach to baking. I wanted comprehension not just recipes.
Reviews in Amazon says science is abundant in this book, that's just not true. The appendix has lots of info on ingredients and terminology and equipments, but what is truly important is the science and understanding behind the dish. And what you will find is mostly just a background story, history, and not so deep intro and explanation. Of course it doesn't mean science is absent, oh no! It is far from absent! But for a book that thick, I expect way deeper science! So instead, this book is more like a gigantic collection of recipes!
EXAMPLE: Making cakes, I expect to read a comprehensive understanding on cake. But unfortunately, instead you will find that on Bo's next book: The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef. I look inside the preview in Amazon and I find the explanation that I need about cake in the Advanced book. Wow! I wonder if that knowledge is "advanced". There is nothing advanced in knowing that flour must be incorporated completely before adding the melted butter! It's a very basic and essential knowledge that should be placed inside the Fundamentals book, NOT the Advanced one!
In this sense, the book is disappointing. I hate following recipes blindly without stepping forward in understanding.
2. The recipes are mehhh. You can read in other reviews too. Even my old Julia Child's book has much more delicious mousse! The recipes are not very scrumptious. Another disappointment.
But I am still in the process of reading. So far, many recipes I've tried are just average (in terms of deliciousness). But Bo's Chocolate Decadence is yuuummm! When I've made more, I will update this review.
3. Lacking in photographs. Photos are not placed next to the recipes but compiled in between certain pages.
———
The POSITIVE sides that makes this book wonderful:
• Lots of recipes! 1000 pages and you get much more than you can think of (for a fundamental book!)
• The appendix itself is a book within a book! I looove the information on chocolate, sugar, the table about edible flowers! So you still got an amazing amount of infos!
• Lots of illustrations. Most are VERY helpful and essential to the fundamentals of baking!
June 6, 2012
great book, difficult recipes but everything I've made so far has been absolutely delicious
Update:
I've made the vanilla custard from this book about 12 times now. It is so good churned into ice cream. We've made peanut butter/white chocolate; smore (chocolate, marshmallow served with graham crackers); chocolate fudge; caramel; blackberry (not my favorite but a minority absolutely love it); vanilla bean, my favorite; and a few more I can't remember now.
We also love the pumpkin bread recipe, the Parker House rolls, and the cheesecakes. Our favorite savory from this book is the garlic-herb bread rolled into a rectangle, sprinkled generously with spices and cheese, rolled like cinnamon rolls, proofed, baked, sliced and made into a sandwich with roasted red peppers, flavored mayonnaise, tender meat, and a bunch of other toppings.
I probably shouldn't have skipped breakfast this morning.
Update:
I've made the vanilla custard from this book about 12 times now. It is so good churned into ice cream. We've made peanut butter/white chocolate; smore (chocolate, marshmallow served with graham crackers); chocolate fudge; caramel; blackberry (not my favorite but a minority absolutely love it); vanilla bean, my favorite; and a few more I can't remember now.
We also love the pumpkin bread recipe, the Parker House rolls, and the cheesecakes. Our favorite savory from this book is the garlic-herb bread rolled into a rectangle, sprinkled generously with spices and cheese, rolled like cinnamon rolls, proofed, baked, sliced and made into a sandwich with roasted red peppers, flavored mayonnaise, tender meat, and a bunch of other toppings.
I probably shouldn't have skipped breakfast this morning.
November 24, 2012
The Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg is a must-have reference for all serious bakers / pastry chefs. It appears frequently as part of baking / pastry arts curriculums for good reason: Chef Bo clearly explains techniques and plating suggestions with a healthy (and entertaining) dash of food science along the way. The first of two volumes (the second being The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef), this gorgeous (and hefty) tome walks the novice pastry chef through glazes, meringues, basic doughs (short dough, puff pastry, pate a choux, pasta), yeast breads, breakfast breads and pastries, quick breads / pound cakes, sponge cakes, decorated cakes, individual pastries, ice cream, and custard-type desserts. The section on plated desserts is worth the price of the book alone, as you'll find templates for pastry cutouts, piping instructions, etc.
First and foremost, this is NOT a book for the average home baker. In most cases, the yields (and quantities, which are given in weights, not volume) are geared towards restaurants / foodservice, although certain bread recipes are scaled down for smaller yields, such as the small-batch Black Forest bread with cocoa and dried cherries, challah, and Southwestern corn and cheese bread.
The included line drawings are enormously helpful to illustrate techniques. The Chef's Tips and sidebars further explain techniques or recipe-specific advice. Several in-depth charts like cookie recipes categorized by texture, production method, and storage capability provide an at-a-glance guide to what would be an otherwise overwhelming number of recipes to juggle.
The book particularly excels in its treatment of European (French/Italian/Viennese) pastries. Even the ice cream chapter yields unique flavor surprises, like the macadamia nut ice cream, banana-poppy seed ice cream, and avocado-mango ice cream. You'll find unusual frozen yogurts as well, like black-pepper honey, gingered pineapple, and strawberry-rhubarb frozen yogurt with ginger, that provide a welcome change.
The comprehensive appendices cover nearly 150 pages alone, including an extremely thorough glossary of ingredients and tools, precise metric conversions and metric equivalents, metric/US length, weight, and volume equivalents, and a particularly helpful section on yields, baker's percentages, and Baumé / Brix scale readings.
Despite owning several dozen baking books, I find myself coming back time and again to "The Professional Pastry Chef" for its clear instructions, charts, and fascinating food science tidbits. Chef Bo makes for a most pleasant and patient instructor, and his thorough explanations of techniques and ingredients will serve you well whether you're an advanced home baker or an experienced pastry chef.
First and foremost, this is NOT a book for the average home baker. In most cases, the yields (and quantities, which are given in weights, not volume) are geared towards restaurants / foodservice, although certain bread recipes are scaled down for smaller yields, such as the small-batch Black Forest bread with cocoa and dried cherries, challah, and Southwestern corn and cheese bread.
The included line drawings are enormously helpful to illustrate techniques. The Chef's Tips and sidebars further explain techniques or recipe-specific advice. Several in-depth charts like cookie recipes categorized by texture, production method, and storage capability provide an at-a-glance guide to what would be an otherwise overwhelming number of recipes to juggle.
The book particularly excels in its treatment of European (French/Italian/Viennese) pastries. Even the ice cream chapter yields unique flavor surprises, like the macadamia nut ice cream, banana-poppy seed ice cream, and avocado-mango ice cream. You'll find unusual frozen yogurts as well, like black-pepper honey, gingered pineapple, and strawberry-rhubarb frozen yogurt with ginger, that provide a welcome change.
The comprehensive appendices cover nearly 150 pages alone, including an extremely thorough glossary of ingredients and tools, precise metric conversions and metric equivalents, metric/US length, weight, and volume equivalents, and a particularly helpful section on yields, baker's percentages, and Baumé / Brix scale readings.
Despite owning several dozen baking books, I find myself coming back time and again to "The Professional Pastry Chef" for its clear instructions, charts, and fascinating food science tidbits. Chef Bo makes for a most pleasant and patient instructor, and his thorough explanations of techniques and ingredients will serve you well whether you're an advanced home baker or an experienced pastry chef.
October 10, 2020
ماحصل اینهمه کتاب شیرینیپزی/آشپزی خوندنم چی بوده؟
این که همه رسپیها رو با هم کامباین کرده و یه رسپی جدید درمیآرم!
تا الان که خوب شدن؛ ایشالا هیچوقت فاجعه نشه.
این که همه رسپیها رو با هم کامباین کرده و یه رسپی جدید درمیآرم!
تا الان که خوب شدن؛ ایشالا هیچوقت فاجعه نشه.
March 6, 2011
Invaluable.
December 12, 2016
This may not be the perfect book for the home cook but if you want to become a pastry chef or get into the business, this is a MUST HAVE. No part of the art of pastry making is omitted. It does tend to get a little technical for a novice, then again I don't think it is really geared for that audience. If you have someone wanting to fully envelope themselves in the world of pastries, this is the book!
May 19, 2019
have to admit this is the only book from school that i still keep
this one and the Advanced pastry chef 3rd addition
this one and the Advanced pastry chef 3rd addition
September 30, 2024
Great 👍🏻
July 15, 2014
First and for most, this is not a cookbook for the masses or even for the inexperienced cook. Only get this if you are committed to creating and honing your skills.
I looked & looked and lo, this is not available in the preferred ebook format so I ordered it. I understand now why it isn't available in this way. Like the Larousse Gastronomique, this is a tool and reference book clearly meant for the professional chef. This tome is worth every gram of it's rather massive weight in vital tools to make just about every classic pastry or baked confection imaginable, at least from the western food styles. There are some colour photos, but it's predominantly illustrated in a basic way.
I have scanned it from end to end, and tagged the areas which are of immediate interest to me. I'm sure to use it over the years, for many different circumstances.
I looked & looked and lo, this is not available in the preferred ebook format so I ordered it. I understand now why it isn't available in this way. Like the Larousse Gastronomique, this is a tool and reference book clearly meant for the professional chef. This tome is worth every gram of it's rather massive weight in vital tools to make just about every classic pastry or baked confection imaginable, at least from the western food styles. There are some colour photos, but it's predominantly illustrated in a basic way.
I have scanned it from end to end, and tagged the areas which are of immediate interest to me. I'm sure to use it over the years, for many different circumstances.
Read
November 14, 2011Okay, I'm not really reading this on an ongoing basis, but I do peruse it often, especially in those moments when I'm dream of chucking it all to become a pastry chef. This is essentially a textbook for pastry, so it comes in handy, especially when it comes to learning the science of baking. I've thought about working my way through it, a la "Julie and Julia," but it would take many years - it's huge!
May 27, 2016
The must have to know regarding baking and pastry can be found here in this great book as it discussed the basics of baking and I did appreciate it specially for a beginner like me who doesn't have a background in baking but just learned from scratch a few recipes from my collection of recipe books. This is highly recommended for starter and it can pave your way to being a professional baker someday I just love this book with all the great knowledge it can impart for a newbie like me.
May 18, 2013
I bought this book in the late 1990s. It was my reward for getting an "A" on an anatomy exam. I loved it: wonderful pictures and recipes I aspired to make. Unfortunately, I don't think I made any of the desserts. For a novice baker at the time, it was much too complicated. However, for those aspiring to be the best of the best, it is an excellent resource.
September 16, 2008
Good stockpile of recipes for professional reference. The plated desserts representations are pretty tacky however.
Read
May 17, 2009The Professional Pastry Chef: Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry, 4th Edition by Bo Friberg (2002)
December 18, 2009
The bible of baking
August 6, 2011
Essential reading for any pastry person.
December 11, 2012
Chef Bo was my teacher at CCA he inspired me and I have used this book for years. My original copy is now held together by tape.
Read
January 7, 2013a great reference book for any pastry chef, good reliable volume recipes
June 1, 2013
Do you like to bake?
Get a scale (to measure your ingredients with) and get this book.
Go to Amazon order said book
Be in love with your creations :)
Get a scale (to measure your ingredients with) and get this book.
Go to Amazon order said book
Be in love with your creations :)
December 18, 2013
Used this in my apprentice program and I still use it.
January 6, 2022
A hefty book with some great recipes.
February 2, 2010
Oh to have my own bakery... or dessert bistro.
Want to read
September 25, 2017pastry
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews