Synopses & Reviews
It is hard, today, to imagine a time when the word bittersweet was rarely spoken, when 70 percent of the chocolate purchased by Americans was milk chocolate. Today's world of chocolate is a much larger universe, where not only is the quality better and variety wider, but the very composition of the chocolate has changed.
To do justice to these new chocolates, which contain more pure chocolate and less sugar, we need a fresh approach to chocolate desserts—a new kind of recipe—and someone to crack the code for substituting one chocolate for another in both new and classic recipes. Alice Medrich, the "First Lady of Chocolate," delivers.
With nearly 150 recipes—each delicious and foolproof, no matter your level of expertise—BitterSweet answers every chocolate question, teaches every technique, confides every secret, satisfies every craving. You'll marvel that recipes as basic as brownies and chocolate cake, mint chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate mousse, can still surprise and excite you, and that soufflés, chocolate panna cotta, even pasta sauces can be so dramatically flavorful.
For the last thirty years, Alice Medrich has been learning, teaching, and sharing what she loves and understands about chocolate. BitterSweet is the culmination of her life in chocolate thus far: revolutionary recipes, profound knowledge, and charming tales of a chocolate life.
Review
"Learn everything you need to know about baking and cooking with chocolate in this comprehensive guide."
--Better Homes and Gardens
Review
"I recommend Alice Medrich's recent revision of her classic Bittersweet. Now called Seriously Bitter Sweet, the book offers recipes substitutions that allow you to use whatever percentage chocolate you favor."
Synopsis
The time when home bakers had only one choice of baking chocolate is long passed. Today, we have an entire new generation of chocolates to choose from: chocolates with less sugar, more cocoa bean solids, and definitely more flavor. And these new chocolates - called percentage chocolates - beg for the creation of new recipes and a fresh take on the classics.
Every recipe in Bittersweet in foolproof and utterly delicious, no matter what your level of expertise. You'll marvel that receipes as classics as brownies, chocolate cake, and ice cream can still surprise and that souffles, crepes, and even pasta sauces can be so dramatically flavorful.
Synopsis
It is hard, today, to imagine a time when the word bittersweet was rarely spoken, when 70 percent of the chocolate purchased by Americans was milk chocolate. Today's world of chocolate is a much larger universe, where not only is the quality better and variety wider, but the very composition of the chocolate has changed.
To do justice to these new chocolates, which contain more pure chocolate and less sugar, we need a fresh approach to chocolate desserts--a new kind of recipe--and someone to crack the code for substituting one chocolate for another in both new and classic recipes. Alice Medrich, the "First Lady of Chocolate," delivers.
With nearly 150 recipes--each delicious and foolproof, no matter your level of expertise--BitterSweet answers every chocolate question, teaches every technique, confides every secret, satisfies every craving. You'll marvel that recipes as basic as brownies and chocolate cake, mint chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate mousse, can still surprise and excite you, and that soufflés, chocolate panna cotta, even pasta sauces can be so dramatically flavorful.
For the last thirty years, Alice Medrich has been learning, teaching, and sharing what she loves and understands about chocolate. BitterSweet is the culmination of her life in chocolate thus far: revolutionary recipes, profound knowledge, and charming tales of a chocolate life.
Synopsis
These days, people are accustomed to seeing chocolate labeled 54%, 61%, or 72% on grocery store shelves, but some bakers are still confused by what the labeling means and how to use it. In Seriously Bitter Sweet, Alice Medrich presents 150 meticulously tested, seriously delicious recipes--both savory and sweet--for a wide range of percentage chocolates. "Chocolate notes" appear alongside, so readers can further adapt any recipe using the percentage chocolate on hand. The book is a complete revision of Alice's 2003 Bittersweet, which was named the 2004 IACP Cookbook of the Year. Since 2003, the world of chocolate has grown exponentially and terms like "bittersweet" and "semisweet" no longer suffice as chocolatiers everywhere are making chocolates that are labeled with specific percentages of cocoa.Alice clearly outlines the qualities of different chocolates as she explains how to cook with them. With tricks, techniques, and answers to every chocolate question, Seriously Bitter Sweet
About the Author
Alice Medrich has won more cookbook-of-the-year awards and best in the dessert and baking category awards than any other author. She received her formal training at the prestigious Êcole Lenôtre in France, and is widely credited with introducing the chocolate truffle to the United States when she began making and selling them at her influential Berkeley dessert shop, Cocolat. She has since left the retail world, devoting much of her time to sharing her expansive knowledge about baking through teaching classes and writing Food52’s Rogue Baking Tips column. Medrich lives in Berkeley, California.
She is the author of Flavor Flours, Seriously Bitter Sweet (a complete revision of her 2003 IACP-prize-winning BitterSweet), Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts, Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies, Pure Dessert, and Chocolate Holidays.Deborah Jones's recent honors include Best Photography in a Cookbook from the James Beard Foundation for her work in Bouchon. A frequent contributor to national magazines, she conducts a parallel commercial career from her San Francisco studio.