LA NOUVELLE PATISSERIE: The Art and Science of Making Beautiful Pastries and Desserts

Titled after Duperret's successful San Francisco, and eastwardly expanding, pastry shop of the same name, this book features a selection of traditional and country-style patisserie. Readily accessible, the concise, easy-to-follow recipes cover the gamut of what is recognizably French in baking: Tarts, Cream Puff Doughs, Croissants, Brioche, Puff Pastes, Buttercreams, Plain Cakes, Genoise, and fancy Gateaux, all ranked from Very Easy and Easy to Medium and Advanced. The recipes lean toward a lighter, less sweet, ""nouvelle"" style: A ""Napa Valley Tart,"" filled with almond pastry cream and topped with a layer of strawberries set in wine gelatin, well represents all that is French, nouvelle and Californian about Duperret's patisserie. Throughout, Duperret's methods are innovative: he adds frozen chopped raw eggs to his Flourless Almond Cake recipes in order to keep the batter cool and light while mixing, bakes tart shells blind without using weights, and simulates a baker's-proof cupboard using a cardboard box and bowls of hot water--one of many apt adaptations for home convenience. His aim is to ""demystify"" and simplify preparation; he succeeds with Élan.