Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate - Hardcover

Robert Steinberg; John Scharffenberger

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1401302386 ISBN 13: 9781401302382

Publisher: Hyperion, 2006

Synopsis

The first cookbook from America's premier chocolate makers, filled with recipes, kitchen tips, and dazzling photographs

As Americans have become fascinated by chocolate, and especially high-quality chocolate, one name has risen above the rest: Scharffen Berger. Founded in 1996 by Robert Steinberg, a physician and amateur chef, and John Scharffenberger, an award-winning vintner, the company's confections have won a following among food professionals and home cooks alike. Now, in their first cookbook, the duo shares their passion with the world.

The Essence of Chocolate features more than one hundred spectacular -- and often simple -- recipes drawn from the Scharffen Berger files and from two dozen top pastry chefs. It is divided into three sections: "Intensely Chocolate," which includes such decadent treats as That Chocolate Cake, in which the sumptuous flavor of chocolate is the star; "Essentially Chocolate," with lighter chocolate desserts like White Velvet Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache or Brown Butter Blondies; and "A Hint of Chocolate," with recipes that use chocolate's spicier qualities to their best effect, like Vegetarian Chili and John's Cocoa Rub. And all will work magnificently with any high-quality chocolate. Filled with helpful tips, sumptuous photographs, and the story of how chocolate is really made, here is a book that is every bit as seductive as its subject.

About this title

Review:

Established in 1996, Scharffen Berger has become America's preeminent maker of cooking chocolate. Essence of Chocolate, by the firm's founders and food writer Susie Heller, offers more than 100 recipes for a broad selection of delights like Chocolate Pudding Cakes, Chocolate Marbled Gingerbread, Cocoa Caramel Panna Cotta, and Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake, as well as savory edibles made with chocolate like Tortilla Soup and Chile-Marinated Flank Steak. Unusual recipes also include the likes of Chocolate Chunk Challah and TKOs, a homemade version of Oreos that leaves those favorites on the supermarket shelf.

Arranged by chocolate intensity, the recipes come from the company's files and from chefs including Flo Braker, Jim Dodge, Thomas Keller, and Stephanie Hersh. Although the formulas vary in difficulty, most are within the range of all cooks interested in making something terrific. Readers should note, however, that the recipes require chocolate with specific cocoa-solids contents--62% semisweet, for example--that may be difficult to find. Most cooks will know, however, that one high-quality chocolate of similar cocoa content can usually replace another. With narrative sections in which Steinberg and Scharffenberger trace (at perhaps excessive length) their career trajectories, interesting asides such as "Bread and Chocolate," lots of chocolate lore, and a good primer on how chocolate is manufactured--plus color photos--the book makes a happy addition to the chocolate lovers' kitchen library. --Arthur Boehm

About the Author:

Robert Steinberg is a family physician, graduate of Harvard College, and accomplished home cook. After studying chocolate making in France, he founded Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker with his friend John Scharffenberger. A long-time resident of San Francisco, Robert has practiced medicine part-time at the San Francisco Free Clinic for the past ten years. John Scharffenberger founded and ran Scharffenberger Cellars, one of the premier sparkling wine manufacturers in the U.S. When his friend and former physician Robert Steinberg approached him about joining his chocolate-making venture in 1996, he turned his expertise to fine chocolate. He lives in Berkeley and Mendocino County.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hyperion
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1401302386
• ISBN 13: 9781401302382
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384