The Essence of Chocolate
Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate
I admit I am very skeptical about cookbooks like this. Are they just using chocolate to lure me in? Will the butter, chocolate, and time that I put into these recipes yield fabulous results? (I’m kind of a chocolate dessert snob, I admit it!) I received this as a Christmas present and noticed the Scharffenberger logo at the bottom. Hmmm . . . I knew I had definitely enjoyed eating that brand of chocolate, so I was intrigued. Over the holidays I tried the Cakey Brownies on p. 82. Yum! Everyone who tried them agreed that this recipe is a keeper. Now with birthday season coming (tons of b-days in May & June among my family and friends) I’m interested in exploring more of this book – maybe the chocolate cupcakes on p. 54 will be next. How about the BBQ Sauce recipe that includes an ounce of 70% bittersweet chocolate? I’m game! And then there’s the Banana Caramel Cake on p. 217. I’m a big fan of finding recipes on the internet, but this cookbook is definitely worth buying. It is full of qualitly information about chocolate, amazing photos, and (from what I can tell so far) recipes that are definitely worth your time.
