"A first of its kind! In The Making of a Pastry Chef, Andrew MacLauchlan has gathered the hearts, minds, and souls of some of our greatest talents. It is easy to get caught up in the chapters of this inspiring collection of recipes and stories. This is required reading for anyone fascinated by food-and especially the sweet kind!"-Dan Budd, The Culinary Institute of America

"Being a pastry chef is so much more than baking a successful batch of chocolate chip cookies! In The Making of a Pastry Chef, you will find some of this field's top dessert makers talking shop with a colleague in a way that is frank and compelling."-Nancy Silverton, Campanile and La Brea Bakery

"This book reads like a who's who in the pastry world and contains a vast amount of information. Andrew's writing is as good as his pastry and his pastry is as good as it gets."-Michael Schneider, Chocolatier Magazine

Average Customer Review: ( 15 customer reviews )
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Everyone who is going to culinary school for baking and pastry or who has recently graduated, as well as those in apprenticeships and other types of training, should read this book. To me, it is an indispensable vocational guide. Even those who are going into food and not pastry per se should read this, since cooperation between the savory and sweet kitchen is essential these days in restaurants.

This book is written by the executive pastry chef of the Coyote Cafe, and mostly it contains his opinions and viewpoints. It also has quotes from many famous and successful pastry professionals. Just so you can keep track, the book has brief biographies of the 30 or so professionals who are quoted throughout the text, many of whom you will recognize.

It contains the following chapters: History of Sweets (a mostly worthless re-hash of familiar material); Origins of Inspiration (childhood memories and early career experiences); Foundations of Learning (culinary schools, apprenticeships, and training); Inside the World of the Pastry Chef (what it is like under various conditions); Ingredients of Success (ingredients and menus); Traditions, Trends, Future (thumb-sucking chapter containing thoughts about the future of the pastry chef).

It also contains 4 dozen or so dessert recipes. Sadly, these are modern, new-fangled variations and recipes. They are more interesting for their creativity than as good recipes that you will want as part of your repertoire. As with all trendy recipes, these will be mostly out of date within a couple of years. A few recipes are very good, such as Apple Apple Apple or Buchteln, and there is a handy index of recipes in the beginning, which good since they are randomly scattered throughout the book. Most, however, are interesting for some of the sub-recipes, like tangerine sorbet or pina colada sauce.

My main complaint is about the quotes he uses. The author has a stellar array of great pastry chefs (Emily Luchetti and Nancy Silverton to name just 2), but they are limited to just brief snippets of a few sentences. It would have been more illuminating to have extended quotes from them, so you could get a clear idea of their ideas, attitudes and opinions. As is, the text is mostly the author with a few quotes thrown in here and there, which is not as informative as it could be.

The greatest failing, however, is the idealized picture it presents. It does not warn the prospective professional about long hours, hard work, drudgery, routine, smelly clothes and underwear and hair, tempermental bosses, and low pay. The true satisfaction and delight of the job of pastry chef is also mostly absent.

13 of 14 found the following review helpful:

AdequateOct 09, 2002
By jumpy1
This book proves that just because you're a good pastry chef, doesn't mean you should write about pastry chefs! The writing is so boring that it reads like a term paper written by someone who couldn't care less. The information on the history of pastry is at times inaccurate (which wouldn't be such a big deal but they should have fact checkers, right?) and even a photo at the beginning of the book was mislabeled, in a way that showed the person thought no one would be able to tell. Other captions should have been left out such as "Pineapple" underneath a photograph of a pineapple. On the other hand, I always love to hear what chefs have to say, and this is no exception. It's filled with recipes, there is a useful table of interesting flavor combinations and lots of good statements from pastry chefs, though much of it is the average deal -- about how important the quality of your ingredients are and whether to make a tower of food or to keep presentation simple -- so, while I personally enjoy this kind of thing, I recommend it with reservations.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

A must read for the baking and pastry student.Nov 23, 2004
By SugarBaby
I am currently a part-time baking and pastry arts student at Johnson & Wales University. I just finished reading this book for a class and found it a wonderful read and resource. The insight that these pastry chefs offer really make you think about why you are entering the culinary world and if it is right for you. Happily, I believe I have made the right decision. The recipes are wonderful as well, and the flavor guide is sure to be a valuable resource for years to come. If you are currently a student, or are thinking about a career change to the pastry arts, I highly recommend this book.

10 of 12 found the following review helpful:

An Excellent Way to Begin!May 09, 2000

This book is excellent for anybody who is just starting out in the pastry field. It has really inspired me to continue in pursuing my dream to become a famous pastry chef. It tells how pastry chefs started out and helps you to see that we really do have to start at the bottom before we can get to the top. I was really inspired and felt a lot more motivated after reading this great, fantastic book!

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