Death by Chocolate: The Last Word on a Consuming Passion [Hardcover]

The resurrection of Desaulniers' classic compilation will delight chocoholics. Glossy pages hold photographs of tempting decadent desserts- perfectly tempered truffles and tiered mousse cakes-that should inspire home bakers to break out the Baker's chocolate bars and get cooking. The first edition, which won The James Beard Award in 1993 for Best Dessert Book, has been expanded to celebrate its 10th anniversary. New recipes like The "Big Dig" complement traditional classics like Chocolate Espresso Fudge Cake. Two days work is recommended to create and assemble the Dig's four layers: chocolate blacktop batter cake, triple chocolate barrier, double chocolate pudding and whipped cream topper. Assembled into a chocolate cylinder, the dessert is pure chocolate dementia. Desaulniers is a master at layering flavors and textures; though the recipes are difficult (even the seemingly simple Essential Chocolate Mousses need careful attention), they are worth the effort. The instructions are as rich as the desserts: Desaulniers holds the reader's hand, advising on complex techniques: his notes on what the batter should look like at each step are particularly helpful. And there are notes of humor as well. At the end of the spectacular five-page recipe for Chocolate Wedlock, he advises the pastry chef to "quaff a well-chilled glass of champagne... you deserve it!" (The section "A Touch of Chocolate" contains slightly more restrained recipes, like Red Pear Sorbet and White Chocolate "Ice Cream" with Pralines and Caramel Sabayon.) This is death worth living by.
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Marcel Desaulniers, executive chef and co-owner of the Trellis Restaurant, has been named in Food and Wine's Honor Roll of Chefs and in Cooks magazine's Who's Who of Cooking; in 1988 he became the first chef from the South to be honored by the James Beard Foundation as a Great American Chef; he has been inducted into the American Academy of Chefs, the Honor Society of the American Culinary Federation; and he is on the Board of Trustees of the Culinary Institute of America. In addition, the Trellis Restaurant has won Restaurants & Institutions magazine's prestigious Ivy Award. Marcel Desaulniers is also the author of The Trellis Cookbook, about which Mimi Sheraton in Time magazine wrote, "Unlike most recipes from restaurant chefs, these can be managed by mere mortals with only two hands. A treasury of new American fare." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.