New Cookbook: The Art of French Baking

Finally available in English, the classic French pastry recipes of Ginette Mathiot, The Art of French Baking, arrived this week. Stunning recipes. Today I made "Salted Caramel Tart" which is one of several recipes from celebrated chefs included in the book.



I was surprised at how simple it was to make something so sumptuous - about 30 minutes hands-on. Ground almond crust, salted caramel filling, topped with chocolate mouse, and a light sprinkling of cocoa powder. I don't know which to make next. They all seem worthwhile.

My objective here is not (entirely) the pursuit of decadence; a family member needs to gain back a bunch of weight lost from a serious illness. To that end, I also received this book: Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts. Stay tuned.

Wow, that is a gorgeous tart! I am currently using every ounce of my willpower to not order that cookbook (though I'm sure I could never reproduce a tart like that)

Thank you, thaiobsessed. The recipe was pretty easy.

Amazon wins the willpower thing every time. It starts when you put a book in your wish list. At this point you have made the decision not to buy right now. Every time you go into Amazon, items from your wish list are dangled before your eyes and you must continually make the same decision not to buy right now. Eventually, the temptation is too strong, or more accurately in my case, the resolve is too weak. Like terrorism, Bezos just has get through your defenses once to be successful. It's insidious. The doughnut book was on my wishlist for months and I resisted hitting "one-click" dozens of time. I finally broke down last week.