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Learn to COOK - Death By Chocolate Cookies
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List Price: $30.00
Our Price: $34.52
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.8654
EAN: 9780684831978
ISBN: 068483197X
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 144
Publication Date: 1997-11-01
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Studio: Simon & Schuster
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Editorial Reviews:
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Marcel Desaulniers, the prize-winning, bestselling author of such classics as Death by Chocolate, The Burger Meisters, and Desserts To Die For, continues down the decadent road he has paved with sweets, turning his attention to one of America's favorite temptations: cookies. With his customary wit and clarity of style, Desaulniers has taken cookies to new heights in this stunning collection of seventy-five easy-to-follow recipes, each of which is captured in full-color splendor. Pared-down preparations, concise instructions, and satisfying results make the chocolate indulgences offered in this book the perfect antidote for anyone who has ever considered baking "work." No one will be able to withstand the temptation of these chocolate cookie combinations, from the simple and delightful Chocolate Peanut Butter Bengal Cookies or Chocolate Raspberry "Cookiecupcakes," to the intricate and impressive Golden Spider Webs with Wicked Ganache and Raspberry Rapture and Chocolate Balloon Cups with Oven-Roasted Pears. Desaulniers also lets us in on some old family recipes; Hessie Rae's Chocolate Pecan Tart Cookies and Mrs. D's Chocolate Chip Cookies make you wonder what other undivulged secrets he's been saving. As Desaulniers writes in his introduction, "Rather than showcasing towering confections like those in Death by Chocolate and Desserts To Die For, this is a collection of chocolate cookies, bars, brownies, nougat, brittle, praline, ice-cream sandwiches, candies, and biscuits that you can hold in your hand and pop in your mouth. O.K., so I went overboard and pulled out the plate in the chapter 'More Than a Mouthful.' But as Mae West said, 'Too much of a good thing is wonderful.'"
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good Cookies
Comment: I am not a big fan of this author, but this book is a happy exception. His other books are OK resources for professionals and amateur pastry chefs, but worthless for the average, casual home cook. This is the only one of Mr. Saulniers' books that I feel safe in recommending to a home cook. It is, in short, a collection of very good chocolate cookie recipes, both in flavor and in written recipe quality.
In most cookbooks, cookie recipes are an afterthought with standard recipes casually tossed off in a few sentences. This book is entirely different: each cookie recipe has complete, detailed instructions for each step, including a color photo of the end result. Even someone who has not baked many cookies should have no problems successfully making these cookies. For those who can do the cookie recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag, this book is the next step. I tried some seemingly incorrect recipes (recipes with no eggs, doughs that seemed to have the wrong balance, etc.), but they all came out as advertised, and I had no trouble with any of them, though I noted that some instructions were inadequate, e.g. cooking something in a saucepan for a certain number of minutes with no indication as to what end result you are looking for. It is also the only cookbook I know of that lists the complete mise en place including all equipment, materials, and ingredients, something I wish more cookbooks would do.
Only in the last chapter ("More Than a Mouthful") is the author up to his old tricks: professional techniques inadequately explained; here, home cooks should ignore it, but B&P people should pay close attention. I also note that some photos are cheats, in other words if you prepare the recipe exactly as written, yours will not exactly look like the picture.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Beauty is skin deep
Comment: Such beautiful pictures, and they are great inspiration. Makes you want to spend the day in the kitchen. There it ends. I tried the white chocolate-candy cane recipe twice. It just doesn't work. We (I have a professional kitchen) added flour to make a manageable batter, but after baking could not get them off the baking sheet. More adjustments, and finally succeeded in making a cookie that no one liked. We also tried the two layer desert with brownie bottom. Expensive mess. The beautiful photographs are worthy of framing or put the whole book on your coffee table.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Maybe I got the wrong edition...
Comment: I have read the previous reviews and I am puzzled. I do not like this book at all. I have never written a review before but this book drove me to it. I am an experienced baker and tried two recipes following the instructions carefully. Both failed miserably and I am not willing to waste the butter, or more importantly, the chocolate, to try another.
My first attempt was the Paisely Brownies. The recipe called for 12 ounces of butter (yes, ounces, not tablespoons). While nervous about 3/4 of a pound of butter going into essentially a double batch of brownie batter, I forged ahead. What I got was incredible greasy brownies with a gummy raspberry topping. I figured the butter amount must have been a typo so I tried again with 12 TABLESPOONS of butter and while the brownies were less greasy, they were still mushy in the middle with a gummy raspberry topping. Next I tried the Topsy Turvys (didn't even get around to making the sorbet or the pineapple topping). Each attempt to mold the baked cookie into bowl shapes yielded greasy messes on my counter. Perhaps I got the two dogs out of the whole bunch but as I have said before, I'm not willing to waste any more butter, chocolate, parchment paper, etc. on any of his recipes.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Inspiring cookie recipes I've used again and again
Comment: I am married to a pie man, but I am a cookie woman through and through. Perhaps unsurprsingly, this is one of my very favorite cookbooks, and one I refer to whenever I'm looking for a new cookie to try. It's provided much delicious variety at an annual Christmas cookie and cocktail party we throw. We have high praise for the basics in particular -- these are some of our all-time favorites: Chocolate Dalmatians, Road Trip Cookies, Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Bars, Mrs. D's Chocolate Chip Cookie (best ever!). Elegant and yet simple: Espresso To Go. Walnut Toffee Triangles.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Some great, some not so
Comment: I've had great success with the "Chocolate Crack Ups" and the Bengal cookies BUT have been stymied by the "Chocolate Caramel Puffs". Such an alluring recipe but the puff dough recipe is either way off (typo in the book?) or the instructions are incomplete. It turns out as a thin batter which couldn't possibly be spooned onto a cookie sheet in twelve level tablespoons without immediately creating one level lake of batter (not "dough" as it's described) on said cookie sheet. I've looked up "choux pastry" in another book and it shows a photograph of a shiny dough which holds its shape and the ingredients had proportionately less liquid. So disappointing!! I'll keep trying but what a waste of good butter and eggs! Still, I think this book is certainly worthwhile. I just wish I could find a corrections and ammendments page on the web for it.
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