Chocolate is a wonderful ingredient, but it can be a tricky ingredient to work with at times. Chocolate can burn easily and needs to be handled carefully to ensure that every recipe you make with it, from the simplest chocolate chip cookies to the most elaborate truffles, turns out perfectly. A chocolatier is going to be a great resource when it comes to working with chocolate and you’ll find dozens of recipes from master chocolatier Fritz Knipschildt in Chocopologie: Confections & Baked Treats from the Acclaimed Chocolatier.
This cookbook is for chocolate-lovers and gets right into the recipes without spending too much time in a long introduction. While chocolate does require some specific techniques, this book prefers to coach you through them as you make the recipes – which means that you don’t need to read through a few chapters to get the basics before you can start baking. The same goes for baking equipment, and readers will find asides discussing tools scattered throughout the book to reference as needed. The chapters range from cookies to classic chocolate desserts and include even chocolate drinks, so there is something for just about every occasion. The recipes are very clearly written and easy to follow, with specific direction to help you get the best results. For instance, the explanations for melting chocolate both in a microwave (my preferred method) and over a double boiler are always helpfully specific. Even simple recipes feature nice additional touches. For example, the fudgy brownie recipe is accompanied by a dark chocolate and honey ganache that is far superior to any chocolate frosting that you’ll usually find on brownies.
The book is illustrated with beautiful photos that will make you want to try the recipes even more than the descriptions do, and just flipping through the pages is enough to get you inspired. Novice bakers and cooks without a lot of experience working with chocolate will find the book to be approachable and will get a lot of good technique from the book as they work their way through the recipes. More advanced bakers will find that the book includes a good variety of recipes and a range of difficulty, should they want to tackle slightly more difficult treats to get their chocolate fix.
Karen Kirsch
March 2, 2015Chocolate is my all time favorite ingredient, but I never challenge myself with it. Thanks for this review! I am going to look into this book more.