Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner by Peter P. Greweling, The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner
Book Review: Great book with loads of information
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very thorough and authoritative book about making all kinds of chocolates and candy. The science behind the cooking is explained in great detail in easy-to-read language, and there are a lot of recipes! I bought the book for truffle recipes but there's so much more in here, including some interesting nougat recipes. The author goes into great detail to describe the tempering process and the recipes are easy to understand and logically put together.
I have not made any recipes from this book yet (I only make candy once a year), but the technique and scientific instruction alone makes it worth the price. A couple of minor dislikes are that the recipes are large, some of them for 120 pieces of candy at a time. I personally prefer to make smaller batches with more variety. Also, there isn't any accompanying text describing each recipe, so one doesn't really get a feel for how it's supposed to turn out, other than by looking at the (gorgeous) pictures. For example, I want to make a soft nougat, but the author doesn't explain in any of the nougat recipes what the exact consistency should be, other than by their temperature or "break into pieces" which I assume means it's a hard nougat. I wish he would have made a short note at the beginning of the recipe, like "this is a dense, chewy nougat" or "this will have a whipped, frothy consistency."
Other than that, I would highly recommend this book!
Book Review: Basic and easy to understand
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this book for its comprehensive review of the chocolate tempering process. Prior to reading it I already had some tempering experience in a food lab with small tempering unit but have only done this a few times and needed to firm up the basics. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this book has so much more than just chocolate overview. It really gives an outstanding primer on sugar- based confections, including caramels, nougat, hard boiled and gummy candies, marshmallows etc. The explanation of candy making techniques is easy to understand and follow. I did have a few issues with whipping marshmallows to the desired stiffness, but I attribute it to inconsistencies of the whipping time.
I've been making caramels for my company, Das Foods for about 7 months before I purchased this book and and yet I found some very helpful suggestions to improve texture and reduce stickiness of our caramels.
Overall, an excellent book that highly recommend to anyone who has passion and iterest in making confections
Book Review: Excellent book
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent book. It has a balance of the science of chocolate with the art of chocolate. Excellent photographs of the products and great recipes. A must have!Book Review: THE CANDY BOOK BY WHICH OTHERS SHOULD BE MEASURED
Summary: 5 Stars
Every baker or pastry chef that spends time reading to improve their skills knows that out of the multitude of available books for each subject, a handful stand out. Books that can dramatically improve one's skills or even open new paths of creativity. This is one of these books. Excellent in every way. From the theory to the recipes and from the explanation to the products this book stands out. I am a professional baker/pastry chef and I have rarely seen such professional work in a book.If one acquires this book ,along with 'Fine chocolates' by Wybauw and 'Making artisan chocolates' by Shotts, then they are on a good road to master the techniques of chocolate and candymaking.
This book includes chocolate work, candy making, nougats, dipped goods, ganaches ,moulded products, jellies and many more. The theory is detailed and clear and the photos are luscius and a treat to the eye.There is a multitude of recipes all using mostly easy to find ingredients and traditional methods, with no preservatives.
This book is not the same as Wybauw's. His is similar but, with a special interest in preservation. As another reviewer wrote, the two books are complementary.
Another aspect of the book that I like is that all recipes are in the Metric system, the Imperial system and in percentage formula form. Also all temperatures are in Celsius and Farhenheit.
With almost 400 pages and at this price this is a must for the serious candymaker and chocolatier.
Book Review: Professional Candy Making Master Class
Summary: 5 Stars
Take the subtitle of this book seriously: 'for the artisan confectioner'. If you are a beginner who is just learning how to make candy, this book is not for you. However, if you have experience successfully making candy (and this includes hobbyists at home or professionals) and want to take your skills to the next level, this book is it. What do I mean by this? Try this: can you make both a soft and firm ganache off the top of your head without a recipe? Do you know the difference? Have you even made ganache before? How many degrees does it take to go from soft ball to hard ball?
Those who know how to make basic candy recipes have little chance to advance their skills. Usually, it involves a plane trip to a different part of the country or even to Europe to get advanced candy training. With this book and a little dedicated effort, perhaps you can skip the plane trip and hotel booking.
Examples:
1) it has extensive tables on various candy failures, and the remedies
2) there are extensive theoretical explanations; not much practical importance, but significant nonetheless
3) it is the only resource I know of that describes all 4 methods of tempering chocolate, along with warnings of common pitfalls
4) all the recipes are proven, professional ones that are production ready for your workplace.
5) there are many color pictures to show you what your finished product will look like (I only wish there were more, one for each and every recipe).