Cheapest Paris Sweets: Great Desserts From the City's Best Pastry Shops

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I ordered this book because it was the only cookbook I could find that included a recipe for Opera Cake. Opera Cake is my husband's favorite dessert, and so I thought I would make it for his birthday. Well, unfortunately, I learned that the recipe for Opera Cake actually has six (yes, SIX) subrecipes, and would probably take me about 3 days to make ... and with a new baby, I wouldn't have three days to spend on a dessert. So the Opera Cake, the original rationale for getting the book, never got made. But still, I found it somehow heartening that such a complicated recipe could be broken down into readable and comprehensible component parts ... something that a mere mortal could actually reproduce in her own American home kitchen - if she had three days and didn't happen to have a newborn to cater to, that is.

One small disappointment was that Greenspan doesn't give a recipe for almond macaroons (macarons), which were my favorite treat when I spent a little time in France. She just gives a lengthy description of how wonderful they are and says they are hard for the home cook to reproduce. I know she is right in saying so, as I did try to make them once at home using the recipe in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, and they turned nothing like the ones I'd had in France and I considered that recipe a failure. Still, on Amazon.fr there are about 20 different single-subject cookbooks in French on making macarons at home, so I still hold out hope that it's actually possible and I'll find a good recipe someday (or get around to ordering one of the French-language macaron treatises).

That said, this cookbook is a delight in every other way. The book is partly a travelogue describing the atmosphere and offerings at Paris's most famous patisseries, and her writing is so evocative, and so charmingly illustrated with line drawings, that you while reading you tend to feel as if you were standing in front of a gleaming case of sweetly scented pastries with a rotund pastry chef behind the counter sending up clouds of artisanal flour as you contemplate your order in line behind an elegant femme in couture high-heels leading a poodle on a leash.

Along with the travelogue descriptions you get the occasional informative discourse on ingredients such as chocolate and flour and eggs and how the ones the French pastry chefs use are different from ours.

And, of course, there are recipes, wonderful recipes. I made the choclate sables, and they were easy, and totally addictive as Greenspan warns. And I made the hot chocolate and it was so rich I had palpitations afterwards, but the taste was worth the risk of a heart attack. (And it was also easy peasy to make. I called my mom and gave her the recipe over the phone.)

Ten stars for this wonderful book.

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Where To Buy Paris Sweets: Great Desserts From the City's Best Pastry Shops

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This is an amazing book... if you're french or miss the pastries and desserts from your last trip to Paris.. invest in this book... ! You can recreate the eclairs and financiers that you've been missing and dreaming about!!!

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I don't know how Ms. Greenspan charmed these renowned bakers into giving her their treasured recipes. Her descriptions of the bakeries are so evocative that photographs are not needed; all you need is your imagination. If you are interested in food or on your way to Paris, you should read this book. When you return from Paris after having tasted all those wonderful pastries and breads, you'll be able to relive the experience again in your own kitchen. There are a variety of recipes given, most basic enough for the average home baker, some requiring a little more effort. A sweet book indeed.

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I've read through Paris Sweets and plan to bake my way through it too :-) Dorie Greenspan has a love for her subject and a way with prose that will make you wish you could tour the pastry shops of Paris at her side. I've made the almond cake (aka Montmartre Square; yummy) and the Strawberry Marshmallows (if you try anything in here, try those) and am in love. The Fresh Strawberry and Marshmallow Tart is next on my list, and until then the anecdotes and adorable illustrations keep me glued. Thanks, Dorie!

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I have used several recipes from Ms Greenspans book and find the majority to be tasty and easy to make. I also liked the cultural "tidbits" that the author includes with each recipe. The only thing that some people might find intimidating is that several of the recipes call for blanched almonds. You can buy blanched almonds in the bulk food section of your grocery store, or you can blanche your own. To blanche almonds, place almonds in boiling water for 3 to 5 min. . Take almonds out of boiling water and place in cold water for 5 to 10 min. . Squeeze almonds out of their skins with your thumb and fore finger and discard skins. I have found that one pound of blanched almonds will make about three of the cookie recipes in Paris Sweets

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I, too, love Paris and have spent years there as a student. I was delighted to find anecdotes about all my favorite pastry shops - and some others - and very excited to try the recipes. However, I agree with several other reviewers that not all of the recipes in Greenspan's book are not quite up to par. This comes partly from the fact that there are some desserts that Americans do better - the tea cake, being an excellent example. Greenspan's recipe came out dense and dry and absolutely could not compare to my usual cake. That said, there are several great recipes: the chocolate mousse technique Greenspan offers is very unique, delicious and quick, the madeleines tasty, the tarte tatin good. But I would hesitate to make any of these for a dinner party before trying them myself, seeing the collection is so mixed and many recipes simply not what you'd expect.

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There is much more to French Patisseries than what I found on this book. The choice of recipes is poor, the lack of photos is a turn-off. Some of the recipes are very elaborate for the average reader and a picture of the finished product could have been an extra help. One thing I dislike about some cookbooks and this is one, is describing mouthwatering dishes or desserts, in this case, and not including the recipe.

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If you cannot go to Paris, then buy this book and bring some of Paris to you.

Greenspan (Baking with Julia) has done it again - another book that deciphers and presents some complicated recipes into approachable masterpieces. The recipes work (at least the ones I've tried), and I have foisted them on some of my French friends, some of whom immediately identified it and the shop the recipe came from (Earl Grey Madeleines, from Mariage Frères, for example). That constitutes success.

The book is organized cleverly, with the simpler recipes in the front, and more and more complex recipes as you work your way through. Though Greenspan does not say she is doing this by design, it is clearly the case. After each recipe, she has some tips and suggestions she calls "An American in Paris," in which she tells you things she does to make the recipe more in her own style, as an American living in Paris.

This is not a primer on French pastry, however, and you will learn little about technique; although there are many classic desserts in this book, it is not comprehensive, by any means. But that does not lessen its value.

There are some nice touches at the end of the book, too. Places to buy ingredients that might be hard to find, and of course, addresses and contact information for all the pastry shops that contributed to the book. Get out your Paris street map and start planning your next trip...

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The big caveat about this book is that it has no photographs. That has come to be an expectation for today's better cookbooks, and some of the recipes (such as Gateau Saint-Honore) demand them. However, Greenspan's descriptions are so clear and evocative that you not only have a very good idea of what the pastry in question should look like, you are also transported (or so you feel) into the author's emotions and memories associated with the pastries, bakeries and chefs. The whimsical drawings also help, although they are more of place and ingredients than finished products.

While classics such as madelines, Opera Cake and the aforementioned gateau can be found, many of the recipes are updated versions of classics, such as the chocolate pound cake, Earl Grey madelines and Tigres. There are very few "new" recipes, though the ones included (such as the Chocolate Thyme Mousse) sound delicious. Many recipes are also surprisingly simple, such as the Chocolate Grandmother's cake. Plus, her recipes are so straightforward and easy to follow that you feel like you can tackle something like puff pastry and not encounter any difficulties (for the most part!).

I currently have this book out of my library, but I think it's going to require a permanent space on my bookshelf.

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