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From the Author
I am sorry that "a reader from Weehawken" is distressed that "Desserts by Pierre Herme" does not include measurements in weight, but his concern gives me the opportunity to present one of the most fascinating responsibilities a serious cookbook author has when working with a professional chef’s recipes – translating and adapting the recipes for an American home kitchen. And, indeed, although professionals have shown a tremendous interest in this book, "Desserts" was written with the American home baker in mind. Thus, it was an editorial decision to present all the measurements in the standard way, which in America means by volume, using cups and tablespoons.
Pierre Herme’s recipes were given to me in French, tested in France with French ingredients, which were measured in grams and liters. To make them suitable for the American kitchen took intensive testing of each recipe, an interesting process since many of the ingredients Pierre uses in France are not manufactured in the same way in America. For example, French butter typically has less water than American butter does; all-purpose flour has less gluten; and a French chef’s supply of confectioner’s sugar never contains cornstarch, as ours does.
Knowing these differences, I began the collaboration with Pierre by reviewing all of the recipes with him, discussing the flavor combinations, the construction and the techniques. We then tasted all of the recipes in Paris. Naturally, Pierre’s recipes were in weights. I then went back to the United States and set about recreating these recipes for the American home baker. The first step was to weigh out – in grams (I own four different scales) – all of the American ingredients. Each of these carefully weighed ingredients was then converted to volume measurement by actually transferring the ingredient itself to a cup or tablespoon or combination that most accurately reflected the original weight. The dessert was then constructed. If the recipe came out as it was in France, the volume measurements stayed as they were – this means that sometimes there are awkward measurements, such as 2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon. But often the recipes had to be modified in some small way to account for American ingredients. When this occurred, the changes were made to the volume measurements, since this was the way the book was to be printed. The recipes were then given to two testers for them to make in their own kitchens.
Then, we took the most important step: The finished desserts were given to Pierre Herme for him to taste. He tasted the desserts, made in my kitchen, using the final volume measurements in the book, and approved the results. Pierre is too serious about his work to allow someone to be frivolous with his recipes.
I can appreciate that somebody who is accustomed to using the metric system of weights enjoys the logic and ease of that system, but volume is the American way. In The Chef column in The New York Times that I am currently collaborating on with celebrated New York pastry chef, Francois Payard, I used that same method I used with Pierre Herme, and The Times testers had no problems with the recipes. And, when I wrote "Baking with Julia", I "translated" the recipes of the 26 bread bakers and pastry chefs whose work appears in the book: Not one of them – nor Julia Child – found fault with the conversions nor questioned the logic. The system works.
The genoise is the "Old Faithful" of French pastry chefs. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Here's a baking book you can USE,
By A Customer
This review is from: Desserts by Pierre Herme (Hardcover)
I've been a professional food writer for 15 years, beginning as collaborator on Desserts by Nancy Silverton, written while Nancy was dessert chef at Spago. I'm a competent home baker, and I have little patience for recipes that are overly complex or don't work. What pleasantly surprised me about Pierre Herme's book is how many truly simple, do-able recipes are included, and how well-written they were. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise: Julia Child, the queen of the do-able recipe (whether simple or complex) chose writer Dorie Greenspan to work with her on Baking with Julia. Also the design and photography are stunning.
4.0 out of 5 stars
relief at last for a dessert fix!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Desserts by Pierre Herme (Hardcover)
a former pastry chef on Martha's vinyard who would order dessert first before the entre, I raced to the kitchen to make the coconut loaf and the raspberry genoise. Was truly rewarded with delicous results, good tips for successful execution.by sally larhette
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A sucessful rendering of a great artist's work.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Desserts by Pierre Herme (Hardcover)
I was surprised to see a reader's diasppointment with a book I love. Desserts by Pierre Herme is an accurate and faithful rendering of the work of France's most celebreated pastry chef by an author well accustomed to translating the work of professionals into consumer terms. And despite the reader's disappointment with the lack of weights provided for the ingredients, the recipes work well -- I know, since I have tried many of them.About measuring: There are accurate and inaccurate methods of measuring, both by weight and volume. The right way to measure by volume is to gently spoon dry ingredients into a dry measure cup ans level off with the back of a knife or spatula. The right way to measure by weight is to use an accurate scale. Many scales made for home use are not particularly sensetive and will yeild no better results than by volume measure. To say nothing of the fact that every day, millions of people follow volume-measure recipes with good results -- what's the problem? Some authors do include weights for ingredients -- I did so in my first book, Perfect Pastry -- I no longer do, because I don't consider it important. Neither does Maida Heatter -- is there a more successful and accuracy-based author than Maida? I don't think so.
Nick Malgieri
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