Patisserie

Rating:
Summary: a complete reference book
Review: Patisserie by Hanneman is certainly a very good and complete book about patisserie. The author covers with great competence an extremely wide range of topics: from short pastries, flan and tarts, to puff pastries, to meringue goods, cakes, torten, petit fours, fermented goods, puddings, almond and other pastes, sugar works, down to preserves and savoury goods. Recipes are clear, easy to follow, scaled to family consumption and frequently followed by pictures of the finished good. Occasionally alternative methods are presented for basic preparations and the author gives indication when to use one or the other method. Check lists are provided to discover the causes of troubles. Having said what there is in the book I would like to say what is not there : no hints are given about difficulties you may expect in following a recipe, no tips are given to prevent or solve these problems and the check lists are sometimes elliptic (e.g. uneven rise in short pastry my be due to lack or excess of fat, so what was should you do next time?). Everything looks really so simple and easy but at the end of your practice you my discover that to obtain the expected result you need more than to follow a perfectly explained sequence. My personal judgement is that Patisserie is an excellent reference book where you will find instructions to prepare almost any patisserie good you my wish, but where you will find little inspiration to decide what to cook: all recipes seem equally easy and undemanding and all goods equally rewarding and worthy the effort.

p.s. The author gives cooking temperature which are really very high

Rating:
Summary: A British Baker's review
Review: This is the book that i used when i was at college in my home city in england.Patisserie is a professional book for students, Bakers,Chefs,Confectioners and Teachers.Patisserie is a craft/trade (some say it's an art) so housewives may find it a little confusing,for example, Bread making is a technology and carn't be learnt from a book. If you have a basic understanding in Fermented goods,pastry,confectionary hot and cold sweets and cake decorating then you will love this book. The book covers everything i needed to complete my studies of Bakery,cake decorating and patisserie and i still use it in my work.Hanneman himself was a lecturer in charge of the bakery school at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology as well as head of food at lancaster and Morecambe college and also a former chief examiner for the 711-01 pastry cooks and patissiers exam.