Dannenberg's "Paris Boulangerie & Patisserie"

[ludja]

Linda Dannenberg's Paris Boulangerie and Patisserie: Recipes from Thirteen Outstanding Bakeries ($ for egullet if you order thru this Amazon link) just got reprinted (Mar 2005) by a new publisher (Grammercy Books) and at a great price (under $12 on Amazon).

Until recently, it had been out of print (1994) and available for over 100 bucks on Amazon so I had to content myself with taking it out of the library from time to time. Of the 70 or so recipes, about 15 are breads, baguettes and brioche. It has great photos of most of the pastries/cakes/cookies/breads and features the following bakeries:

L'Ancienne Tradition

Storrer, Laduree, Dalloyau

Les Specialistes

Max Poilane, Le Maison du Chocolat, Patisserie Lerch

Les Grandes Classiques

Lenotre, Ganachaud, Marcel Haupois

Les Jeunes Aritsans Extraordinaires

Jean-Luc Poujauran, Moulin de la Vierge, Gerard Mulot and Au Peche Mignon.

I have so far only cooked one item from the book: Tart al a Rhubarbe. It was excellent with a ground almond pate sucree dough and filled with rhubarb in a creme fraiche custard.

I'm eager to tackle more recipes but thought it would also be nice to hear what other people may have tried...

Edited May 19, 2005 by ludja (log)

[SethG]

Just bought it, Ludja. Thanks. Sounds like a bargain for $10.39 (the current price on Amazon).

[Priscilla]

I bought this book when it came out because there was such a good section on Laduree, including (serendipitously) their recipe for financiers, plus beautiful evocatively you-are-there photographs of the tea salon itself.

And the pain de mie recipe in the book, from Max Poilane, was for years my go-to pain de mie.

Has a lot to offer, this book does -- I am glad to have it brought back to the fore.

[ludja]

Hope it's a good addition to your baking library Seth.

Thanks for the recs Priscilla; I'm not sure if I have the correct pan but I would like to try the pan de mie. It gives me a little shot of confidence knowing that it turned out to be a reliable recipe for you.

I have a few invites coming up to which I'd like to bring something, so I may try a few other recipes in the near future as well.

[SethG]

I was out of town last week and returned home on Sunday to find that my book had already arrived!

I'm making the rhubarb tart tonight. I quickly put together the pate sucree this morning, and I'm a little concerned because it seems like a lot of dough for a 9-inch tart pan. I also found it difficult to get it to come together and added about a tablespoon of ice water to get the dough to hydrate. I used the metric weights in the recipe so I don't think I made an error in measurement. I didn't have time to check the recipe against other recipes I trust, so we'll just wait and see what happens tonight after I get home.

Anyway, the book is full of beautiful pictures. When I have time I want to do a detailed comparison of this book and Paris Sweets.

[ludja]

Hope it comes out well; I made it about a year ago and can't recall all the details regarding the making of the crust. (Now that I have my own copy I can write my notes right in the book...)

Looking back over the recipe, I believe I did use a springform pan (rather than a tart pan) as recommended in the recipe. The sides of the tart are ~ 2 inches high. I also think that in hindsight, I would have liked a stronger rhubarb flavor. For the next time I thought of poaching the rhubarb for less time or else adding more rhubarb to the recipe. I used creme fraiche for the fillilng b/c I love the flavor it adds.

I must get "Paris Sweets" as well; I've also taken that out of the library numerous times...

Edited May 24, 2005 by ludja (log)

[Woods]

Linda Dannenberg's Paris Boulangerie and Patisserie: Recipes from Thirteen Outstanding Bakeries ($ for egullet if you order thru this Amazon link) just got reprinted (Mar 2005) by a new publisher (Grammercy Books) and at a great price (under $12 on Amazon).

Until recently, it had been out of print (1994) and available for over 100 bucks on Amazon so I had to content myself with taking it out of the library from time to time.  Of the 70 or so recipes, about 15 are breads, baguettes and brioche.  It has great photos of most of the pastries/cakes/cookies/breads and features the following bakeries:

L'Ancienne Tradition

Storrer, Laduree, Dalloyau

Les Specialistes

Max Poilane, Le Maison du Chocolat, Patisserie Lerch

Les Grandes Classiques

Lenotre, Ganachaud, Marcel Haupois

Les Jeunes Aritsans Extraordinaires

Jean-Luc Poujauran, Moulin de la Vierge, Gerard Mulot and Au Peche Mignon.

I have so far only cooked one item from the book: Tart al a Rhubarbe.  It was excellent with a ground almond pate sucree dough and filled with rhubarb in a creme fraiche custard.

I'm eager to tackle more recipes but thought it would also be nice to hear what other people may have tried...

←

I've had this book for about 10 years and it is one of my favorites. I have made many of the recipes and all have been good. If you like chocolate try Le Pleyel.

Woods

[Woods]

Hope it's a good addition to your baking library Seth.

Thanks for the recs Priscilla; I'm not sure if I have the correct pan but I would like to try the pan de mie.  It gives me a little shot of confidence knowing that it turned out to be a reliable recipe for you.

I have a few invites coming up to which I'd like to bring something, so I may try a few other recipes in the near future as well.

←

That pain de mie recipe has been my favorite as well for years. Don't worry about a pan. Put a sheet pan on top of the loaf pan and put a heavy pan on top the that. It works just as well. Woods

[mpav]

Thanks for the link. My sister has been angry at me for years because she thinks its my fault her copy was ruined. Just got one for her and one for me.

[bripastryguy]

i just got mine as well, havent had a chance to check it out, but @ 10.39 you cant beat it

[SethG]

I believe I did use a springform pan (rather than a tart pan) as recommended in the recipe.  The sides of the tart are ~ 2 inches high.

←

Okay, I failed at this simple test of reading comprehension. I misread both the recipe and your very clear post, and only when I had my 9-inch tart pan filled with beans and blind-baking did I glance at the picture of the completed dessert and realize that I was stupidly using the wrong pan for the job. That's what you get for whipping up pate sucree while feeding the kids breakfast and then rushing to blind bake a crust after getting home at 9:45 p.m.!

But I recovered well. I cut the recipe for the filling in half and it fit my crust perfectly. And the tart was super! I liked the almond sucree and the creme fraiche custard with the rhubarb. I also thought the technique for softening the rhubarb had delicious results. You just put the cut-up rhubarb in a saucepan with sugar, turn the heat to medium and stir every now and then for about seven minutes. I could see serving some of these pieces by themselves as a garnish to the tart or another dessert.

[Woods]

Linda Dannenberg's Paris Boulangerie and Patisserie: Recipes from Thirteen Outstanding Bakeries ($ for egullet if you order thru this Amazon link) just got reprinted (Mar 2005) by a new publisher (Grammercy Books) and at a great price (under $12 on Amazon).

Until recently, it had been out of print (1994) and available for over 100 bucks on Amazon so I had to content myself with taking it out of the library from time to time.  Of the 70 or so recipes, about 15 are breads, baguettes and brioche.  It has great photos of most of the pastries/cakes/cookies/breads and features the following bakeries:

L'Ancienne Tradition

Storrer, Laduree, Dalloyau

Les Specialistes

Max Poilane, Le Maison du Chocolat, Patisserie Lerch

Les Grandes Classiques

Lenotre, Ganachaud, Marcel Haupois

Les Jeunes Aritsans Extraordinaires

Jean-Luc Poujauran, Moulin de la Vierge, Gerard Mulot and Au Peche Mignon.

I have so far only cooked one item from the book: Tart al a Rhubarbe.  It was excellent with a ground almond pate sucree dough and filled with rhubarb in a creme fraiche custard.

I'm eager to tackle more recipes but thought it would also be nice to hear what other people may have tried...

←

Linda Dannenberg also has a book, Paris Bistro, that is beautiful to look at and has good recipes as well. I recommend it as well as the other.

[Lesley C]

And she has a book called French Tarts that's also excellent. Oh and she has written a book with Ducasse that I also use from time to time, a real beauty!