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Bake Off: Crème de la Crème
Make your cooking the crème de la crème - learn the tips and tricks of Britain's greatest pastry chefs with the book of the spectacular BBC series, from the team behind Great British Bake Off.
With patisserie skills broken down to their simplest elements, you will soon be familiar with the ingredients, equipment and chemistry behind the showstopping creations you see on-screen and in the best restaurants, and be inspired to make your own irresistibly indulgent treats.
From croissants to intricately layered slices and eye-catching petit gateaux, each mouth-watering recipe is illustrated with stunning photographs and accompanied by expert advice on equipment and how to achieve a truly professional finish.
The recipes covered
Baking and Viennoiserie
Layered slices
Patisserie
Petit gateaux
Tarts
Classic puddings and desserts
Petit Fours and biscuits
The perfect book for Great British Bake Off fans wanting to take their bakes to the next level, or anyone inspired by the BBC series to find out more about the secrets of great patisserie.
With patisserie skills broken down to their simplest elements, you will soon be familiar with the ingredients, equipment and chemistry behind the showstopping creations you see on-screen and in the best restaurants, and be inspired to make your own irresistibly indulgent treats.
From croissants to intricately layered slices and eye-catching petit gateaux, each mouth-watering recipe is illustrated with stunning photographs and accompanied by expert advice on equipment and how to achieve a truly professional finish.
The recipes covered
Baking and Viennoiserie
Layered slices
Patisserie
Petit gateaux
Tarts
Classic puddings and desserts
Petit Fours and biscuits
The perfect book for Great British Bake Off fans wanting to take their bakes to the next level, or anyone inspired by the BBC series to find out more about the secrets of great patisserie.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published July 11, 2017
54 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 14, 2017
Not for the faint hearted. This professional "spin off" of the popular Great British Bake Off gives an insight into the world of professional pastry chefs and patisserie in general.
I should admit and warn from the beginning - this review will be anything but objective! I love baking, I love eating sweet things, it's what after 9 years in an office made me quit my job and pursue my dream of becoming a chef! A dream which became my reality - through sweat, tears, but most of all hard work, I can now, proudly, call myself a professional pastry chef, but back to the book ;)
I absolutely love it! Not only it's beautifully published, on a high quality paper and with stunning photos, but the content is of the highest quality too! If you happen to watch the first season of the programme you'll see few recipes from it, but the book is mainly full of "the classics" - layered delices, petit gateaux, various tarts, bakery (brioche, croissants), patisserie (dacquaise, mille feuille, puff pastry) and classic puddings like trifle, black forest or sticky toffee pudding.
Recipes, even if quite lengthy and with many different steps and techniques, are clear and easy to follow (most of them have accompanied photos explaining key steps within each dessert). In regards to the level of difficulty it's rather hard for me to judge. The recipes might seem daunting for a home baker, but I'd say give it a go! If you've baked before and have some basic knowledge you should succeed.
My advice - read the list of ingredients AND the recipe till the very end, before you even take that bowl and spoon out of your cupboard. Some of the desserts require preparing some parts of it in advance, or need to be chilled for certain amount of time before full assembly is possible, either way - prepare yourself accordingly.
This monster of a cookbook will be an ideal present for a pastry chef, as well as an aspiring home baker/amateur patissier :)
It's a brilliant source of classic recipes, new ideas, sometimes unusual flavour combinations, but most of all - baking showstoppers!
It's a cookbook that I've already been using good few times - both at home and at work, all those times, with a success!
I should admit and warn from the beginning - this review will be anything but objective! I love baking, I love eating sweet things, it's what after 9 years in an office made me quit my job and pursue my dream of becoming a chef! A dream which became my reality - through sweat, tears, but most of all hard work, I can now, proudly, call myself a professional pastry chef, but back to the book ;)
I absolutely love it! Not only it's beautifully published, on a high quality paper and with stunning photos, but the content is of the highest quality too! If you happen to watch the first season of the programme you'll see few recipes from it, but the book is mainly full of "the classics" - layered delices, petit gateaux, various tarts, bakery (brioche, croissants), patisserie (dacquaise, mille feuille, puff pastry) and classic puddings like trifle, black forest or sticky toffee pudding.
Recipes, even if quite lengthy and with many different steps and techniques, are clear and easy to follow (most of them have accompanied photos explaining key steps within each dessert). In regards to the level of difficulty it's rather hard for me to judge. The recipes might seem daunting for a home baker, but I'd say give it a go! If you've baked before and have some basic knowledge you should succeed.
My advice - read the list of ingredients AND the recipe till the very end, before you even take that bowl and spoon out of your cupboard. Some of the desserts require preparing some parts of it in advance, or need to be chilled for certain amount of time before full assembly is possible, either way - prepare yourself accordingly.
This monster of a cookbook will be an ideal present for a pastry chef, as well as an aspiring home baker/amateur patissier :)
It's a brilliant source of classic recipes, new ideas, sometimes unusual flavour combinations, but most of all - baking showstoppers!
It's a cookbook that I've already been using good few times - both at home and at work, all those times, with a success!
February 4, 2019
It really does break these incredibly fancy and specific recipes down into the simplest steps possible, which is nice -- I just don't think I'll ever use it unless HRM and Princess Kate come to call.
August 21, 2017
For me this was AWFUL!!! There were hardly any pictures and all of the ingredients are in grams, so not american conversions. This book is also not for the novice baker. There are pages and pages of ingredients and instructions. It made me very annoyed.
April 9, 2016
Lovely book with easy to follow instructions and equipment lists. There are plenty of photos so you know what the recipe is supposed to look like.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews